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MEDIUMSHIP - OBSESSION: CURE AND TREATMENT

Spiritual Treatment for More Severe Obsessions

Advice to Family Members

The family members of the patient will also receive counseling from those who are treating the patient. They are educated about the importance of their participation in the healing process, whereby they should be supportive of their loved one and the treatment he is undergoing, help him to keep his thoughts elevated and focused on positive things, and do whatever they can to maintain a harmonious environment in the home. A very helpful resource is the practice of weekly Gospel at Home meetings.

There are two factors involved in the family member's need to be supportive. The first is the mere fact that an attitude of incomprehension and criticism, which is unfortunately common, especially among families who do not know or accept the teachings of Spiritism, will obstruct the effects of the therapeutic work, by representing one more problem that the patient must overcome, whereas a genuine acceptance, understanding and encouraging attitude, demonstrating love without the imposition of prejudice, will do wonders to enhance the success of the patient's recovery.

The second factor is the spiritual ties that the family members often share with the individual undergoing an obsession. The Spirit author, Manoel Philomeno de Miranda writes, in "Obsession", dictated to the medium, Divaldo P. Franco, "Since spirits are bound together in a family group, by their mutual necessity of evolution and reciprocal need for readjustment, those who surround the obsessed patient are strongly connected with the predisposing agent, if not personally responsible for the entity's past failure, and are now summoned to cooperate in the settlement of accounts." He goes on to write, "It is said that the spirits who live with a psychopath suffer much more than the patient himself. This is not true. They suffer because they need to evolve, since they bear a share of responsibility in the problem they are presently facing. Consequently, they must do their best to help the liberation of the obsessed, thereby liberating themselves, as well.…… Many people throw their sick ones, even loved ones, into a sanatorium, as a means of getting rid of a burden they find too heavy to bear, thus incurring very serious responsibilities which, sooner or later, they will no longer be able to escape…..This is why it is vital in any obsession that the patient's family be strongly advised as to its own responsibilities concerning obsession."

Kardec, Allan. "Obsession." The Mediums' Book. 2nd ed (1st edition FEB). Trans. Anna Blackwell (translated 1876). Ed. Livraria Espírita Allan Kardec. Brasilia-DF, Brazil: Federação Espírita Brasileira [Brazilian Spiritist Federation}.1986. 285-292.

Kardec, Allan. The Gospel Explained By The Spiritist Doctrine. Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from 3rd edition in French). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 2000. 302-303.

Schubert, Suely Caldas. Obsessão e Desobsessão. [Obsession and Disobsession]. 14 ed. Rio de Janeiro- RJ, Brazil. 2000. 87-170.

De Miranda, Manoel Philomeno [Spirit Author], Franco, Divaldo P. [Medium]. Obsession. (translation of "Grilhoes Partidos). Trans. Donato Ely J. and Miranda, Herminio C. Salvador, Ba, Brazil. Centro Espirita "Caminho da Redenção". 1980. 9-21.

Peralva, Martins. "Obsessoes" (Obsessions). Estudando A Mediunidade [Studying Mediumship]. Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil: Federação Espírita Brasileira [Brazilian Spiritist Federation]. 1998 (20th ed). 65-71.

Systematized Study published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. Program V, Unit 8, Subunit 4 Disobsession: Prevention and Therapy. Published 1996, Brasilia (DF).

Luiz, André (Spirit Author), Xavier, Francisco Cândido (Medium). Nos Dominios Da Mediunidade [In The Domains of Mediumship]. Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil. Brazilian Spiritist Federation. 1945 23, 30,34-36, 42-47.