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The Relaxation Response
By Herbert Benson. New York: HarperTorch, 2000, 227 pages, $6.99.
The Relaxation Response, written by Dr. Herbert Benson was originally published in 2000. Its revised and expanded 25th anniversary edition, published by HarperTorch in New York, would be useful supplement in the therapy of individuals seeking treatment for coping with stress and its negative effects, specifically the physiological effects. This book would also be beneficial to those individuals for whom stress may be secondary to the presenting problem and can be managed to the point that long term effects may be prevented. Individuals who may find this book of benefit include students who want to find ways to cope with the regular stresses in their lives or individuals trying to adapt to the stress of personal illness or the illness of a loved one. With a comprehensive approach, but a simple language this book of 227 pages would be best suited for older adolescents and adults.
One of the main focuses of The Relaxation Response is a discussion about the physiological effects of stress and anxiety producing stimuli on an individual’s body, such as increased heart rate and blood pressure that occur during the fight or flight response. The fight or flight response is the human body’s mechanism for reacting to possibly dangerous stimuli, such that it allows individuals to react in critical ways to protect themselves. Dr. Benson further explains that ongoing activation of this protective response can influence one’s likelihood of suffering from a stroke, heart attack, or other related conditions when the physiological components of the response are continuously activated. As a result, Dr. Benson suggests that something can be done to cope with and manage these negative effects.
After providing the reader with a basis for why a concept, such as the relaxation response would be needed, Dr. Benson presents a discussion of what the relaxation response is and describes its benefits. For example, he relates it to the fight or flight response because it creates a physiological state that is the opposite of what is occurring during the fight or flight response. Dr. Benson states that this is because it decreases an individual’s blood pressure, heart rate, and other levels that are usually increased during the fight or flight response. Therefore, a healthier internal environment is available to the person.
The elements of the process and the steps that are involved are also available in The Relaxation Response. Dr. Benson offers guidelines for eliciting the response and a general overview of the essentials, such as a quiet place, something to focus on, such as a word or a sound, and a passive mindset. In order to reinforce the concepts of the relaxation response, Dr. Benson also provides the reader with examples of how people incorporate the process into their lives and their methods to create it. He also provides the reader with historical accounts of past forms of meditation that are thought to bring about similar effects on the body. This allows the reader to begin to piece together the various elements of the relaxation response to better understand it and personalize the process.
The comprehensive, yet understandable nature of The Relaxation Response lends itself to be used for a variety of purposes. Not only can someone read it on his or her own, but it can also be used as a supplement to psychotherapy. For example, it would serve well as an educational tool to the client who is already suffering from the severe physiological symptoms due ongoing stress and wants to manage his or her current health. It would also serve as an educational tool for someone whose lifestyle has not produced the negative effects of stress yet, but wants to manage the stressful conditions that exist, so they can avoid the dangerous consequences of ongoing stress or anxiety.
The organization of The Relaxation Response invites the psychotherapist to implement certain portions at certain points in treatment, such that the order in which the material is presented reflects this. For example, the introduction and chapters one through three would be most helpful to the client during the initial stages of treatment. This is because these sections present descriptions of what is likely to be occurring within the body. These descriptions provide a different perspective for understanding stress that the client may have never taken or understood on their own. As a result, the client can begin to learn what he or she is attempting to deal with before he or she actually attempts to change it. Therefore, using these beginning chapters provides the client a basis for the supplemental exercises the therapist will use with the client to produce a favorable change. The therapist can discuss some of the major points during the psychotherapy and can then encourage the client to read it before the next session and ask for any clarification necessary during the remaining sessions.
Once the client begins to understand the purpose and reasons to produce a relaxation response he or she can begin to explore what exactly it is and how to achieve it. In order to do this the psychotherapist would refer the client to pages 10 through 12 and chapters four and five to create a picture of what the process entails and what should result from it. These sections would provide the client with examples of how ordinary people incorporate the relaxation response into their every daily lives, which would provide the clients with some reassurance that you do not need to be an expert at this to receive its benefits. In addition to these sections, the clinician might want to encourage the client to read chapters six through eight to provide the history and support for the effects of the relaxation response that they have not gotten a grasp on yet.
Chapter six would also be useful to convey the idea that the relaxation response can create another, but healthier escape, instead of smoking or drinking, which may foster a greater interest in actually carrying out this process. These sections on the implementation of the relaxation response and its use would be best used once the client understands the reasons for it, such that he or she will actually take the time to learn it and reap the benefits. During these sessions the therapist can further support the client in his or her endeavors and goals by practicing the various steps for the elicitation of the relaxation response during the sessions. As a result, the client can become more aware of the process and determine if it is working.
Once the client becomes more familiar and comfortable to achieve the relaxation response, then the therapist could encourage the client to continue practicing the exercises on his or her own and track what occurs, whether it be positive or negative. These outcomes could be worked on further during the future sessions. To reinforce this, the therapist could provide the client with copies of the tracking chart that is provided at the end of chapter eight, so that they can keep a record of the outcome for the effort they put into it and can focus them on reaching their specific goals.
The organization of The Relaxation Response not only allows itself to be used productively in psychotherapy, but it also serves as a strength. This is because the general manner in which it portrays the relaxation response and its relation to stress and anxiety increases its practicality for a large number of people would find useful. For example, it would be useful in therapy with different clients with varying levels of stress in their lives and varying conditions. This is because different types of clients may benefit from different parts of the book. A client who’s main goal is to develop more effective coping strategies may initially benefit from the educational portion of the book because he or she realizes the damaging influence that ongoing stress to the body’s internal systems can occur and will motivate themselves to make the necessary changes. On the other hand, the client who has suffered from the negative symptoms of excessive stress or anxiety may need the more comprehensive approach, such that they gradually work through understanding the physiology of stress and then working towards actually eliciting the relaxation response in order to create a healthier living situation.
Another strength of The Relaxation Response relates back to the broad nature of it. This is because it does not propose a method to coping with stress more effectively without support and explanations for it. In addition, Dr. Benson provides examples of what led up to the idea of the relaxation response, such as arguments against it, experiments disputing it, and controversies over it. Therefore, Dr. Benson allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions and to determine what would work best. As a result, it is possible that this aspect of the book would foster a sense of control over one’s decisions leading to a more positive attitude toward the message of the book. This aspect of the book is also likely to foster confidence in the client about what he or she can do in order to change and to want to change.
The active nature revolving around eliciting the relaxation response also increases the usefulness of The Relaxation Response, since it can be used in psychotherapy. To be able to practice something with another person has the possibility of reassuring the client that what he or she is working towards is worth it. Since this would convey positive regard to the client, he or she will gradually feel more comfortable and confident about practicing the various exercises to better acquaint him or herself with the relaxation response. Therefore, these clients may also be more compliant in treatment and have a more positive treatment outcome with regards to how they manage their stress.
The clarity of the material presented in <i>The Relaxation Response</i> is a final strength. Although there are medical and biological concepts described throughout, this book presents them in a noncomplex fashion. For example, Dr. Benson does not use many complicated medical or biological terms or when he does, he explains them clearly. Therefore, it is less likely to limit who can read it and understand it because they do not have to work to understand the basic message.
The multifaceted and comprehensive nature of The Relaxation Response can also be viewed as a weakness to some extent because it tends to offer a large amount of information at once. For example, not only does it present sections on the physiological aspects of stress and anxiety on the body, but it also provides the reader with the history of the relaxation response, the history of meditation, as well as accounts of past uses of such processes. Some of the detailed accounts can become a little tedious once the reader has gotten a grasp on the goal of the relaxation. As a result, the reader may begin to lose interest in the topic and stop reading for a while.
The comprehensive nature of The Relaxation Response can also been seen as a slight weakness, such that it may have limited the pages devoted to applying what the reader has read and practicing the techniques of the relaxation response. Although Dr. Benson gives examples of what is necessary for the process and the steps to follow, it might have been more helpful to provide more outlines for exercises related to the relaxation response and examples of how various people have used it in their lives and how they have gained from it. As a result, a more complete picture of the process from start to finish would be created for the reader, such that they would have developed a greater motivation and insight into the process.
Overall, The Relaxation Response presents a well-organized and legitimate conception of the relaxation response and why it might be valuable to achieve. With strong support and explanations for what occurs in the body when subjected to ongoing threats of stress or anxiety, Dr. Benson lays the groundwork for the necessity for the something such as a relaxation response. The book’s value is completed with a description of the process and what an individual should do to achieve the response and accounts to support its practicality and usefulness. Therefore, the client can begin at one end of the cycle and move to the other end in a positive fashion and live a healthier and more functional lifestyle when it comes to stress and anxiety.
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