A short note about TSK and psychotherapy
by Meindert Gijzen (1996)
I want to make a few remarks concerning the relation between TSK and psychotherapy. I do this because doing psychotherapy is my daily job and studying TSK is one of my greatest passions.
For a lot of people who work with the TSK-exercises on a regular basis (myself included), it is obvious that doing so has a potentially healing effect on their personal psychological functioning. In the long run they may come to feel more at ease within themselves and may develop a keener awareness of deeply ingrained patterns and psychological habits. In short: they may experience a definite therapeutic effect. Yet there are important differences between TSK and any kind of psychotherapy.
Does this mean that doing TSK can be a substitute for visiting a psychotherapist or following a following any other kind of psychotherapeutic program? Generally speaking, I am quite sure that this is not the case, although there may be exceptions. I even believe that it can be dangerous for some people with severe psychological problems to engage in intensive TSK-practice. Thus, in my opinion it should be clear that although
practicing TSK may, in the long run, have enormous therapeutic benefits, people with serious psychological problems or psychiatric symptoms should not try to engage in any such activities without seeking proper help for those matters that are intensely bothering them.
The point here seems to be that loosening or partly giving up the ego is okay and safe for those people who have been able to develop an ego that is relatively well established. Of course everyone has suffered minor psychological damage in childhood or later and for everyone there will almost always be a certain neurotic residue left as part of their longstanding patterns and conditioning (or karma, if you like). Although the ego of such people may, in a sense, be tough, inflexible, ugly or tyrannic, it is at least funded on a solid base. Things are different for those who have suffered such extreme developmental damage at an early age or such traumatic stress in their childhoods that their basic sense of self or ego has been fundamentally impaired. I think it would be unnecesary to mention some of the conditions under which this might happen, such as early abandonment, child-battery or sexual abuse. People subjected to these conditions may come to feel psychologically insecure from a very early age, as a result of which exercises with a weakening effect on the control-functions might be threatening and may cause psychological breakdowns or unpleasant disruptions of normal functioning. Of course this pertains not only to TSK-exercises but to other meditative practices as well. The problem here is that the transition from a 'frozen' way of experiencing, to one that is 'fluid' should be very gradual. A sudden breaking of the ice may reveal an intense fire underneath.
On the other hand, I feel that the practice of TSK might be very well combined with some kind of psychotherapeutic work as long as the problems concerned are not to serious. I even think that therapeutic progress might be strongly enhanced and speeded up, provided that the person in question is seriously engaged in TSK for its own sake and not for the sake of gaining any other benefits. The beautiful point about TSK is that, while it promises nothing, it is never without some kind of effect. Truly beneficial effects can only emerge in the long run, however, and are never the result of any kind of conscious deliberation, but mostly of diligent and devoted practice, I believe. For me, personally, TSK has deeply changed my way of looking at people and working in a psychotherapeutic setting. I have become more open towards the natural healing tendencies that are always present in everyone and have become less manipulative in my efforts to change people. In short, TSK provides a fresh breeze, a strong gust of wind or sometimes even an unsettling storm whenever things seem to have become stuck or frozen. The effect, unpredictable as it may be, usually opens up new perspectives and unexpected possibilities.