In a preface to a book on the homeopathic treatment of Lyme disease I was faced with an expression that resonated with me and the work I have been doing recently:
"May each one of us in this brief lifetime encounter our mirror-like simillimum". (Douglas Smith)
When I am working with a client with the Sensation Method, I ask them to describe certain elements in their story. These are exact repetitions of the utterances of the person. It is similar to techniques that some psychotherapists use, where they repeat the exact phrase of their clients. In Focusing oriented psychotherapy the client talks about their inner experience, usually a physically felt sense. They locate a sensation in their body and with the help of the therapist they explore it. The cornerstone of the technique is repeating the words of the client, where the trained practitioner hears the relation to the felt sense. The felt sense is a term, coined by Gene Gendlin, PhD, founder of Focusing oriented psychotherapy. It describes a vague inner, bodily-felt sense that the person recognizes as a pivot point in their general sense of the issue they are talking about. This is the so called felt sense that one explores by simply following the very words of the client and as the therapist repeats those words to the client, it encourages further description of the vague sensations, thus crystallizing them further and further until a definite felt sense is established and named. When people are faced with this felt sense, a unique opportunity arises: they are mirrored to their own inner image, their inner self. It is but a small aspect of their simillimum, the vital sensation we are looking for during our homeopathic case taking. The search for the vital sensation and the felt sense is an intriguing journey: the thread you can follow it by is your very own words. These words are mirrored and reflected onto you at each step of the journey. The reflection and mirroring makes sure you do not get lost, you don't wander off from the path: you are following your own tracks towards your deepest, most true inner self. This is a process that brings about healing from the very core. Your cleanest mirror-like image appears in front of your eyes and you wonder why you had not seen this image before. It is so familiar, so crystal-clear.
4 comments:
What is within us, we continue to create without us. What we are is what we create. We call to ourselves exactly what it is we need to experience on the outside to heal the inside. Life is a mirror. Everything is sensation. How nice to find your post today after my first case taken 'sensationally' since fulfilling my classical homeopathic requirements(www.freedomhomeopathy.com). I Look forward to reading your book as I am now free to further my education in this area. I would love to discuss more about experiencing sensation in the energy field of the patient and techniques to bring that experience into a practical understanding! Thank you for your important work.
Adrienne,
I am happy to hear you are taking cases using the Sensation Method. It is such a wonderful enrichment of a case taken with the classical method. I was surprised of my clients' feedback when they first experienced it: they told me this was our best session! (these were clients whom I started treating before working with the Sensation Method, so they experienced both).
My more recent direction is towards the shared experience of the journey. I always enjoy case taking because I see the invisible path that my client is taking me on. But often I realize that they are not aware of the clarity of the direction they are taking me. I feel this must be changed for me to be more effective as a healer. I think this is the answer to your question about "experiencing sensation in the energy field of the patient". If you share that experience with them, they will manifest it more clearly and they will see it with more clarity. This will help the whole process along and our cases will become less mystical and more "hands-on", more understandable for our clients. As a result it will further help their healing, as they will be able to recognize the sensation all around them in their everyday life. Sensing one's vital sensation - I believe - is the key to healing. You say this in your post, but the question how to bring this to people's awareness. It is not enough to have the mirrors all around us, we need to look into the mirror to see ourselves in them!
Ildiko, thanks for the insight. I actually just took a case today which this comment really refers to. At one point in the case taking I could start to see the energy and sensation come forward and I was waiting for her to confirm the direction. Sometimes when I feel it, I ask, 'does this remind you...or do you see this in any other area of your life?' It seems that confirmation of the sensation of the case comes when it is confirmed in every area or level of the symptoms. Do you have any key phrases or ideas to help patients 'look in the mirror'?
"Just stay with it. Do you get any bodily sensations? Stay with that bodily sensation. Describe it."
"Sense all of that. The whole bodily sense that it comes with." (keep long pauses between the instructions)
These usually work. These are typical Focusing instructions from Gene Gendlin. They work beautifully when included in the Sensation method style inquiry. Let me know how it works for you! Enjoy the process!
Post a Comment