Mental health articles

progressive muscle relaxation techniques Progressive Muscular Relaxation
For many stress-management specialists, the core treatment consists of teaching
the client progressive muscular relaxation. Th is technique was originally
developed in the 1920s by Edmund Jacobsen, but became well known in the
1960s when the method was incorporated into the behavioral technique of
systematic desensitization. As the years have passed, most counselors who
employ progressive muscular relaxation do so in a looser manner than the
original directions indicate.
Th e original method involves identifying 16 muscle groups and teaching
how to create and release a moderate tension in each. Th e student is instructed
to close his or her eyes and get into a relaxed position (typically by lying back
on a reclining stuff ed chair). Th e counselor directs the student to create tension
in the fi rst muscle group, encouraging a focus on feelings of tension, and then
to let go of all the tension and focus on the feelings associated with relaxation
as the muscle begins to unwind. Traditionally, this process is repeated for each
muscle group—hands and forearms, upper arms, forehead, upper face, mouth
and jaw, neck and throat, upper legs, lower legs, and feet—through two cycles
of tension (5–6 seconds) followed by relaxation (40–50 seconds). Many modern
practitioners tend to be creative, either combining diff erent muscle groups
to make the process quicker and thus more likely to be practiced, or dropping
the tension cycle entirely and merely having the client focus on releasing
the existing tension. Stressed students are encouraged to practice daily. An
important aspect of the practice is to do it with no external distractions. In
releasing the tensed-up muscle, students learn to repeat internally a relaxing
phrase—perhaps just “and relax.” Indeed, just learning to focus one’s attention
for 15–20 minutes has a very positive eff ect in itself.
Many students will report that the only time they relax is when they watch
television, socialize with friends, or drink alcohol. Obviously these are not
authentic or eff ective moments of relaxation. Th e notion of quieting oneself
with a relaxation procedure is oft en met with reluctance. A recent case exemplifi
es both the reluctance and the potential benefi ts.