Safety in Treating Anger CEU

Safety in Treating Anger

In an East Asian medical context, anger is easily misdiagnosed. Too often, if someone is angry, it is assumed to be caused by Liver qi constraint. Anger may be heat in the blood, liver yang rising, festering damp heat in the Liver/Gall bladder, internal wind—and in some cases, there is a defensive victim anger that is actually blood deficiency! In these cases, simply moving liver qi may be harmful to the client. Conversely, if someone has Liver qi constraint evident on their pulse and tongue, it is assumed that moving Liver qi with herbs and needles is the best next step—but in fact, if there is a more serious pattern underneath, this may be a dangerous choice.

Treating anger safely requires a rigorous understanding of all possibilities.

NOTE: This course offers both acupuncture and herbal strategies, but it is significantly weighted towards herbs—primarily because the diagnostic language is much more precise. The ideas do transfer, but they are not discussed in nearly as much detail for acupuncture alone.