Schultz Autogenic Training: What It Is And How It Is Used In Therapy

Relaxation is a state that is accessed through very diverse techniques; In addition, it is a state that many people in consultation want to reach, especially suffering from stress. One of the techniques to get there is Schultz's Autogenic Training.

This type of training aims to achieve relaxation in the individual, but also other deeper objectives, which we will see in this article. We will also know the exercises it uses and its characteristics, in detail.

• Related article: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

Schultz Autogenic Training - What is it?

Schultz's autogenic training consists of a relaxation technique, through which it is intended to produce a general transformation of the individual, through a series of physiological exercises (specifically, six).

Etymologically, the term "autogenous" comes from the Greek "autos" (itself) and "gene" (becoming); It could be translated as a training developed from the subject's "self", and that involves all of him.

However, Schultz's autogenic training goes far beyond simple relaxation, and sometimes allows to produce important psychological changes in people, much more internal and profound, as we will see more late.

More specifically, "autogenic training" means the act of exercising the mind by oneself, voluntarily.

The goal is to influence the behavior of the rest of the body, and the physiological changes that appear indicate that this technique is much more than a persuasion technique.

• You may be interested: "6 easy relaxation techniques to combat stress"

Training

Schultz's autogenic training exercises are 6, and focus on different parts of the body. Specifically:

• Heaviness exercise
• Heat exercise
• Pulsing exercise
• Breathing exercise
• Abdominal regulation
• Head exercise

goals

Some of the most relevant objectives of Schultz's Autogenic Training were defined by Carranque (2004). More concretely, this author spoke of the benefits of self-apply such training:

1. Self-regulation

There is a self-regulation of the organism's organic functions, such as respiratory, cardiovascular and digestive functions.

2. Body reset

The body is balanced, and good psychohygiene is achieved. Psychohygiene is a concept a little deeper, which refers to the care of oneself, and the fact of use one's own reflections and affections to repair internal wounds.

3. Self-reassurance

Another of the goals or achievements of Schultz's autogenic training is decrease anxiety levels, and an internal state of peace and tranquility is produced, through internal relaxation.

4. Self determination

Self-determination allows the person to know what they want and decide for themselves, in addition to better cope with stressful life situations.

5. Increase performance

Another of the achievements of Schultz's training is the increase in performance of areas such as memory and attention.

6. Pain suppression

In some cases, it also modulates or suppresses the sensation of pain.

7. Self-criticism and self-control

It allows us to improve our capacity for self-criticism and self-control, through improving our inner vision of ourselves.

Basics of this relaxation technique

The fundamentals, characteristics, or "rules" of Schultz's autogenic training are as follows:

On the one hand, Schultz considers the body and mental processes as a joint unit. In addition, he believes that mental learning can influence the rest of the body, and vice versa.

This technique is based on clinical hypnosis; hypnosis is a dream-like state, achieved through psychological influence. But there is another type of hypnosis: superficial. This provides a state of pleasant tranquility, where the inner life remains "awake."

The training continues a sort of orderly and progressive self-hypnosis process (the same exercises and in the same order), which causes a series of physiological changes (in the body), such as muscle relaxation, modification of the heart and respiratory rate, etc.

Furthermore, Schultz's autogenic training does not appeal to the conscious will of the person, but rather, as we said, it is a more self-hypnotic process (where the person "surrenders" to the exercises in a natural).

Finally, ** focuses on producing real physiological changes **, which can affect the psychological and physical well-being of the person. He considers that an idea represented with sufficient intensity in a state of concentration, allows to achieve these changes.

Considerations

When implementing Schultz autogenic training, a number of considerations are important to keep in mind.

On the one hand, a quiet, pleasant place to work should be found, with a suitable temperature and light, without noise, etc.

The initial position of the person should be comfortable; It can be seated in a comfortable chair or armchair, on a backless stool, or directly stretched out. The eyes must be closed.

Once in the starting position, It is recommended that the person begin to say a series of self-instructions previously practiced, such as "I am calm", "I am comfortable", etc. Finally, it is important not to change the order of the exercises.

How long does it take to learn?

If practiced regularly 2 or 3 times a day, for 3 minutes, each exercise can be learned well in 10 or 15 days (under normal conditions).

It must be systematic and constant so as not to lose the progress that is being achieved. It is essential that the learning of the exercises be gradual, that is, to overcome a previous stage to advance to the next. Thus, in general, the learning of the complete training can be between 3 and 4 months.

On the other hand, if your practice is abandoned, it is advisable to start over with the first exercise and go back to learning each one of them (although the learning will be faster).

Bibliographic references:

• Pérez, M.; Fernández, J.R.; Fernández, C. and Friend, I. (2010). Guide to effective psychological treatments I and II:. Madrid: Pyramid.
• Self-applied program to control test anxiety. (2015). University of Almería. Ministry of Education and Science, 1-3.
• Schultz, J. H. (1959). Autogenic training. Barcelona: Medical Scientific Ed.