Separation Conflict

A separation conflict arises when the psyche registers an unexpected, serious problem with sensory contact: either the loss of contact that is needed, or the presence of unwanted contact.

"Contact" means relating with something or someone in physical reality, through the five senses, but especially through touch.

The separation conflict is rooted in one of the most fundamental biological needs: the need to locate ourselves in time and space through our sensory apparatus, and the need for physical closeness and connection with others. The cerebral cortex evolved to manage these functions, and the ectodermal tissues it relays — including the epidermis, corneas, sensory epithelia, and the linings of body passages — are the biological substrates of contact and connection.

Separation conflicts relay through the pre-motor sensory cortex, the sensory cortex, and the post-sensory cortex. Crossover applies, so that relays in the right-side sensory cortices govern sensory tissues on the left side of the body, and vice versa.

Separation conflicts can involve any of the five senses:

• Auditory contact — a problem with hearing (involving the vestibulocochlear nerve)
• Smell/scent contact — a "stink" conflict or scent separation, involving the lining of the nose, sinuses, and the very back of the throat
• Taste — the conflict will involve the tastebuds
• Visual contact — when thwarted, leads to visual separation conflicts (involving the cornea) or conflicts related to trying to find an escape (involving the retina). In humans, over 90% of our sensory information comes through the visual cortex.
• Touch — the largest sensory organ is the skin. When there is a separation conflict involving touch, it affects:
  • the epidermis, either in a localized area or, if it is a general (whole-body) separation (such as separation from a place), it will appear as points (pocks) all over the body.
  • the periosteum, if the touch-contact separation conflict is severe ("brutal") and has a self-devaluation quality, producing stinging, flowing pain ("rheuma") or "cold burning" during the active conflict and during the epi-crisis of the healing phase.

Conflict-Active Phase Patterns

During the conflict-active phase of a separation conflict, the affected ectodermal tissue and sensory response follows one of two patterns:

• Outer Skin Pattern — the sensory tissue (epidermis, corneas, etc.) undergoes cell loss: the sensory tissue thins and becomes dry and sensitivity diminishes in the area corresponding to the touch-separation.
• Gullet Mucosa Pattern — the periosteum becomes sensitive or even painful ("nerve pain") during the active conflict. Examples: rheumatic pain, heartburn, dental sensitivity.

The side of the body affected depends on laterality and the relationship type: a separation involving a mother-child type relationship will affect the non-dominant side; a partner-type separation will affect the dominant side. The specific area of skin or epithelium affected corresponds to the area of the body associated with the missing or unwanted sensory contact.

During the healing phase, outer-skin-pattern tissues rebuild with characteristic inflammation, sensitivity, itching, and sometimes rash or blistering — what conventional medicine often diagnoses as eczema, psoriasis, shingles, chicken pox, or other dermatological conditions.

Psychological Effects

When there is a constellation of two active similar separation or brutal separation conflicts in both hemispheres, there are memory problems (especially short-term memory) and there can be sensory hallucinations. The biological purpose of memory loss is to "forget" the separation, which provides relief from the biological conflict in the psyche. The purpose of sensory hallucinations is to "warn" the individual.