GoE UK August 1999

News

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A Combined ETF/Homeopathy Case (CASE No Z1348)

By Dr Tam Llewellyn-Edwards Member of "The Association For Meridian Therapies (UK)

The client was a middle aged woman who presented with lower back pain, but claimed that she felt simply "unwell". Client details: Married with two daughters (one married and the other away at University). She lives with her husband and works as a shop assistant. She has no brothers or sisters. Her mother suffered from back pain. She suffered from lower back pain, a stiff upper back and claimed to be generally unwell, but was unable to say in what way she was unwell. Treatment The client presented for homeopathic treatment and a full case study was taken at the first session. She had had her back problem for some five years and (as well as conventional treatment) she has seen a number of complementary therapists, but had been unable to obtain relief, except following acupuncture which provided short term relief from the back pain. Her mother is ageing and weak and the client worried about her, and often worked herself up "into a state" about her. She claimed to have no fears nor phobias. She had recently become "anxious about small things" About six months ago she had suffered a bad attack of flu and had not felt well since then. The continuous feeling of being under the weather was "getting her down". Homoeopathy: A full homoeopathic case was taken. As this case study is presented to Meridian Therapists (rather than Homeopaths) I will not detail the full case notes here. Suffice to say that the client displayed apathy towards her illness and was mentally dull being drowsy and droopy, with great fatigue. She presented with a dull aching in the lumbar and sacral region which passed upward, and complained of pain in the muscles of the back, hips and lower limbs, especially in the knees. She walked with tottering gait. She also disclosed a variety of other symptoms and described herself as "unwell" , but could not say in what way . This led to the prescribing of Gelsemium at the homoeopathic potency 30C, one pillule to be taken twice each day. Second Visit: The client returned for her next scheduled consultation three weeks later. She reported an easing of the pain and a general improvement in her health. This had occurred after about eight days of homoeopathic treatment. At this point she had (as advised) stopped taking the homoeopathic material. The cure held for a few days but then she started to feel a little worse. An "upset at work" then occurred and the client became rapidly worse and returned for her scheduled second appointment. The client was again treated homoeopathically and given Gelsemiun at the higher potency of 200C. Third Visit: The client was in a much better state both mentally and physically. She was happier and had more energy, and most of the original symptoms had disappeared. Unfortunately, she was still suffering from severe back pain, but was happy that this could be controlled alopathically with the drug Sevredol (Morphine Sulphate). Homeopathy does not have a direct answer to pain and it was at that stage that EFT came into the picture. The pain had no physical cause which could be diagnosed by conventional medicine. She had received treatment for the back pain from an physiotherapist, an osteopath and an acupuncturist. No abnormalities were evident from an X-ray and no relief had been found except that the acupuncturist provided a temporary respite. EFT: The current state of the back pain was assessed by the client as about 4 on a scale of 10. The low score being caused by a recent dose of Sevredol. After a brief introduction to EFT and an explanation of what was involved, a series of tapping was undertaken focused on the back pain. In the initial series only the face and body tapping points were used. Immediately after this tapping the client showed some considerable surprise and declared that the pain had dropped to a 1 on the scale of 10. A further series of tapping was then undertaken, this time including the tapping points on the hand. Following this the client assessed that the pain had dropped to a 0. She now complained of a lesser pain just above the right buttock (which had apparently been masked by the greater back pain). The client was advised to continue the tapping sequences herself after the consultation focused on the new pain. She left the clinic walking freely and erect which was in marked contrast to her slow hesitant gait as she arrived. Follow up: A telephone contact a week after the third session revealed that the client was still feeling well and was pain free for the first time in many years. Conclusion: This is a case were homeopathy and EFT worked well together. Homeopathy had little to offer in the immediate relief of the client's pain, which EFT removed very easily. The clients state at her first consultation was such that it would have been difficult to identify a suitable affirmation to suit her rather diverse and ill defined symptoms so EFT would have been difficult to apply, whereas homeopathy is well suited to this general undefined malaise. Together EFT and homeopathy afforded complete relief from a long standing and complex problem and gave the client back a good quality of life. An interesting and rewarding case. Dr Tam Llewellyn-Edwards, PhD., MHMA(UK)., FRSA is a homeopath is private practice, who also practices EFT. He works at a mixed therapy Complementary Medicine Tickhill, South Yorkshire



Meridian Therapies For Companion Animals

As there is tremendous interest amongst professionals and non-professionals alike in the field of Companion Animal Care, Health & Behaviour on how to find holistic and positive approaches, there is a dedicated web for those researching/working in the field at www.AnimalEFT.org and a supporting discussion group at ETcompanions@egroups.com

All companion owners are very welcome to join in and report their findings/approaches and share their strategies.

A Single Voice

I just had to write and tell you about today. Since Friday, I have felt a little more less stressed and I am tapping every day. I have been going to sleep a lot earlier and sleeping too well, my friend has had to wake me up. Sunday night, I tapped for sleep, and that was about 10.00 pm, by 11.45 I was dropping so literally fell into bed and that was it. I awoke with a start at 5.29, threw the dog out, made breakfast, got onto the internet, tried to ring people etc., because I was under the impression it was 5.29 pm!!!! It wasn't funny at the time, but the few people I rung to apologise for missing my appointment did find it hilarious. Lucky for me! I am going to work on this for a week and if it continues, then I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say, this technique has worked. I've had years and years of insomnia with no help or support from anyone - one telephone conversation with you and I'm actually getting to bed at a sensible time and more to the point sleeping. I hope it continues. Thanks for the chapters, I haven't opened them yet, will read them tomorrow. I'm having a lazy night!

Many thanks - Pauline

More About Willpower

In the July issue, I wrote an article about psychological reversal and how it is so damaging to try and live life against oneself and driven by will power. The same day I wrote that article, I was sent a story, called "The Mountain" on an inspirational list.

This story is a beautiful metaphor on how, in the past, people were perceived to be "weak" and "wanting" if they didn't manage to climb their own individual mountains and how "the right thing to do" was to "tighten the belt, pull oneself together, swallow the bitter pill" and somehow, from some nebulous somewhere, find that strength of purpose that would eventually allow oneself to tackle the mountainous task.

That's what the Mountain, Part 1 is all about. In the energy therapies, the very resistance to wanting to do any task, be it slimming, giving up an addiction or sorting out one's life, is nothing more than an indication that there is a part of oneself who is afraid, who is scared, who is discouraged, who is suffering and truly believes that it cannot be done - and, that the only way towards a wonderful life is to heal these parts of ourselves, because when we do, we don't need to push ourselves along with willpower anymore, and the tasks become a joy and something we're really able to do.

That is why I sat I down and wrote, "The Mountain, Part 2". I hope you enjoy it.

With best wishes, Silvia Hartmann, Acting Editor, UK GoE News

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The Mountain, Part 1 I tried to climb the mountain today. As I inched my way up the path, I felt overwhelmed, so I had to turn back. I tried to climb the mountain today. On my journey, darkness started to fall, and I was full of fear, so I had to return to a safe place. I was ready to climb the mountain today. But it was so hot outside, I thought I better stay in my nice air-conditioned house and rest up for tomorrow's attempt. I was about to climb the mountain today. But I had so many other things to do, so instead of climbing the mountain I took care of much more important tasks. I washed my car, mowed the grass and watched the big game.

Today the mountain will just have to wait. I was going to climb the mountain today. But as I stared at the mountain in its majestic beauty, I knew I stood no chance of making it to the top, so I figured why even bother trying. I have forgotten about climbing the mountain today; until a friend came by and asked me what I was up to lately. I told him I was thinking about climbing that mountain some day. I went on and on about how I was going to accomplish this task. Finally, he said, "I just got back from climbing the mountain." "For the longest time I told myself I was trying to climb the mountain but never made any progress. I almost let the dream of making it to the top die. I came up with every excuse of why I could not make it up the mountain, but never once did I give myself a reason why I could.

One day as I stared at the mountain and pondered, I realized that if I didn't make an attempt at this dream all my dreams will eventually die."

"The next morning, I started my climb." He continued, "It was not easy, and at times I wanted to quit. But no matter what I faced, I placed one foot in front of the other, keeping a steady pace. When the wind tried to blow me over the edge, I kept walking. When the voices inside my head screamed "stop!" I focused on my goal never letting it out of sight, and I kept moving forward. At times, I was ready to quit, but I knew I had come too far. Time and time again, I reassured myself that I was going to finish this journey. I struggled to make it to the top, but I climbed the mountain!"

"I have to be going," my friend said. "Tomorrow is a new day to accomplish more dreams. By the way, what are you going to do tomorrow?"

I looked at him, with intensity and confidence in my eyes, and said, "I have a mountain to climb."

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The Mountain, Part II

The next morning, the alarm clock I had set for 5am for an early start to the mountain, woke me with shrill beeps. It was early and I was still tired, but I remembered about the mountain, and making your dreams come true, and so I forced my weary body out of bed.

All the way into the bathroom, into the climbing clothes and down the stairs, I could hear my friend's voice in my head, over and over: "No matter how much the voices howled, no matter how hard it was, no matter how much I struggled". I tried to brush it away, set my jaw and gritted my teeth, and found myself a mirror into which to shout a few Zig Ziglar type affirmations "Yes, yes, you can do it, you're the greatest".

But even then I noticed that my voice was quavering.

It took a long time to get everything ready, ropes, water, snacks, backback and by the time I had everything assembled I was feeling faint and my heart was beating painfully and hard in my chest. I stood in the kitchen, my fingers digging into the work surface, and I could feel tears coming into my eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I berated myself. "It's only a mountain. Your friend did it, easily, in one day, and here you are, making such a big deal of it. That's bloody typical of you, you goddamn loser! You're hopeless, you got no willpower, and all those who told you you'd never get anywhere in the real world, they were right, weren't they. You're just all talk. You've just don't got what it takes in this world. Weakling. Loser. Yeah, go crawl off back to your sofa. At least there you can't hurt yourself or anyone else." I closed my eyes and dug for the deepest reserves of my strength. As though my legs were made of wood, I forced them forward and toward the back door to start the journey to the mountain.

"Just one step, he said," I hissed through clenched teeth, over and over, like a mantra, "Just one step in front of the other." I barely got myself outside and there was the damn mountain, far away, impossibly high, impregnably grey.

At the sight of it something in me froze. "I can't do this, " I whispered, "it's the truth. I'm not strong enough. I simply can't." and I sank to the ground, right on the spot where I was standing, covered my face with my hands and sobbed a flood of tears of shame, of disappointment with myself, all those years of never having been good enough, never having been able to do enough to earn my own respect, all of it cascading down on top of me, right down from that god awful mountain.

I sat there for a long time, just crying, until I heard a voice from somewhere, and it said, "What are you crying about?"

I couldn't look up with my puffy face and swollen lids and red nose so I just mumbled, "Because I can't climb the mountain."

"So what? What do you want to climb it for, anyhow?" I quickly glanced up and saw a small elf resting against the sundial.

"Well, ..." I hesitated, "well, I guess I suppose because I have to."

"Who's making you?" inquired the elf without much interest and pulled up a blade of grass.

I had to stop there and think for a moment. Of course, I was making myself. But what for? What was I trying to prove to whom? Why was I torturing myself like this? What insanity had befallen me? I looked up then, to say something to the elf but it had disappeared. I sniffled a bit more, then smiled to myself, got up and dusted myself off. Fishing in my pockets to find a tissue so I could blow my nose, I went back inside and stripped out of the mountaineering clothes.

Unpacked the back pack. Got the water out and the snacks and went and sat in my underwear and with my feet bare, on the swing in the garden. The wind was sweet and morning soft, and the birds were singing. The biscuits tasted really nice, and the water washed it down cool and well. I was feeling better by the minute.

Perhaps, I mused as I watched some clouds drift overhead, perhaps I was going about this all the wrong way.

Perhaps it would be better to go inside and sort out all that was causing me so much pain, so much conflict.

Perhaps it might be better to look on the internet for some help, some therapy to enter. I certainly did have a lot of problems. There was certainly a lot of work - inner and outer - that needed to be done. But I was through forcing myself against myself. Through battling and berating and beating and injuring myself.

I'd been injured enough already. Now, it was time to heal.

I'm smiling as I remember this.

Because, two years after the day I just described to you, I was showing a friend a photo album, and there was this picture of a beautiful sea of clouds, taken from the peak of that mountain.

That time, I had wanted to climb it, you see.

I had enjoyed every step, stretching and reaching, exercising my muscles and feeling my heart beat strong and fast. I had enjoyed being buffeted by the strong winds near the top, safe in the knowledge that I was now an accomplished climber.

And when I stood on the top that day, above the clouds in the eternal blue and sunshine, I had not even thought to congratulated myself, nor felt proud of my achievement. I had been far too busy marvelling at the beauty of creation thus revealed to me.



Copyright GoE UK August 1999