'Getting Beyond Shen Disorders - Chinese Medical Management of Behavioral Disorders' Webinar Presented by Dr Steve Marsden

About the Webinar

Behavioral disorders are major life-threatening disorders in veterinary medicine, but successfully addressing them seems to require the ability to communicate directly with the mind of an animal. Many veterinary acupuncture courses abandon any pretext of such a skill, simply labeling all such afflicted patients as ‘Shen disturbed’; while in modern medicine, we have blanket diagnoses such as ‘aggression’ and ‘anxiety’.

A more detailed exploration of Chinese medicine, however, provides an excellent paradigm for interpreting the nuances of animal behavior to come up with definitive treatment options. The Shen of an animal is the product of five emotions and five spirits, and understanding in detail the five emotions and spirits, and the precise ways they may be expressed in animals makes it relatively easy to generate a short list of differential diagnoses.

Equally as valuable are any physical symptoms and tendencies, for the animal brain is affected by the same metaphoric forces that drive symptom development in the rest of the body. This lecture will illustrate these principles of diagnosis by examining several treated cases. In addition, we’ll highlight some key indications and mechanisms of the Chinese herbs that can mediate these disorders.