TCM Psychiatry and Spiritual Recapitulation (Qíng Zhì Bìng) – Module Four

Module Four

Human Development, Needs, and Bonding

It is those early patterns that make us so loaded that we can be easily triggered!

As modern culture is becoming more self-reflective, the subject of Developmental Psychology has changed significantly. Fifty years ago, the focus was getting the most out of the work force through industrial education. Presently, we are rethinking the entire structure of enforced and overcrowded education.

How we raise our children has also changed considerably. From the number of children per family, to the invasion of screens over faces, young people spend a profoundly dangerous amount of time alone, comparing themselves to others. Being raised to become a curious and confident social animal is becoming the exception instead of the norm.

All forms of social polarization, from wealth disparity, extreme diets, politics, religion, are ensuring that the deepest cultural and familial grudges are well tended. Growing up in an unstable culture, with a potentially dire future, fluctuations in gender and identity has created a world where a strong sense of self is maladaptive. We become ourselves adapting to our environment, and presently our culture fears missing out more than adding individual creativity and expression. The last 20 years, more than any time in history, has created a crisis of Mental, Emotional and Existential health in our children.

Nearly 20% of children are facing diagnosable Psychiatric condition (including depression, anxiety, neurodivergence, addiction, and suicidal ideation,) That 20%, and all other children, are being raised by parents with a minimum 30%, and more likely 50% probability of a diagnosable mental or emotional ‘condition’ of overwhelm in their lifetime.

From a TCM perspective, a Qing Zhi Bing (also translatable to the wounds of Adverse Childhood Experiences), can linger and grow, building into a perfect storm of behavioral chaos and consequences that appear later in life.

Most Trauma that is predicably and easily ‘triggered’ is really about pain. A person, or a weapon, cannot be triggered unless it is already loaded and ready to explode. The Healing journey is to accept that each kind of pain comes from an unmet need, as well as accepting that most needs can only be fulfilled in the presence of others.

There are many approaches and practices to gradually work with childhood wounds. Some of these can be done alone, and some can only be done with a mentor of some kind.

As adults, one of the hardest things to accept is that we are responding to our woundedness in a wounded way. Being mad at yourself for all of your volatile behaviours is unlikely to resolve anything.

As adults with a wounded inner child, it is possible for both of you to learn to trust structure, stability, and wisdom together. It just take time and intention.

Module Four Contents:

• Developmental Psychology
• Met and Unmet Needs
• Adverse Childhood Experiences
• Inner Child Work – Recapitulation 101
• Latent Wounds and Forming Identities
• Relative Maturity
• A Closing Circle -Four – The Four Colors of Time