“For the first time in the history of psychology there is a way to access feelings, hidden away, in a safe way and thus to reduce human suffering. It is, in essence, the first science of psychotherapy.” — Dr. Arthur Janov
Sometimes all you really need to do is… Scream! That too on top of your lungs like no one’s watching. People scream for several reasons, while being angry, upset, scared, or in pain (if you think of yourself as a rock star too). Screaming may be considered weird but, science now has justified it to be good to let your feelings flow and feel lighter. Let’s learn how.
Dr. Arthur Janov introduced Primal Therapy in the late 1960’s. It is a practice that permits the patient to confront their subdued feelings from any past injury head on and let those feelings go. This treatment is proposed to cure any dysfunctional behavior the patient might have that surfaced from this past injury. As a rule, Primal Therapy has lead Dr. Janov’s patients to shout towards the end of their session, however it was not part of the first method. Amid a gathering treatment session that was at a stop, Dr. Janov said that one of his patients, an apprentice he called Danny, recounted a story that enlivened him to execute a procedure that he never would have considered all alone.
Dr. Janov tells of a story which escalated his theory into a concrete practice.
“During a lull in our gathering of a treatment session, he recounted to us a tale around a man named Ortiz who was as of now doing a follow up on the London stage in which he paraded around in diapers drinking containers of milk. All through his number, Ortiz is yelling, ‘Mama! Daddy! Mama! Daddy!’ as loud as possible. Toward the end of his demonstration, he vomits. Plastic bags are passed out, and the audience were requested to follow suit.”
It doesn’t end here, however. Dr. Janov said that his patient was very intrigued with that story, and that alone moved him to recommend something even he accepted to be somewhat basic.
“I requested he called out, ‘Mommy! Daddy!’ Danny cannot, saying that he couldn’t see the sense in such an infantile demonstration, and to be perfectly honest, neither would I be able to. Be that as it may, I held on, lastly, he gave in. As he started, he turned out to be detectably vexed. All of a sudden he was writhing on the floor in misery. His breathing was quick, convulsive. ‘Mommy! Daddy!’ left his mouth automatically in uproarious shrieks. He seemed, by all accounts, to be in a trance like state or sleep inducing state. The writhing offered approach to little shakings, lastly, he discharged a puncturing, deathlike shout that shook the dividers of my office. The whole scene endured just a couple of minutes, and neither Danny nor I had any thought what had happened. Whatever he could say a while later was: ‘I made it! I don’t recognize what, however I can feel.”
In spite of the fact that the starting goal of this specific practice wasn’t to get the patient to shout, more than once did his Primal Therapy sessions end with the patient shouting and feeling lighter, resuscitated, and soothed of burdens that were holding them down in life.
Try It Yourself!
Step 1: Be alone — If you live in a place that you can’t be alone, it might be a good idea to talk to your family or roommates and explain to them what you’re about to do and make sure they’re okay with it. If you’re good to go, move on to step 2.
Step 2: Lie Down — Lie down on a yoga mat on your back and place a pillow underneath your head. If you don’t own a yoga mat, you can use a rug or even a soft blanket.
Step 3: Think — Think of things that have hurt you or made you angry. It can be anything from your childhood or even something that happened recently to make yourself cry, if you’re not already crying or upset. You could even scream “Mommy! Daddy!” just like Dr. Janov’s patients did to get yourself started.
Step 4: Scream — Don’t hold anything back; cry and scream as loud as you can. You can also pound your fists on the ground, or just lie there and scream at the top of your lungs, whatever gets you to be an opera singer.
After this, you should return your breathing to a normal and steady pace. You should feel lighter, like a weight has been lifted off of you. If not, you can always try other methods to relieve your heart.