Biorhythms

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · Wilhelm Fliess, Hermann Swoboda, Alfred Teltscher · 1904 · Vienna

What it is

Biorhythm theory holds that three fixed cycles, starting at birth, raise and lower a person's physical, emotional and intellectual capacities in a regular wave. A chart drawn from the birth date is said to show favourable days (positive phase), unfavourable days (negative phase) and "critical" or…

Format

• There is no published clinical protocol for biorhythms, and published therapist uses of biorhythm charts are not documented. The framework below is the psychotherapist's own work when a client brings biorhythms into therapy. No session counts are given because no source states them; this work is…
• Phase A: Hearing it (usually part of one session, revisited as needed).

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Evidence status (one line). Controlled tests have not supported the theory: a study of 400 mining accidents found that accidents on workers' critical days, and in rising or falling phases, did not differ from chance, its authors reporting "neither empirical nor theoretical support for the biorhythm…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• the client feeling lectured; if so, return to 4.1. Working: real patterns are recognised and addressed.
• the client experiencing refusal as rejection; repair (Section 5). Working: the client uses sessions for their own thinking.
• chart-led delays in care; a child's distress about "bad days". Working: decisions about the child rest on proper assessment and care.
• your own bias treating the belief as the problem. Working: a clear formulation of whether the use is neutral, helpful, or part of a disorder.
• rumination fed by repeated recalculation (consider 4.7); paid readers approaching bereaved people (4.9). Working: grief work proceeds; self-blame softens.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.