I’ll start with biology: acne develops in the so-called dermis (not the epidermis). The function of the skin is to protect the inside of our body. The control centre for the skin is located in the cerebellum, which develops from the old mesoderm during the embryonic period.
The dermis reacts to a biological conflict with the content of an “attack.” Colloquially speaking, nature strengthens that part of the skin by thickening it so it can better repel the attack.
The attack can be physical, but in humans it can also be verbal or symbolic.
Acne lesions are deep and painful. There is no better symbolism to reflect the nature of the conflict that lies behind acne.
For acne to develop, the attack we experience must feel deep and painful to us.
A verbal attack, criticism, insult, defilement.
There is a lot of shame in the emotions, but also anger. A sense of humiliation may dominate.
Why mainly the face?
Because it is our being. It is our identity. The face is mine, unique, different from everyone else; it distinguishes me from billions of people around the world—there is no other like it.
To save face. To preserve dignity. To feel defiled. To spit in someone’s face.
EXAMPLE:
A 13-year-old boy. A girl in his class doesn’t like him and, out of spite, calls him gay. She does it in front of others and encourages them to insult him as well. The boy does not feel he is gay; he feels that his dignity, his face, his identity are being violated.
The first lesions appear on his face. The boy goes to school every day; the situation continues for another week, and more lesions appear as a result of further attacks. He asks his parents for support; the parents react, teachers support him, and the attacks stop.
And here an important aspect appears: the vicious-circle mechanism.
The attacks have ended, but new lesions appear. Just from seeing the changes on his face in the mirror several times a day, and the ointments not working, he starts another biological conflict of attack—this time: “I am being attacked by acne,” “my face is terrible,” “people are disgusted by me,” “I am disgusting.” He attacks himself.
On top of that, he goes to a dermatologist for painful procedures. The boy doesn’t like them and doesn’t want them—another attack, this time physical. After each dermatology session, new lesions appear. In the morning, the pillow is stained with blood; physical effort causes pain in the lesions. “Nothing works; I’ll be stuck with this forever; I’m tired and sore.”
Then come the “well-meaning” comments from “rescuers”:
“What’s on your face?”
“I have a good ointment.”
“Why aren’t you doing anything about it?”
“What’s happening to you?”
“Do something about that face.”
And so on. In fact, more attacks causing more lesions.
What helps?
Probably the best thing would be to remove all mirrors from the surroundings. Also, to surround oneself with people who “won’t see it” or comment on it, so the lesions can heal peacefully.
This is very difficult for a teenager who goes to school every day.
Fortunately, in such cases, pharmacology has found solutions. There are also natural therapies.
My recent experience
Recently, I “got” a pimple above my upper lip. The day before, I had an exchange of words with my husband where I felt defiled. When I felt the lesion (one night was enough), I knew “where” it came from. I also felt amused, because I hadn’t had such a lesion in 20 years. The words hurt more than I thought.
In the case of acne, a mechanism of over-interpretation may occur. If there is particular sensitivity around a certain issue, it is easy to over-interpret an event—to build it up emotionally—and then the symptoms are strong and painful, proportionate to the duration and the emotional wound, or, in Germanic terms, the conflict mass.
If you get stuck, I invite you to a session. To resolve the conflict, it is necessary to capture the feeling and the emotion.
Magdalena Magrian-Lewandowska
p.s. The face of the woman in the painting by Daniel Gromacki, “Perspective of Identity.”
This is a place to acknowledge your experience of humanity.
I work 1:1 or 1:2 with unconscious inner images,
beliefs of the mind, repressed emotions,
experienced in life as stagnation, suffering, difficulty,
strong emotions, lack of agency, a “vicious circle,”
somatic symptoms (especially skin, lungs, large intestine, rheumatoid arthritis).
I practice using the tools of Systemic Constellations, Hellinger Constellations, Psychobiology, German New Medicine, contact with the inner child, with repressed parts of the self, with emotions and feelings.
I invite you to a session. 🌷
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Session lasts up to 1 hour 15 minutes.
Price: 422 PLN.
Registration: magdalena@magdalenamagrian.com
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Session lasts 1 hour 15 minutes.
Price: 422 PLN.
The session may be extended up to a maximum of 1 hour 45 minutes.
In that case, the price increases proportionally and can reach up to 596 PLN.
Registration: magdalena@magdalenamagrian.com More information about how I work and what the sessions look like:
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