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14.

On the physiological basis of some form of psychotherapy

The foregoing remarks imply that the hypothalamic balance plays a crucial role at the crossroads between physiological and pathological forms of emotion.

If this is the case, one would expect that not only the various procedures just mentioned which alter the hypothalamic balance would influence emotional state and behavior but that emotion itself would act likewise.

We pointed out that emotional excitement may lead to psychosomatic disorders and neurotic symptoms, particularly in certain types of personality, but it is also known that the reliving of a strong emotion ( `` abreaction '' ) may cure a battle neurosis.

This phenomenon raises the question whether the guidance of the emotions for therapeutic ends may not have an even wider application in the area of the neuroses.

Being a strictly physiological procedure, one may expect from such a study additional information on the nature of the emotional process itself.