Essential Oils and Psychotherapy
Plant Aromatherapy Unlocks Brain Centers That Hold Emotions, Trauma
Oct 24, 2008
The ancient doctors of Egypt, Arabia, Greece, Rome and Europe in the Middle Ages recommended plant essential oils for every kind of illness and discomfort... including emotional and psychological distress. Modern science is discovering that essential oils are just as potent for healing emotional trauma, boosting endorphins, and improving mood as they were for our ancestors.
What Are Essential Oils?
Essential oils are volatile plant liquids. Most are steam-expressed and are a combination of hundreds of different chemicals, all naturally coexisting and producing a synergistic effect on health.
Essential oils are chemically "volatile" because most are composed (at least partly) of light, fragrant molecules that evaporate easily and are picked up by our respiratory system and detected as smells.
Aromatherapy and the Mind
Essential oils have been shown to be powerful and effective tools to affect the mind and the emotions, for several reasons:
- They are made up of light, volatile chemicals that are easily absorbed by the human body through the sense of smell
- Essential oils are able to stimulate the limbic system of the brain, the "seat of the emotions"
- They are able to signal the hypothalamus, the brain's hormone command center, and can stimulate the production of endorphins and enkephalins, the body's neurochemical tranquilizers
Therapists and psychologists are increasingly using essential oils in their practice with clients. It is said that essential oils have the most impact on the right hemisphere of the brain, the part of the brain that deals with emotion and imagination. Scents are said to bypass the left hemisphere – the orderly "thinking" brain – and go directly to the seat of memory and the emotions, where they can evoke positive memories and heal past trauma.
Practical Applications: Essential Oils and Productivity
All of the above sounds very theoretical, but there is practical research that supports the benefits of aromatherapy and scents in emotional work.
Research has shown that:
- Women who smelled the fragrance of lemon essential oil daily lost weight more quickly in clinical trials than those who simply exercised
- Essential oils diffused in the workplace made employees calmer and increased job efficiency
- Lavender essential oil (and several others) is able to act as a potent aphrodisiac, especially for men
How to Use Essential Oils in Psychotherapy
The beauty of essential oils, as opposed to most forms of modern medicine, is that there is very little chance of using them "wrong." Pure essential oils (see caution below) have virtually no side effects and can be used intuitively.
Essential oils may be used for therapeutic benefit by inhaling a drop from cupped palms. This helps with emotional upset as well as headaches, stress, and tension. Some of the best oils for inhalation include sandalwood, peppermint, vetiver, lavender and white fir.
Pure essential oils may be applied to the throat, neck, back and the soles of the feet, where they have an immediate effect on the immune system and can boost mood. The feet, hands, and ears are all good sports to apply the oils, because they are covered in accupressure points related to the emotions.
Caution: Essential Oil Purity
Differences in the heat, speed, and ingredients used in processing make for very different qualities of oil, ranging from perfume grade to medicinal "therapeutic-grade" oils. Even oils marketed as therapeutic-grade may have ingredients added that are not disclosed on the labels. Please be extremely cautious in selecting any oils that will be used for therapeutic purposes. For more information, see The Real Quality of Essential Oils.
Reference
Essential Science Publishing (compiled by), Essential Oils Desk Reference, 2nd Edition. USA, Essential Science Publishing, 2001.
Lawless, Julia, Aromatherapy and the Mind. London: Thorsons, 1994.
Smith, Linda, Essential Oils for Emotional and Spiritual Clearing. USA, Healing Touch Spiritual Ministry, 2005.
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