Understanding Therapy - The Hygienic Perspective
by Dana Clare, B.S.W., M.A., Dip. N.H.

In Natural Hygiene, life and healing are not seen as therapies or therapeutic processes. Hygiene is about living in a way that promotes optimum health. It also involves a radical shift in perception in our understanding of healing, disease and health. Hygiene holds that the the healing processes of the body-mind are innate, self-generated and constantly active day and night. We therefore question the whole notion of applying special techniques, therapies, or noxious, unnatural agencies to the body-mind in order to produce, speed-up or stimulate healing.

Definitions

Let’s examine some definitions. The contemporary, dominant meaning of the word "therapy" is "medical treatment of disease, curative medical treatment." "Therapeutic" comes from Greek "therapeutikos" from "therapeuein" to attend, treat, from "theraps," attendant. In Webster's 10th Collegiate Dictionary "therapeutic" is defined as: 1. of or related to the treatment of disease or disorders by remedial agents or methods. 2. providing or assisting in a cure; curative, medicinal.

The earlier, archaic meaning of the Latin or Greek word "therapia" was "to attend to," in the sense of passively observing and attending to someone's needs or requirements, or to "wait upon" in the sense of "allowing" a process of disease.

The contemporary word "therapy" has now lost its earlier meaning of a process of attending to disease and has developed an active medical connotation of developing and applying man-made methodologies in order to treat or intervene in the disease process. "Therapy" implies something we humans have invented to ”treat” the body-mind in order to produce what we consider “healing” or “curing.” Without the application of some sort of force to the body-mind, whether mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical or psychological, there is no therapy. The key aspect in the definition of therapy is the application of force. Therapy forces change upon the body-mind. The force applied may be harsh or gentle; it may be pleasant or painful; it may be applied internally or externally. Due to its application of force, therapy also produces effects. Some of these effects we call "therapeutic," while others we call "adverse reactions" or "side effects". However we label the effects, the point is that therapy applies force and produces effects which are, to varying degrees, enervating, depleting self-healing energy.

Natural Hygienists are interested in the structure of therapy and the nature of its effects in order to determine whether therapy assists the body's natural healing processes or whether it detracts from healing and healthful living. In 1881 Virchow made the following remark in "Nature" August 11, page 348: "It will be pointed out to us...that therapy is to be replaced by Hygiene."

Alteration of Symptoms

Therapies claim to be "aiding healing," but are they really helping, or are they interfering to a greater or lesser degree with the body's own healing processes? In order to delve into this question, we need to observe what is going on very closely, looking beyond appearances.

When we introduce toxic substances that suppress, ask and alter symptoms, we interfere with the healing processes of the body. Suppressing or altering symptoms is often equated with healing, but the body creates these conditions, such as inflammation, mucous discharge or coughing, as part of its healing activity. In suppressing or altering symptoms through the application of a therapy, we get temporary relief, but we also block that healing process. One example of interference with healing occurs when we apply mechanical and electrical forces that are harmful to the body, such as the ECT (electroshock therapy), which "cures" depression, damaging the brain in the process. (Reference "Toxic
Psychiatry" by Dr Peter Breggin.)

Other therapies, such as acupuncture and some forms of deeper massage, subtly or dramatically alter the body's energy currents, providing temporary relief of symptoms, but this occurs at the price of a decrease of energy when the artificial stimulation effect wears off. We can force a horse to run faster by whipping it, but under such conditions of artificial stimulation, the horse will also fatigue faster. In acupuncture, the pricking of the skin with needles is also an unnatural invasion of the body, a shock to the nerves, redirecting pain.

The Hygienic Analysis of Therapies

Many diseases are iatrogenic (treatment-caused). The damage that therapies and disease treatments cause is revealed in many statistics. In Hygiene, the analysis of therapies is not intended to criticize individuals who are involved in applying therapies. Rather, it is aimed at examining and understanding the underlying structure of any therapy, to see whether it assists or detracts from healthful living and healing. In Hygiene, we are seeking to understand the very nature and structure of therapy. For such an inquiry we need to relinquish our attachments to particular therapies or our foregone conclusions concerning them, so that we can examine the nature of therapy clearly and objectively without bias and without fear of what we might find in this process.

In examining the underlying structure of therapies, we can see that they all have certain commonalities regardless of their type. If we observe clearly and deeply we can see that all therapies have the following common features:

1. Therapies treat symptoms rather than removing causes. We do not get sick due to lack of therapy, but we visit therapists to find relief from symptoms. Therapies that apply modalities to give relief of symptoms do not get at the causes of disease; the causes of disease are contained in our manner of living. No therapist or therapy can live your life for you so that you do not incur the causes of disease. Is there any harm in seeking relief from pain? Seeking relief from pain is a natural human response, but if we understand that pain is part of life and part of the healing process, we become more willing to make room for the painful process of healing, seeking to benefit and learn from it, rather than seeking to avoid or suppress it with toxic, often destructive drugs. When we suppress or avoid pain we actually create the conditions for chronic pain to appear. The pain of healing is brief, compared to the pain of living with chronic illness, and we feel so much better after the pain subsides in due course.

2. The effect of therapy in treating symptoms is only temporary, because no causes are removed. Due to the temporary nature of symptom relief, therapy tends to become endlessly self-perpetuating as one needs more and more therapy to quell the symptoms as they return and multiply; this tends to encourage dependency and addiction to the pursuit of symptom relief.

3. Therapeutic systems are based on the underlying belief that disease is an inimical process that needs treatment in order to remove, purge, purify, eliminate, expunge or exorcise it from the body-mind. If we understand that disease is ultimately beneficial, a vital power for defending the organism, we would not treat it any more than we seek to treat health. Allopathy treats disease through introducing substances that counteract symptoms, while homeopathy treats disease through introducing substances that produce like symptoms according to the homeopathic dictum that "like cures like." In taking these treatments, we are ignoring our own magnificent self healing power.

Natural Hygiene stands alone in not accepting the conventional view that the disease process is inimical or harmful, requiring treatment. Most so-called natural schools of healing pay lip service to the healing power of the body, but contradict themselves by placing faith in a whole array of therapies to "stimulate", "assist," and "speed up" the body's own healing processes. Rather, it is our understanding based upon studies of physiology, biology, and anatomy, discerning clinical observation, and how animals live and heal in nature, that acute disease is the body's healing process in action, and chronic disease is the body's adaptive process to chronic harmful influences. Even orthodox physiology teachers have now acknowledged that inflammation is a healing process, and fever is a process that assists the body to fight and eliminate pathogens. If disease is a healing process, then do we need to treat disease at all? Why does medical orthodoxy prescribe drugs and/or antibiotics in almost every case of sickness? In applying hygienic principles of self healing, Natural Hygienists have seen spontaneous healing of virtually every disease condition. When the disease process is understood to be a beneficial, lifesaving process of restoring balance to the body-mind's internal environment, then we no longer need to treat the process but instead we need to address the cause, i.e., the manner of living that led to the process in the first place.

The orthodox approach identifies the disease process as the villain, while the real problem lies in our wrong habits of living that started the process in motion. This basic error in medical/therapeutic thinking gives rise to the demand for therapies or treatments for disease. The treatments create more damage which is often mistakenly thought to be part of the disease process itself, and more treatments are added in a futile, and sometimes deadly, tragedy.

Natural Hygienists have observed through clinical practice, observation and knowledge of physiology that stimulation and attempts to "speed up" and stimulate healing is deceptive, illusory and often harmful. Instead of interfering with the body-mind's intelligence with therapies, Hygiene holds that what is needed instead is to remove the unnatural interferences with the organic processes of healing so that nerve energy, or vital energy is conserved. When nerve energy is conserved the recuperative powers of the body can operate without impediment. Long-time Natural Hygienist, Dr. V. Virginia Vetrano wrote:

“However we label the effects of therapy, the point is that therapy applies force and effects are noticed. These effects are due to the damaging effect of the force applied and of the body trying to adjust to the situation. The body's energies are expended in resisting any kind of force or therapy that it does not need and cannot use, and the patient is made worse and more toxic. When ever action occurs in the body as a result of extraneous influences, it is the body that acts to resist and expel whatever is in the body that it does not want, does not need, and cannot use. It does not need extraneous force to act properly. The body is always alert to harmful procedures, drugs, medications, manipulations, or whatever and will always act in such a way as to correct the situation and bring the body back to a steady state, which is homeostasis."

Healthful Living Practices Are Not Therapies

There are some "therapies" that are relatively benign and beneficial in their effects, such as gentle massage or essential oils, which provide indirectly or vicariously some of the natural requirements of healthful living. For example, gentle massage meets our human need to be touched in a loving manner, and beautiful aromas from flowers and plants are a natural part of living. Bottled essences or aromas, although unnaturally concentrated, can be considered to indirectly provide something that is missing in the modern lifestyle for those do not often come into contact with flowers. However, it is easy to buy cut flowers, so do we need concentrated essences or just the flowers themselves? Although aromatherapy seems harmless enough and sometimes aids in creating a pleasant and relaxed environment, it can be harmful or irritating to the sensory organs in the nose -- the aroma is transferred in microscopic drops which are absorbed in the mucous membrane. When concentrated into an oil or other medium, it can sometimes be irritating, leading to sneezing or coughing. We can participate in aromatic living by including flowers and aromatic herbs in our gardens, and homes, or we can buy bottles with oils, potions, and tinctures. The choice is ours.

Modern life tends to turn everything into a "therapy," often for commercial reasons. Even walking has become a "therapy," when in fact walking is just part of life. Examining psychological problems through talking or other means is also called "therapy," but it could just be seen as discussion or intelligent investigation. It takes a lot of insight and intelligence to see through the mystique of therapy, because therapies appeal to our egoistic desire to be "doing something," to be "in control" and "in charge" of life, as if doing nothing is an act of negligence. Therapy also appeals to our desire to be experts in applying techniques, experts in developing and applying specialized knowledge controlled by a professional elite. But, countless times, Hygienists have seen the body heal most quickly when it is given complete rest and intelligently left alone.

Some of the early Hygienists in the 19th and early 20th Century were imprisoned in the notion that the Life Energy requires direction. Hydrotherapy (exposing the body to alternating hot and cold water) was frequently employed at that time to "direct" the healing energy, but it was later abandoned by Hygienists when its enervating effects were recognized. It often takes people several trips through the illusory, confusing and contradictory maze of therapies before they are enlightened by Natural Hygiene. As clarity comes, the mystique of therapy shatters.

The Hygienic Approach is a Self Healing Approach

What does Hygiene offer if not therapies and treatments for disease? Hygiene offers a knowledge of the requirements of healthful living and self-healing. This awareness sets us free and makes us responsible for our health. We become empowered learning about healing and how to live healthfully, rather than remaining a passive patient dependent on a therapist or doctor.

Instead of therapies to relieve symptoms, Hygiene aims to identify and remove causes of disease, and master the art of healthful living. The relationship with a Hygienic counselor, or Healthful Living Consultant is not one of expert and patient, or healer and patient, but is one of an educator or coach and client. A Hygienic counselor can inspire and guide the shifts of perception, knowledge and action that enables a person's healthful living journey to commence and become successful. A Healthful Living Consultant helps to empower people in their journey to health, at least until they are strong and wise enough to be their own counselor/facilitator.

Treat the Mind or Let it Heal?

The treatment of mental disorders through psychotherapy has also been problematic and not necessarily beneficial to the client. Phyllis Chesler, in her book "Women and Madness," has documented how psychotherapy in the past was used to get women to conform to the contradictory and soul-stultifying patriarchal notions of femininity. Psychotherapy, often reinforced with drug treatment or ECT, has been used as a way to manipulate women and prevent them from breaking out of socially prescribed roles and norms. Freud defined femininity as a neurosis, yet women were expected to conform to this "neurosis" in order to be considered "normal."

Another excellent book which documents the harm that can be done by therapists and their doctrines is Jeffrey Masson's book "Against Therapy". Even the most benign and apparently innocuous psychotherapies can be used to undermine, manipulate and disempower their recipients under the guise of helping them. This is not to imply that all people who call themselves "therapists" are ineffective or harmful to their clients. Most are very committed to genuinely helping their clients, and many people have found that psychotherapy" sessions can be helpful, but the formal education of psychotherapists does not guarantee that they will have the qualities of good listening, empathy, non-judgementalness, warmth, insight, equality consciousness, or, in short, the caring, insightful approach that makes for a good therapist. While people are still imprisoned in the notion that "therapy" or "treatment is necessary for disease," the type of help given and results are likely to be limited, distorted, and disempowering

The Hygiene understanding, which is supported by many clinical case studies in hygienic centers, is that mental illness does not need treatment with therapy, anymore than physical disease does. There is no such thing as a purely mental disease which does not involve the body on a physical level, and most physical diseases also have a mental-emotional component to them. Instead of manipulating brain chemistry with mind altering, toxic drugs, a Hygienist would help the client understand how to enhance the body’s ability to correct its imbalances and remove other causes of mental disorder through such practices and elements as fasting, proper nutrition, empathy, support, counseling, and healthful living education. Counseling can help a person understand why they became depressed, anxious or stressed, what feeds depression or mental disorder, and what they can do or cease doing in order to heal themselves and become free of problems

We also need to understand that the symptoms of "mental disease” are part of the healing process, just as are physical symptoms. When emotional toxins are being released we may be temporarily mentally disordered. However that process of disorder, if not interfered with, can lead to a higher level of health. If we take drugs we may develop a drug-induced psychosis -- those symptoms are the body's way of adjusting to and handling with the toxic effects of the drugs. When a person imbibes a lot of alcohol they often get temporarily mentally disordered. Do we treat that disorder with a medicinal drug or do we remove the cause that created the disorder in the first place? .

There are several excellent books such as "Toxic Psychiatry," by Dr. Peter Breggin, which document the harmful effects of psychotropic drugs prescribed for mental illness. Natural Hygiene is the one school of health and healing that puts full emphasis and faith in the self-healing powers of the body-mind when left intelligently alone.

Discerning Questions

Still unconvinced? One of the best ways to discover the truth of the matter for yourself is to actually try the therapies you wish to explore. When exploring different therapies, it is useful to ask the following questions:

1. To what extent is the therapy treating my symptoms and leaving causes untouched?

2. To what extent is the therapy giving me additional symptoms or problems?

3. To what extent is the therapy improving my capacity for healthful living?

4. To what extent am I becoming dependent on the therapy?

5. How much do I have to pay for this therapy and who or what is benefiting financially from the therapy?

The answers to these questions may be unclear if one is distracted by the hustle and bustle of life, and if one’s perceptions are clouded by medications, inadequate nutrition, and a polluted internal environment (toxicosis). However, Hygienists have found that through the application of healthful living practices, such as adequate rest and sleep, pure, organically-grown plant-based diet, regular exercise, sunshine, avoidance of enervating stressful activities, etc., the body has a marvelous capacity to detoxify, rebalance, and rejuvenate, and the mind has the ability to gain new energy and clarity, enabling an extraordinary level of health to flower forth. Hygienic educators and doctors have created an abundance of educational materials teaching hygienic living, and Healthful Living International is currently carrying on Natural Hygiene’s rich legacy, teaching Hygiene worldwide.

Self Empowerment

Doing away with the illusions of therapy is a very enlightening and empowering process in reclaiming your true state of being as a sovereign self-healing organism. In the place of therapy, what is needed is education and consciousness-raising about the body-mind's requirements for health. This is the awareness that enables us to understand and free ourselves of destructive influences and to live healthfully in daily life.

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