What is Autogenic Training
General information on autogenic training
Autogenic training (TA) is a relaxation-desensitization technique, with which it is possible to obtain measurable psychophysical reactions, used above all for the treatment of anxiety, depression and uncontrolled psychosomatic reactions.
It was developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz, also thanks to his predecessors Abbé Faria and Émile Coué, and was first disclosed in 1932. Studying the psychosomatic responses of some subjects immersed in a hypnotic state, JH Schultz noted that certain sensations specific physiological changes are associated in the body.
Autogenic training involves the repetition (initially guided, then autonomous) of mental visualizations responsible for the induction of psychophysical relaxation. It is based on the passive concentration of body perceptions (eg heaviness and heat of the arms, legs, etc.), further facilitated by self-suggestion. The main characteristic of autogenic training that differentiates it, for example, from hypnosis, is to make the patient autonomous and therefore an independent operator.
Autogenic training is mainly used to improve emotional management; in the clinical setting it is useful to alleviate certain psychosomatic disorders induced by stress (whatever the cause) and, in the sports field, to improve the athlete's approach to performance (especially of the race). The most indicative example of the utility of autogenic training in sport is undoubtedly the application in underwater apnea.
Biofeedback professionals integrate autogenous visualization elements and combine them with simplified versions of parallel techniques. Elmer Green, Steve Fahrio, Patricia Norris, Joe Sargent, Dale Walters and other members of the "Menninger Foundation" have incorporated the autogenic training technique of "perception of heat to the hands" obtaining a thermal biofeedback on the same body district.
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Biofeedback means a process of increasing awareness of many physiological functions, using mainly tools that analyze the activity of those same systems, with the aim of being able to manipulate them at will. Some of the processes that can be controlled are: brain waves, muscle tone, skin conductance, heart rate and pain perception. Biofeedback can be used to improve health and physical performance, and to take action on emotional psychosomatic reactions. At the end of the process, these changes can be maintained without the use of additional equipment, since no equipment is required for the practice of biofeedback (except for initial measurements). Biofeedback has been effective in treating headaches and migraines.
What is it for
Clinical applications of autogenic training
Autogenic training has several applications. It is widely used in the treatment of psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression, and of certain pathophysiological conditions such as bronchial asthma and high blood pressure.
Is autogenic training effective?
Autogenic training has been evaluated in clinical settings since the early days of its discovery, in Germany, and since the early 1980s throughout the world. In 2002, a meta-analysis of 60 studies was published in "Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback" (Stetter, Friedhelm; Kupper, Sirko - March 2002 - "Autogenic training: a meta-analysis of clinical outcome studies" - Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback). The work highlighted the positive effects of treatment, estimated not only on medical diagnostic parameters, but also on improving the quality of life. The benefits proved to be equal or superior to the other recommended therapies.
Note : in Japan, researchers from the "Tokyo Psychology and Counseling Service Center" have formulated an evaluation scale to signal the clinical effectiveness of autogenic training.
How to do Autogenic Training
Objective of autogenic training
The main purpose of autogenic training is to develop autonomy in emotional regulation, actively excluding environmental distractions, thanks to specific visualization techniques that are easy to learn and remember.
Basic principles of autogenic training
Autogenic training is based on 3 fundamental principles:
- Reduction of afferent stimulation (both exteroceptive and proprioceptive)
- Mental repetition of verbal formulas
- Passive concentration .
Passive concentration: what does it mean?
In the context of passive concentration induced by autogenic training, the person is instructed to focus exclusively on internal sensations rather than on environmental stimuli. The term "passivity" refers to a specific positive attitude, not a negative one. It consists in adopting a permissive attitude, simply leaving (so to speak) that the sensations happen, without hindering them, acquiring the role of an observer rather than a manipulator .
Autogenic training positions
Autogenic training can be performed in different positions:
- Simple seat
- Reclining armchair
- Horizontal posture (supine).
Autogenic training exercises
According to Schultz, the technique consists of six standard exercises:
- Muscle relaxation, highlighting heaviness, by repeating a verbal formula, for example: "my right arm is heavy".
Note : During the initial stages of training, the feeling of heaviness in the arm is expressed more intensely and rapidly. The same sensation can be experienced later in other parts of the body, even at the same time. In just 7 days of training, the feeling of heaviness can be triggered very quickly already.
- Passive concentration, focusing attention on the sensation of heat, repeating a verbal formula, for example: "my right arm is warm"
- Initiation of cardiac activity, using repeating the verbal formula: "my heart rate is calm and regular"
- Passive concentration on the respiratory mechanism the verbal formula: "I'm breathing"
- Passive concentration on heat in the abdominal region with the formula "my solar plexus is hot"
- Passive concentration on the cool in the cranial region with the formula "my forehead is fresh".
When adding a new phase of exercise in autogenic training, the subject should always concentrate initially on the exercises already learned, retracing them, and only then add a new path. Initially it is advisable to limit the new short term exercises.
Variations of the autogenic training protocol
Based on specific clinical needs, the sequence of formulas can be changed into three models:
- Reduction of formulas (eg only heaviness and heat formulas)
- Standard set of formulas with a specific modified formula
- Standard set of formulas and addition of a highly specific formula for the problem in question.
Effects of Autogenic Training
Effects of autogenic training
A study by Spencer (LACI., Spencer, 2015 - FLOTATION: a guide for sensory deprivation, relaxation, and isolation tanks) suggests that autogenic training is able to restore the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic activities of the autonomic nervous system.
The author hypothesizes that this effect may have important health benefits, since sympathetic activities are moderated (hyperactivated in the case of anxiety symptoms) while parasympathetic mechanisms are promoted (which favor digestion, bowel movements, lowering blood pressure). blood flow, slow heart rate and immune functions).
Contraindications
When to avoid autogenic training?
Autogenic training is contraindicated for:
- Subjects with heart problems (for example, individuals with a recent episode of myocardial infarction)
- People with psychotic disorders
- Children under the age of 5 years
- Patients whose symptoms cannot be controlled.
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Psychoses are psychiatric disorders caused by the alteration of psychic balance. They are characterized by the impairment of the perception of reality, by the absence of insight (internal vision - intuition) and by thought disorders such as delusions and hallucinations.
Other Relaxation Techniques
The principle of passive concentration in autogenic training makes this technique fundamentally different from other relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation and biofeedback, in which people try to actively control physiological functions.
deepening
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a non-pharmacological method of deep muscle relaxation, based on the premise that muscle tension is a psychosomatic response to anxiety conditions, and that muscle relaxation itself can reduce anxiety by acting also on the triggering cause. This technique requires first of all learning to monitor tensions in large muscle groups, then to control a specific district. Tensions are then released, as the focus is on the differences felt during tension and muscle relaxation.
However, as in biofeedback, even in autogenic training it is possible to look for a bi-directional change in physiological activity.
Autogenic training is classified as an " auto hypnotic technique ". It is therefore substantially different from hetero-hypnosis, in which progression is managed by an external individual (therapist). Autogenic training emphasizes the independence of the subject, giving him full control of the therapy.
Following autogenic training, the need to use physiological feedback devices and / or hypnotherapist dependence is completely eliminated.
