I have been often wondering why the mother’s state of mind during pregnancy is important when prescribing a homeopathic remedy to a child. I have thought and noticed that if the mother had specific traumatic events during pregnancy it must have affected the child and not only in a straightforward manner but also in a more chronic way. This, I have explained, was due to the fact that the mother had a certain predisposition, which corresponded to the trauma or her state of mind during pregnancy and she ought to display it throughout her mothering, not only during pregnancy, thus affecting the child in his or her very essence. This usually brought under my scrutiny clues to whether or not the child reacted to the mother’s state in any observable manner. I often found it did, so I explored the mother’s disposition during pregnancy, tried to see if it had any elements that were unusual for the mother outside of her pregnancy, and included that in the remedy picture for the child.
While this is still relevant and stands true in my homeopathic thinking, I have noted a connection between the underlying logic of including the mother’s state during pregnancy and the child’s constitutional make up. This came through psychoanalytic explorations of the infant’s psychic development.
According to some psychoanalytic theories, the infant is born into the world without a self-concept. The infant does not know about her limitations, physical boundaries and does not have the concept of predicting or expecting future events, like feeding times, hunger, thirst, pain, digestion, urination. All these events and sensations happen to the infant and together with the environment’s response to these events and sensations, the infant slowly but surely starts to develop its own being and understanding of the world.
The mother (or primary care taker) is a crucial being in the infant’s developing self-concept. This is the person, who responds to the infant’s needs, urges, cries, smiles, and tries to read the infant’s bodily signals, most often in an attending fashion. This care taking, thus plays an essential role in the infant’s development, not only in psychosocial and physical development, but also in the very creation of the infant’s self –image. Taking it one step beyond this actual physical care taking during the initial stages of the infant’s life, the mother, as a container and care taker was there for the infant during the pregnancy as well. The mother was the containing environment the infant (the fetus) was surrounded by, received vital signals of life and well being from, and essentially everything that got absorbed into the infant’s being.
This conceptualization of the origins of the developing self, gave me the missing piece I needed to understand the fundamental reason for inquiring about the mother’s state during the pregnancy. With this frame of reference, I can navigate my way easier in the maze of critical and non-critical information a mother can provide the homeopath during the interview for her child. The mother, as the environment, or container plays a crucial role in the creation of the very matrix of the developing self of the fetus and infant, thus providing clues to the personality and remedy picture of the child through her own inner experience and world of vital sensations.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Empathy
As I was working on rebuilding my website (which now includes a track for homeopathy and a separate one for psychotherapy - check it out:), I came across a comment on my book where I describe homeopathic case taking as bypassing the emotional level exploration. The author of the critique seemed not to share my sentiment about this issue. I have found rejection of this idea in some professionals in the past and i am wondering what is the source of this rejection. Why do other clinicians reject the fact that it is possible - and possibly preferable - to avoid the whirlwind of emotional layers that can bring us to faulty conclusions and misconceptions of our clients.
I believe that true empathy lies in an ability to see beyond our client's emotions. If we strive to understand what is underneath the emotion, we will arrive at very personal and individual layers of the person's view of reality and inner world. I believe that using the emotional layer as a diving board to more person-specific areas of one's inner life is a useful tool in therapy and homeopathy.These are the layers of the unconscious which have roots beyond emotions. We might have emotional reactions or manifestations of these deeper roots but the roots themselves are not (necessarily) emotion-based.
The text from Sensations goes like this:
"Before we examine the cases of the animal kingdom, I want to revisit a key component of the Sensation Method of homeopathy so we can see how it applies to the following examples. The power of homeopathic case-taking lies in the fact that it does not involve the emotional layer. As I have mentioned before, our goal as homeopaths is not to explore the emotional layer, nor even the layer that feeds the emotions. Our goal is to arrive at the sensation level and hear the words that describe that level. As we are humans, and homeopathy utilizes our ability to verbalize our feelings, sensations and experiences, we use words to transfer these ideas. But beyond the actual words the coherency of speech has only secondary importance. Describing sensations is often far from what the person is used to. It is far from the realm the ego feels attached to or protective of. Our ego is what works the “pain body,” as Eckhart Tolle calls it. With the Sensation Method we go beyond this body and thus trick the ego.
Once the ego has no access to what we are talking about, we can truly describe our core problem with no pain and suffering. There is no guard invested in keeping the pain body as intact as possible. This pain body is the very obstacle to health. Our ego does not want us to be free of it. It wants us to stay ill-healthed because that is its only chance for survival. This process has a dual benefit. First, we can reach the core problem without touching painful, tender spots in the whole being we don’t have to stir up traumatic experiences. Second, upon reaching the core level, we touch something truly essential, and once that essential core is addressed and healed, healing will emanate into the whole being, transforming the whole into a healthy state".
I believe that true empathy lies in an ability to see beyond our client's emotions. If we strive to understand what is underneath the emotion, we will arrive at very personal and individual layers of the person's view of reality and inner world. I believe that using the emotional layer as a diving board to more person-specific areas of one's inner life is a useful tool in therapy and homeopathy.These are the layers of the unconscious which have roots beyond emotions. We might have emotional reactions or manifestations of these deeper roots but the roots themselves are not (necessarily) emotion-based.
The text from Sensations goes like this:
"Before we examine the cases of the animal kingdom, I want to revisit a key component of the Sensation Method of homeopathy so we can see how it applies to the following examples. The power of homeopathic case-taking lies in the fact that it does not involve the emotional layer. As I have mentioned before, our goal as homeopaths is not to explore the emotional layer, nor even the layer that feeds the emotions. Our goal is to arrive at the sensation level and hear the words that describe that level. As we are humans, and homeopathy utilizes our ability to verbalize our feelings, sensations and experiences, we use words to transfer these ideas. But beyond the actual words the coherency of speech has only secondary importance. Describing sensations is often far from what the person is used to. It is far from the realm the ego feels attached to or protective of. Our ego is what works the “pain body,” as Eckhart Tolle calls it. With the Sensation Method we go beyond this body and thus trick the ego.
Once the ego has no access to what we are talking about, we can truly describe our core problem with no pain and suffering. There is no guard invested in keeping the pain body as intact as possible. This pain body is the very obstacle to health. Our ego does not want us to be free of it. It wants us to stay ill-healthed because that is its only chance for survival. This process has a dual benefit. First, we can reach the core problem without touching painful, tender spots in the whole being we don’t have to stir up traumatic experiences. Second, upon reaching the core level, we touch something truly essential, and once that essential core is addressed and healed, healing will emanate into the whole being, transforming the whole into a healthy state".
Monday, August 8, 2011
More on the intersubjective nature of the therapeutic encounter
Homeopaths conceptualize their cases in their own mind and they do not share this with their clients. There is no forum for it, as the system of thinking in the sensation method is far removed from the human interaction, which can be "explained" or commented on during a session. The most useful comments I am aware of in homeopathic consulting work are the connections we can make between mental, emotional, and physical symptoms. These are often eye-opened for our clients.
I find the lack of communication on the level of conceptualization a setback in homeopathic work. I believe that the homeopath and client relationship could be enhanced if this type of communication was activated. Many psychotherapists rely on and use the here-and-now events of the session and use the transference and their relationship with the client a sort of practice space for both understanding the client's issues and their healing process as well. If a similar way of interaction were to be utilized by homeopaths, the remedies' effects could be prepared and enhanced, thus treatment could be easier incorporated into the client's experience. It is not simple to point out what this process would be as the majority of these processes - both in psychotherapeutic healing and in homeopathic healing, are unconscious.
Homeopaths conceptualize their cases in their own mind and they do not share this with their clients. There is no forum for it, as the system of thinking in the sensation method is far removed from the human interaction, which can be "explained" or commented on during a session. The most useful comments I am aware of in homeopathic consulting work are the connections we can make between mental, emotional, and physical symptoms. These are often eye-opened for our clients.
I find the lack of communication on the level of conceptualization a setback in homeopathic work. I believe that the homeopath and client relationship could be enhanced if this type of communication was activated. Many psychotherapists rely on and use the here-and-now events of the session and use the transference and their relationship with the client a sort of practice space for both understanding the client's issues and their healing process as well. If a similar way of interaction were to be utilized by homeopaths, the remedies' effects could be prepared and enhanced, thus treatment could be easier incorporated into the client's experience. It is not simple to point out what this process would be as the majority of these processes - both in psychotherapeutic healing and in homeopathic healing, are unconscious.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Modern psychoanalytic thinkers, like Mitchell in "Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis" published in 1993, talk about the interpersonal aspects of psychoanalytic psychotherapy. While there are many differing concepts in modern psychoanalysis, they all seem to agree on the crucial role the therapist's subjectivity plays in the treatment of their patients. Mitchell talks about the way the analyst conceptualizes, organizes the patient's experience. He considers modern analytic thinking to be different from the traditional, Freudian view in that today we focus on the patient's inner experience as opposed to the Freudian view, where the analyst created a conceptual frame which through his interpretations he conveyed to the patient, who in turn internalized it, used it for their own self-healing. Today psychoanalytic therapists seek to bring forth the patient's own experience, through which - according to Mitchell - the person's meaningful self-experience will develop and manifest.
I found this quite interesting, as the way I work is a process where the emphasis is on the inner experience of the person. Mitchell continues with his thought process and not only maintains that the person's inner experience is the cornerstone of modern psychotherapy but he also explains that the therapist's own conceptualization has a powerful impact on the emerging conceptualization which will be co-created by patient and therapist. This is a process, which I found fascinating. I started wondering what affect my understanding of the homeopathic remedy picture has on the process of the healing of my clients. How does it affect the whole of the process that my thinking is in the framework of homeopathy and that my conceptualization of the client is on the level of their vital sensation? If I am experiencing my client on the level of the vital sensation and my comments and guiding inquiry stays on that level, it greatly affects the type of healing and self-conceptualization of my client. This is definitely a direction to pay attention to and explore.
I found this quite interesting, as the way I work is a process where the emphasis is on the inner experience of the person. Mitchell continues with his thought process and not only maintains that the person's inner experience is the cornerstone of modern psychotherapy but he also explains that the therapist's own conceptualization has a powerful impact on the emerging conceptualization which will be co-created by patient and therapist. This is a process, which I found fascinating. I started wondering what affect my understanding of the homeopathic remedy picture has on the process of the healing of my clients. How does it affect the whole of the process that my thinking is in the framework of homeopathy and that my conceptualization of the client is on the level of their vital sensation? If I am experiencing my client on the level of the vital sensation and my comments and guiding inquiry stays on that level, it greatly affects the type of healing and self-conceptualization of my client. This is definitely a direction to pay attention to and explore.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
My shift to psychotherapy continues
The following is from my Master's thesis for my clinical psychology program, entitled Hand Gestures and Somatic Manifestations: The Bridge to the Unconscious. You can see how I am entering ideas from my understanding of the Sensation method of homeopathy, combining them with the vast knowledge that has been gained in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. This is an introduction to this work, more to come later.
“A man’s states of mind are manifested, almost without exception, in the tensions and relaxations of his facial muscles, in the adaptations of his eyes, in the amount of blood in the vessels of his skin, in the modifications in his vocal apparatus and in the movements of his limbs and in particular of his hands”. (Freud cited in Sletvold, 2010)
In psychodynamic therapy the unconscious realm of the human psyche is the primary target of our investigations. Since the birth of psychoanalysis many approaches have been established to reach the unconscious, and make it available for conscious understanding and transformation. The tools psychotherapists use to achieve this goal vary greatly according to the therapist’s conceptual framework. In recent decades the importance of the body-mind connection has been increasingly emphasized, and with it a focus on understanding bodily expressions of psychic phenomenon. While various approaches have been established under the umbrella term “somatic psychology”, the “embodied analyst” is an emerging topic in the field of psychoanalysis as well. Just as the interpersonal aspects of psychoanalysis have come to the forefront in the last several decades, so too have experiential and person-centered approaches been geared towards addressing issues that arise in the here and now of interpersonal experience. In particular, experiential and person centered approaches provide a way to understand and access individuals’ inner experience through their bodily felt sensations.
My previous specialty, the Sensation Method of homeopathy heals by readjusting the core of the ailment, the deep seated imbalance, through identifying core bodily sensations in the person. Having experience in working with individuals in this modality, I know that the body expresses itself in rich ways that go beyond the narrow expression of the spoken word (Ran & Menyhert, 2007). Beside the main body of information that comes through a verbal narrative, homeopaths pay attention to clients’ bodily symptoms, their body language, the tone of their voice, their hand gestures, and even bodily reactions to their own instinctual art work, or doodling, and free associations.
This paper is an initial exploration of several authors’ and clinicians’ contributions to the field of psychotherapy where the goal is to find the layer of the unconscious that has meaningful clues to one’s emotional, mental, and physical pain. Through exploring body language, more specifically hand gestures, we can find ways to approach, locate, and understand unconscious material which is not readily available for verbal expression. Through studying the significance of hand gestures we can learn about the deeper layers of the psyche and we can explore connections that without this tool would be unavailable. The hypothesis that clients’ hand gestures are meaningful tools that help us reach the unconscious is not a new idea but the specific use of hand gestures in the context that is explored in this paper is a combined and enhanced understanding from previous authors.
“A man’s states of mind are manifested, almost without exception, in the tensions and relaxations of his facial muscles, in the adaptations of his eyes, in the amount of blood in the vessels of his skin, in the modifications in his vocal apparatus and in the movements of his limbs and in particular of his hands”. (Freud cited in Sletvold, 2010)
In psychodynamic therapy the unconscious realm of the human psyche is the primary target of our investigations. Since the birth of psychoanalysis many approaches have been established to reach the unconscious, and make it available for conscious understanding and transformation. The tools psychotherapists use to achieve this goal vary greatly according to the therapist’s conceptual framework. In recent decades the importance of the body-mind connection has been increasingly emphasized, and with it a focus on understanding bodily expressions of psychic phenomenon. While various approaches have been established under the umbrella term “somatic psychology”, the “embodied analyst” is an emerging topic in the field of psychoanalysis as well. Just as the interpersonal aspects of psychoanalysis have come to the forefront in the last several decades, so too have experiential and person-centered approaches been geared towards addressing issues that arise in the here and now of interpersonal experience. In particular, experiential and person centered approaches provide a way to understand and access individuals’ inner experience through their bodily felt sensations.
My previous specialty, the Sensation Method of homeopathy heals by readjusting the core of the ailment, the deep seated imbalance, through identifying core bodily sensations in the person. Having experience in working with individuals in this modality, I know that the body expresses itself in rich ways that go beyond the narrow expression of the spoken word (Ran & Menyhert, 2007). Beside the main body of information that comes through a verbal narrative, homeopaths pay attention to clients’ bodily symptoms, their body language, the tone of their voice, their hand gestures, and even bodily reactions to their own instinctual art work, or doodling, and free associations.
This paper is an initial exploration of several authors’ and clinicians’ contributions to the field of psychotherapy where the goal is to find the layer of the unconscious that has meaningful clues to one’s emotional, mental, and physical pain. Through exploring body language, more specifically hand gestures, we can find ways to approach, locate, and understand unconscious material which is not readily available for verbal expression. Through studying the significance of hand gestures we can learn about the deeper layers of the psyche and we can explore connections that without this tool would be unavailable. The hypothesis that clients’ hand gestures are meaningful tools that help us reach the unconscious is not a new idea but the specific use of hand gestures in the context that is explored in this paper is a combined and enhanced understanding from previous authors.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Article in Homeopathy Today, Fall 2010
Peace from Panic Attacks & Performance Anxiety
Anxiety affects the body & mind: Homeopathy heals both
by Ildiko Ran, CCH
People often ask me, “What do you specialize in?” Like most homeopaths, I treat anybody regardless of their age, ailment, or even conventional medical label like “curable” or “incurable.” Recently, however, I noticed a common trait among most of my clients: anxiety. Sometimes it is their chief complaint or an obvious aspect of their personality, and other times it is a seemingly insignificant detail in the corner of their consciousness. Like it or not, it seems I specialize in anxiety!
Through the years, I have learned to explore my clients’ anxiety purposefully and with the utmost care. As my clients and I examine the intricate details of their anxiety, their inner world opens to us. More often than not, this process leads to the homeopathic remedy that will help their overall health and well-being—as well as resolve their anxiety. Even those who come for help with other kinds of problems often notice that the first symptoms to go are the ones related to anxiety. The reason for this might be the very nature of homeopathy: it encompasses both the body and mind.
Symptoms of anxiety can show up in any part of us. Physically, we may manifest palpitations, stomach cramps, and insomnia. Emotionally, we may be fearful, apprehensive, and full of worry. Mentally, we may fixate on certain ideas, such as a lurking sense that something terrible is going to happen or that we have done something wrong.
Stress reduction techniques, lifestyle changes, counseling, and behavior modification can help alleviate such symptoms (psychiatrists also ¬typically recommend anti-anxiety medications). But in my experience, a well-prescribed homeopathic remedy can have such a deep and long-lasting effect on a person’s overall health that the anxiety melts away into calmness and peace—whether or not these other therapies are used. As an added benefit, people often find that psychotherapy, chiropractic, and other complementary therapies act more effectively after homeopathic treatment; improvements in diet, exercise, and lifestyle become much easier to attain as well.
Here are two examples of life-long anxiety sufferers who found great freedom from their suffering, thanks to homeopathic treatment.
Noelle: Performance anxiety & stubborn sinusitis
A woman I’ll call Noelle came to see me for help with sinus infections that recurred monthly all winter. Each time she got an infection, she ended up having to take antibiotics. She was in her early 30s, neatly dressed, and soft spoken—so soft-spoken, in fact, that during the interview I had to stop writing so the scribbling of my pen would not drown out her voice. Noelle had been prone to colds and a mildew allergy for as long as she could remember, and she also got sinus headaches. As we continued exploring her symptoms, she mentioned having extreme performance anxiety since elementary school.
“I have a tendency to be depressed,” Noelle told me. “I was a good girl, went to school every day, helped my mom, did my homework...but as a background feeling I always had this lurking depression. My grandmother used to say that they needed to buy me new shoes every week to cheer me up. I was shy and quiet. I remember in fourth grade I was standing at the blackboard and I heard my friend whispering, ‘What are you doing?’ Apparently I was rolling my uniform up to my underwear without being aware of it. When I had my graduate school interview, my mother went in for me. I just couldn’t do it.”
To understand Noelle’s particular expression of anxiety, I asked her to describe what exactly she experienced. “I feel numb, faint, almost unconscious, and my hands shake. When I speak in front of people my voice gets weaker, my breathing is shallow, and I‘m shaky. My job is such that I have to give a presentation every week in front of my colleagues. They all know about my anxiety but I still have this shakiness.”
Weakness doesn’t stop her
In order to choose a homeopathic remedy, it helps to know what makes each symptom better or worse. So I asked Noelle to tell me about any times in her life when she was able to overcome this feeling of anxiety. “When it was important for me, I stood up for myself. In college, I once went to the head of the laboratory and asked him to move me to another department. I was shaking, my heart was pounding, but I went for it. I remember sitting in his office, my head swaying side to side involuntarily. You see, I do the work, I speak in front of people, I go for it. But it causes this uncontrollable anxiety.”
Noelle returned to the topic of her depression: “I used to get so depressed that I had to stay home from school for a week at a time. I just could not get out of bed; I was exhausted and could sleep fourteen hours in one stretch.” These periods of exhaustion still plagued her. “Normally my house is really tidy and neat, but sometimes I am so weak I cannot clean up. I see the mess, but I cannot pick it up. It comes in waves. Sometimes I fall asleep at the dinner table. My headaches are also accompanied by weakness.”
When I asked about her general physical symptoms, Noelle reported some striking ones. She was very chilly. “Especially my feet get cold—a cold sweat that makes me have to change my socks and shoes. I sleep under two blankets and wear socks to bed.”
Noelle noted that even with her periodic illnesses, depression, and fatigue, she usually carried on with her life. “Although I have periods of severe weakness and sinus infections, I maintain my job, I am working towards my second PhD, and I make a point to be a caring mother and wife. When needed, I stay up all night studying; other times my body cannot handle it.”
Perfect fit for the whole
The combination of Noelle’s particular emotional and physical complaints led me to the homeopathic remedy Silica. Silica is often helpful in sinusitis, but more importantly, it fit Noelle as a whole. Her neat appearance, her stage fright and performance anxiety all the way back to childhood, her perfectionism, and her shyness, including her low tone of voice, all pointed to Silica. Physical symptoms of cold, sweaty feet and overall chilliness are also characteristic of people who need this remedy. Noelle’s extreme exhaustion with all her physical complaints called to mind Silica’s well-known ability to address lack of stamina. Homeopath Roger Morrison describes Silica in his Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms: “The patient is often refined, delicate, sensitive and yielding. …The self-confidence …is often very poor. …The patient may complain of some mental dullness and a feeling of inefficiency. …Physically Silica patients suffer from low stamina quite commonly. The defensive resistance is low which allows for frequent infections, especially of the upper respiratory tract, the sinuses, or the ears.”
The shakiness was gone and she was much more able to concentrate ...
A curious quality in Noelle’s personality was her ability to stand up for herself when it was important to her. Even though she was shy and anxious, she chose to work in a profession where regular group presentations were a requirement. On the other hand, her life was sprinkled with periods of lack of resilience when her body gave in to sinusitis, headaches, and exhaustion. Silica addresses this core dichotomy of maintaining integrity (sometimes even manifesting as “stubbornness”!) while also having an innate fragility. The presence of this dichotomy was the decisive factor when I chose her remedy.
Energy up, infections down
When Noelle took Silica 200c, she was already experiencing her usual monthly cold-like symptoms—stuffy nose, congestion, and weakness—which typically turned into a sinus infection for which
she took antibiotics. Nevertheless, the morning after taking Silica, she woke with no congestion.
When I saw her three weeks later, she told me her husband had noticed that she was more energetic—even though she was still juggling two jobs, graduate school, and her family. The quality of her sleep had improved, and she did not need to sleep extra long hours as before. She was exercising more and had stopped her habitual meal skipping. All in all, she reported feeling really well, especially relative to the high level of stress in her life. At work, she was transferred to a new group, and despite her expectation of having more anxiety talking in front of strangers, she noted that her weekly presentations were going better than before.
“What about the sinuses?” I asked at the end of the interview. We hadn’t even talked about the main reason she had come in the first place! “Oh, they’re fine,” she said with an air of absentmindedness. “That congestion I had just disappeared.” This is one of the miracles of homeopathy: people can be so free from their previous complaints that they almost don’t remember ever having them. Although it was still very early to tell how she would do in the long run, I took this as a good sign that Silica was already helping Noelle to move naturally and gracefully out of the vicious cycle of recurrent colds, sinus infections, sinus headaches, and antibiotics.
Strength, resilience, confidence
Over the next six months or so, Noelle’s energy level continued to improve, and she grew stronger and more resistant to colds. On occasion when a cold threatened, a few repetitions of Silica 30c or 200c would help her get over it quickly and keep her from succumbing to a sinus infection as in the past. She no longer suffered from bouts of extreme fatigue. As for her performance anxiety, while she still had to make a conscious effort to relax, the shakiness was gone and she was much more able to concentrate on her work and forget about the audience.
It has been seven years since I first saw Noelle, and she has continued to feel very well. Noelle sought out homeopathy primarily for her sinus problems. Once she understood the holistic nature of the treatment, however, she welcomed the healing on both emotional and physical levels.
Kevin: Panic attacks, inner struggles
“Kevin,” a 50-year-old interior designer, was seeking a more natural approach to anxiety than his prescription anti-anxiety medication. He decided to try homeopathy after witnessing his daughter’s positive treatment results.
Kevin started our meeting by saying he could not imagine how others handled life, which he experienced as constantly stressful: “How do other people keep the lid on? I’ve been anxious ever since childhood.” His anxiety had various expressions: stomach cramps, constipation, eczema, insomnia, nervous nosebleeds, and nightmares. “Sometimes I get so anxious I even throw up. In stressful situations, the skin on my hands breaks open and the cracks ooze with blood.” Kevin had an inherited blood disorder that made the bleeding worse. “I got the eczema under control with steroids, but then I developed panic attacks.” They occurred when he was on the highway, driving home from work. “I had to stop in the breakdown lane and gather myself. I felt like all the vehicles were drawing closer to me, and the inside of my car was tightening. I became dizzy and nauseous, my mouth got dry, and I had difficulty swallowing.” When Kevin came home anxious, he wanted his wife to be there because her presence was comforting.
Choking fear, violent thoughts
As often happens, the sensation Kevin had with his panic attacks was similar in quality to others in his life; it was a pattern of constricting sensations. “I have a strong fear of choking in general. When swallowing certain things, I feel my throat is constricted and it scares me.” This fear of choking and feeling of throat constriction came on sometimes in restaurants, where the presence of many people around him could become so overwhelming that he would have to leave for a few minutes to calm down. Kevin enjoyed meeting people and could be charismatic and engaging, but at a certain point “it’s too much stimulation, my senses get overloaded,” he said, and his anxiety would set off the familiar cascade of physical symptoms.
Kevin’s further description of his panic attacks took us to an even deeper level. “The anxiety grabs me. I have been taking various anxiety medications, but I cannot control my thoughts, cannot shut my brain off. This really scares me! Some particularly dark thoughts creep in and I cannot stop them—thoughts of harming myself or my loved ones. [Note: Kevin was already under the care of a psychiatrist.] These thoughts become stronger than my will and take control of me. I am a loving guy, a family man, I do not see why I have these violent images. In other situations when it is called for strategically, I can be mean—I know how to manipulate people when it’s called for. Otherwise I am a nurturing, caring person.”
In a homeopathic interview, clients may describe their inner view of reality, often a rather irrational pattern, which has its own innate logic but does not have much to do with the person’s conscious ideas or thought processes. This irrational pattern can shape their whole being unconsciously and manifest in symptoms on all levels. Kevin was aware that most of his physical complaints were rooted in stress and anxiety. But he didn’t know why the frightening images and disturbing thoughts were torturing him, and he was helpless to get rid of them. This is where the appropriate homeopathic remedy can be so valuable, in healing the deeper level that can’t be accessed rationally.
A split within the self
According to homeopath Rajan Sankaran, an antagonistic split within the self causing profound inner struggle is characteristic of people who need snake remedies (i.e., homeopathic remedies prepared from highly diluted snake venom); clearly, Kevin’s sweet, good-natured side was at odds with his “poisonous,” violent side. Kevin’s throat issues (fear of choking and feelings of throat tightening), along with the sensations of compression and constriction that he reported in several areas of his life (e.g., feeling that the inside of his car was tightening during panic attacks) were also classic indications for a snake remedy. Kevin’s blood disorder and bleeding symptoms, along with his ability to be mean and manipulative when needed, also pointed to a snake remedy.
From there, I narrowed it down to the Crotalidae family of snake remedies because of Kevin’s desire for company, his family man nature, and his general anxiety (vs. anxiety provoked by certain triggers, which would have pointed more to the Viperidae family of snake remedies). Finally, Kevin’s intense skin problems (weeping, itchy eruptions) and extreme mental anguish led me to choose the remedy Crotalus cascavella (Brazilian rattlesnake). As Morrison says in his Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms: “We can distinguish Crotalus cascavella from the other venoms by some of the mental symptoms and by the skin disorders.”
On the road to freedom
I gave Kevin one dose of Crotalus cascavella 200c. At his first follow-up appointment one month later, he told me that a few days after taking the remedy he became weepy in situations where earlier he would have suppressed his emotions. I interpreted this as a positive sign of the beginnings of emotional freedom. His hands were dry, but he had no eczema. This was a significant improvement as he had done some painting, which usually triggered his oozing eczema.
When I next saw Kevin two months later, he told me his psychiatrist was pleased with his improvements and had agreed to wean him off conventional anti-anxiety medication. To support Kevin through this major transition, I suggested he take Crotalus cascavella 200c daily in water, which he did for the next month or so, until he was completely off the anti-anxiety medications.
Whenever Kevin had tried to discontinue his conventional medication in the past, he had lost equilibrium, but this time he continued to be stable emotionally. “There are still events in my life that cause anxiety, but while I used to feel like a victim or blame other people, now I tend to work things out.” Although the psychiatrist was skeptical of homeopathy, he affirmed that Kevin indeed was doing well without the medication and did not have the usual withdrawal effects. Kevin stopped taking Crotalus cascavella shortly after stopping the conventional drugs since he didn’t seem to need it anymore.
Six months after his first dose of Crotalus cascavella and three months after stopping his conventional medication completely, Kevin reported, “Incredibly, I have not had a panic attack since starting homeopathic treatment. I have had some violent thoughts but they do not stick as they used to. Before, I would obsess about something and it would not let me go. Recently, a colleague became quite offensive with me. I blew up at him, but when I went home I forgot about it. In the past, it would’ve kept me up all night.”
I saw Kevin occasionally at his daughter’s visits for the next year, and he continued to do well. His severe anxiety symptoms did not return, and he was much better able to manage the mild symptoms that remained. His GI tract (stomach cramps, vomiting) was still sensitive but not to the degree it was. He’d had no eczema flare-ups since the remedy. And most important for Kevin, he was greatly relieved from the panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, and disturbing thoughts that had plagued him for so long.
From anxiety to harmony
These two cases show the broad spectrum of homeopathic inquiry and the profound harmonizing effects the well-chosen remedy can achieve. Both Noelle and Kevin found relief from their physical symptoms as well as from their anxiety. In Kevin’s case, the physical symptoms were clearly related to his anxiety, while for Noelle the correlation was more like a parallel—her sinus infections were not caused by her anxiety as such, but they were both relieved by the homeopathic remedy that fit her best as a whole. As a result of homeopathic treatment both Noelle and Kevin could explore their potential more freely and live more fulfilling lives.
Anxiety affects the body & mind: Homeopathy heals both
by Ildiko Ran, CCH
People often ask me, “What do you specialize in?” Like most homeopaths, I treat anybody regardless of their age, ailment, or even conventional medical label like “curable” or “incurable.” Recently, however, I noticed a common trait among most of my clients: anxiety. Sometimes it is their chief complaint or an obvious aspect of their personality, and other times it is a seemingly insignificant detail in the corner of their consciousness. Like it or not, it seems I specialize in anxiety!
Through the years, I have learned to explore my clients’ anxiety purposefully and with the utmost care. As my clients and I examine the intricate details of their anxiety, their inner world opens to us. More often than not, this process leads to the homeopathic remedy that will help their overall health and well-being—as well as resolve their anxiety. Even those who come for help with other kinds of problems often notice that the first symptoms to go are the ones related to anxiety. The reason for this might be the very nature of homeopathy: it encompasses both the body and mind.
Symptoms of anxiety can show up in any part of us. Physically, we may manifest palpitations, stomach cramps, and insomnia. Emotionally, we may be fearful, apprehensive, and full of worry. Mentally, we may fixate on certain ideas, such as a lurking sense that something terrible is going to happen or that we have done something wrong.
Stress reduction techniques, lifestyle changes, counseling, and behavior modification can help alleviate such symptoms (psychiatrists also ¬typically recommend anti-anxiety medications). But in my experience, a well-prescribed homeopathic remedy can have such a deep and long-lasting effect on a person’s overall health that the anxiety melts away into calmness and peace—whether or not these other therapies are used. As an added benefit, people often find that psychotherapy, chiropractic, and other complementary therapies act more effectively after homeopathic treatment; improvements in diet, exercise, and lifestyle become much easier to attain as well.
Here are two examples of life-long anxiety sufferers who found great freedom from their suffering, thanks to homeopathic treatment.
Noelle: Performance anxiety & stubborn sinusitis
A woman I’ll call Noelle came to see me for help with sinus infections that recurred monthly all winter. Each time she got an infection, she ended up having to take antibiotics. She was in her early 30s, neatly dressed, and soft spoken—so soft-spoken, in fact, that during the interview I had to stop writing so the scribbling of my pen would not drown out her voice. Noelle had been prone to colds and a mildew allergy for as long as she could remember, and she also got sinus headaches. As we continued exploring her symptoms, she mentioned having extreme performance anxiety since elementary school.
“I have a tendency to be depressed,” Noelle told me. “I was a good girl, went to school every day, helped my mom, did my homework...but as a background feeling I always had this lurking depression. My grandmother used to say that they needed to buy me new shoes every week to cheer me up. I was shy and quiet. I remember in fourth grade I was standing at the blackboard and I heard my friend whispering, ‘What are you doing?’ Apparently I was rolling my uniform up to my underwear without being aware of it. When I had my graduate school interview, my mother went in for me. I just couldn’t do it.”
To understand Noelle’s particular expression of anxiety, I asked her to describe what exactly she experienced. “I feel numb, faint, almost unconscious, and my hands shake. When I speak in front of people my voice gets weaker, my breathing is shallow, and I‘m shaky. My job is such that I have to give a presentation every week in front of my colleagues. They all know about my anxiety but I still have this shakiness.”
Weakness doesn’t stop her
In order to choose a homeopathic remedy, it helps to know what makes each symptom better or worse. So I asked Noelle to tell me about any times in her life when she was able to overcome this feeling of anxiety. “When it was important for me, I stood up for myself. In college, I once went to the head of the laboratory and asked him to move me to another department. I was shaking, my heart was pounding, but I went for it. I remember sitting in his office, my head swaying side to side involuntarily. You see, I do the work, I speak in front of people, I go for it. But it causes this uncontrollable anxiety.”
Noelle returned to the topic of her depression: “I used to get so depressed that I had to stay home from school for a week at a time. I just could not get out of bed; I was exhausted and could sleep fourteen hours in one stretch.” These periods of exhaustion still plagued her. “Normally my house is really tidy and neat, but sometimes I am so weak I cannot clean up. I see the mess, but I cannot pick it up. It comes in waves. Sometimes I fall asleep at the dinner table. My headaches are also accompanied by weakness.”
When I asked about her general physical symptoms, Noelle reported some striking ones. She was very chilly. “Especially my feet get cold—a cold sweat that makes me have to change my socks and shoes. I sleep under two blankets and wear socks to bed.”
Noelle noted that even with her periodic illnesses, depression, and fatigue, she usually carried on with her life. “Although I have periods of severe weakness and sinus infections, I maintain my job, I am working towards my second PhD, and I make a point to be a caring mother and wife. When needed, I stay up all night studying; other times my body cannot handle it.”
Perfect fit for the whole
The combination of Noelle’s particular emotional and physical complaints led me to the homeopathic remedy Silica. Silica is often helpful in sinusitis, but more importantly, it fit Noelle as a whole. Her neat appearance, her stage fright and performance anxiety all the way back to childhood, her perfectionism, and her shyness, including her low tone of voice, all pointed to Silica. Physical symptoms of cold, sweaty feet and overall chilliness are also characteristic of people who need this remedy. Noelle’s extreme exhaustion with all her physical complaints called to mind Silica’s well-known ability to address lack of stamina. Homeopath Roger Morrison describes Silica in his Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms: “The patient is often refined, delicate, sensitive and yielding. …The self-confidence …is often very poor. …The patient may complain of some mental dullness and a feeling of inefficiency. …Physically Silica patients suffer from low stamina quite commonly. The defensive resistance is low which allows for frequent infections, especially of the upper respiratory tract, the sinuses, or the ears.”
The shakiness was gone and she was much more able to concentrate ...
A curious quality in Noelle’s personality was her ability to stand up for herself when it was important to her. Even though she was shy and anxious, she chose to work in a profession where regular group presentations were a requirement. On the other hand, her life was sprinkled with periods of lack of resilience when her body gave in to sinusitis, headaches, and exhaustion. Silica addresses this core dichotomy of maintaining integrity (sometimes even manifesting as “stubbornness”!) while also having an innate fragility. The presence of this dichotomy was the decisive factor when I chose her remedy.
Energy up, infections down
When Noelle took Silica 200c, she was already experiencing her usual monthly cold-like symptoms—stuffy nose, congestion, and weakness—which typically turned into a sinus infection for which
she took antibiotics. Nevertheless, the morning after taking Silica, she woke with no congestion.
When I saw her three weeks later, she told me her husband had noticed that she was more energetic—even though she was still juggling two jobs, graduate school, and her family. The quality of her sleep had improved, and she did not need to sleep extra long hours as before. She was exercising more and had stopped her habitual meal skipping. All in all, she reported feeling really well, especially relative to the high level of stress in her life. At work, she was transferred to a new group, and despite her expectation of having more anxiety talking in front of strangers, she noted that her weekly presentations were going better than before.
“What about the sinuses?” I asked at the end of the interview. We hadn’t even talked about the main reason she had come in the first place! “Oh, they’re fine,” she said with an air of absentmindedness. “That congestion I had just disappeared.” This is one of the miracles of homeopathy: people can be so free from their previous complaints that they almost don’t remember ever having them. Although it was still very early to tell how she would do in the long run, I took this as a good sign that Silica was already helping Noelle to move naturally and gracefully out of the vicious cycle of recurrent colds, sinus infections, sinus headaches, and antibiotics.
Strength, resilience, confidence
Over the next six months or so, Noelle’s energy level continued to improve, and she grew stronger and more resistant to colds. On occasion when a cold threatened, a few repetitions of Silica 30c or 200c would help her get over it quickly and keep her from succumbing to a sinus infection as in the past. She no longer suffered from bouts of extreme fatigue. As for her performance anxiety, while she still had to make a conscious effort to relax, the shakiness was gone and she was much more able to concentrate on her work and forget about the audience.
It has been seven years since I first saw Noelle, and she has continued to feel very well. Noelle sought out homeopathy primarily for her sinus problems. Once she understood the holistic nature of the treatment, however, she welcomed the healing on both emotional and physical levels.
Kevin: Panic attacks, inner struggles
“Kevin,” a 50-year-old interior designer, was seeking a more natural approach to anxiety than his prescription anti-anxiety medication. He decided to try homeopathy after witnessing his daughter’s positive treatment results.
Kevin started our meeting by saying he could not imagine how others handled life, which he experienced as constantly stressful: “How do other people keep the lid on? I’ve been anxious ever since childhood.” His anxiety had various expressions: stomach cramps, constipation, eczema, insomnia, nervous nosebleeds, and nightmares. “Sometimes I get so anxious I even throw up. In stressful situations, the skin on my hands breaks open and the cracks ooze with blood.” Kevin had an inherited blood disorder that made the bleeding worse. “I got the eczema under control with steroids, but then I developed panic attacks.” They occurred when he was on the highway, driving home from work. “I had to stop in the breakdown lane and gather myself. I felt like all the vehicles were drawing closer to me, and the inside of my car was tightening. I became dizzy and nauseous, my mouth got dry, and I had difficulty swallowing.” When Kevin came home anxious, he wanted his wife to be there because her presence was comforting.
Choking fear, violent thoughts
As often happens, the sensation Kevin had with his panic attacks was similar in quality to others in his life; it was a pattern of constricting sensations. “I have a strong fear of choking in general. When swallowing certain things, I feel my throat is constricted and it scares me.” This fear of choking and feeling of throat constriction came on sometimes in restaurants, where the presence of many people around him could become so overwhelming that he would have to leave for a few minutes to calm down. Kevin enjoyed meeting people and could be charismatic and engaging, but at a certain point “it’s too much stimulation, my senses get overloaded,” he said, and his anxiety would set off the familiar cascade of physical symptoms.
Kevin’s further description of his panic attacks took us to an even deeper level. “The anxiety grabs me. I have been taking various anxiety medications, but I cannot control my thoughts, cannot shut my brain off. This really scares me! Some particularly dark thoughts creep in and I cannot stop them—thoughts of harming myself or my loved ones. [Note: Kevin was already under the care of a psychiatrist.] These thoughts become stronger than my will and take control of me. I am a loving guy, a family man, I do not see why I have these violent images. In other situations when it is called for strategically, I can be mean—I know how to manipulate people when it’s called for. Otherwise I am a nurturing, caring person.”
In a homeopathic interview, clients may describe their inner view of reality, often a rather irrational pattern, which has its own innate logic but does not have much to do with the person’s conscious ideas or thought processes. This irrational pattern can shape their whole being unconsciously and manifest in symptoms on all levels. Kevin was aware that most of his physical complaints were rooted in stress and anxiety. But he didn’t know why the frightening images and disturbing thoughts were torturing him, and he was helpless to get rid of them. This is where the appropriate homeopathic remedy can be so valuable, in healing the deeper level that can’t be accessed rationally.
A split within the self
According to homeopath Rajan Sankaran, an antagonistic split within the self causing profound inner struggle is characteristic of people who need snake remedies (i.e., homeopathic remedies prepared from highly diluted snake venom); clearly, Kevin’s sweet, good-natured side was at odds with his “poisonous,” violent side. Kevin’s throat issues (fear of choking and feelings of throat tightening), along with the sensations of compression and constriction that he reported in several areas of his life (e.g., feeling that the inside of his car was tightening during panic attacks) were also classic indications for a snake remedy. Kevin’s blood disorder and bleeding symptoms, along with his ability to be mean and manipulative when needed, also pointed to a snake remedy.
From there, I narrowed it down to the Crotalidae family of snake remedies because of Kevin’s desire for company, his family man nature, and his general anxiety (vs. anxiety provoked by certain triggers, which would have pointed more to the Viperidae family of snake remedies). Finally, Kevin’s intense skin problems (weeping, itchy eruptions) and extreme mental anguish led me to choose the remedy Crotalus cascavella (Brazilian rattlesnake). As Morrison says in his Desktop Guide to Keynotes and Confirmatory Symptoms: “We can distinguish Crotalus cascavella from the other venoms by some of the mental symptoms and by the skin disorders.”
On the road to freedom
I gave Kevin one dose of Crotalus cascavella 200c. At his first follow-up appointment one month later, he told me that a few days after taking the remedy he became weepy in situations where earlier he would have suppressed his emotions. I interpreted this as a positive sign of the beginnings of emotional freedom. His hands were dry, but he had no eczema. This was a significant improvement as he had done some painting, which usually triggered his oozing eczema.
When I next saw Kevin two months later, he told me his psychiatrist was pleased with his improvements and had agreed to wean him off conventional anti-anxiety medication. To support Kevin through this major transition, I suggested he take Crotalus cascavella 200c daily in water, which he did for the next month or so, until he was completely off the anti-anxiety medications.
Whenever Kevin had tried to discontinue his conventional medication in the past, he had lost equilibrium, but this time he continued to be stable emotionally. “There are still events in my life that cause anxiety, but while I used to feel like a victim or blame other people, now I tend to work things out.” Although the psychiatrist was skeptical of homeopathy, he affirmed that Kevin indeed was doing well without the medication and did not have the usual withdrawal effects. Kevin stopped taking Crotalus cascavella shortly after stopping the conventional drugs since he didn’t seem to need it anymore.
Six months after his first dose of Crotalus cascavella and three months after stopping his conventional medication completely, Kevin reported, “Incredibly, I have not had a panic attack since starting homeopathic treatment. I have had some violent thoughts but they do not stick as they used to. Before, I would obsess about something and it would not let me go. Recently, a colleague became quite offensive with me. I blew up at him, but when I went home I forgot about it. In the past, it would’ve kept me up all night.”
I saw Kevin occasionally at his daughter’s visits for the next year, and he continued to do well. His severe anxiety symptoms did not return, and he was much better able to manage the mild symptoms that remained. His GI tract (stomach cramps, vomiting) was still sensitive but not to the degree it was. He’d had no eczema flare-ups since the remedy. And most important for Kevin, he was greatly relieved from the panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, and disturbing thoughts that had plagued him for so long.
From anxiety to harmony
These two cases show the broad spectrum of homeopathic inquiry and the profound harmonizing effects the well-chosen remedy can achieve. Both Noelle and Kevin found relief from their physical symptoms as well as from their anxiety. In Kevin’s case, the physical symptoms were clearly related to his anxiety, while for Noelle the correlation was more like a parallel—her sinus infections were not caused by her anxiety as such, but they were both relieved by the homeopathic remedy that fit her best as a whole. As a result of homeopathic treatment both Noelle and Kevin could explore their potential more freely and live more fulfilling lives.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Man's Search for Meaning
In the Afterword of Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning: "Frankl was once asked to express in one sentence the meaning of his own life. He wrote the response on a paper and asked his students to guess what he had written. After some moments of quiet reflection, a student surprised Frankl by saying, "The meaning of your life is to help others find the meaning of theirs."
"That was it, exactly," Frankl said. "Those are the very words I had written."
Frankl wrote his most broadly-read work, the Man's Search for Meaning in nine days. It is beautifully and clearly written. He considers our drive for a meaningful life a basic tennet of our human existence. Two of my favorite quotes from his book (there are many!) are the following. It comes embedded in his discussion of mental health NOT as homeostasis, a state of equilibrium but rather a tension that propels the individual forward. This is an interesting food for thought. We often consider our movements aimed towards equilibrium, but if we understand the deep reaching truth in the idea that the meaning of life is to strive towards meaning, the state of homeostasis comes to a different light.
Here are the quotes:
"Thus it can be seen that mental health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become.”
"So if therapists wish to foster their patients’ mental health, they should not be afraid to create a sound amount of tension through a reorientation toward the meaning of one’s life.”
Interestingly enough, my main area of interest in psychotherapy, the Focusing-oriented model pays a great amount of attention to "forward movement". When we focus inward and find the bodily felt sensation that expresses an implicit aspect of our feelings or reactions, we end up with a bodily felt release, a life forwarding movement. While in Focusing we pay attention to the underlying implicitly felt experience, our very own inner experience, we end up with something that Frankl devoted his life to: attributing primacy to the essential role of meaning, the ultimate role meaning plays in human life.
"That was it, exactly," Frankl said. "Those are the very words I had written."
Frankl wrote his most broadly-read work, the Man's Search for Meaning in nine days. It is beautifully and clearly written. He considers our drive for a meaningful life a basic tennet of our human existence. Two of my favorite quotes from his book (there are many!) are the following. It comes embedded in his discussion of mental health NOT as homeostasis, a state of equilibrium but rather a tension that propels the individual forward. This is an interesting food for thought. We often consider our movements aimed towards equilibrium, but if we understand the deep reaching truth in the idea that the meaning of life is to strive towards meaning, the state of homeostasis comes to a different light.
Here are the quotes:
"Thus it can be seen that mental health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become.”
"So if therapists wish to foster their patients’ mental health, they should not be afraid to create a sound amount of tension through a reorientation toward the meaning of one’s life.”
Interestingly enough, my main area of interest in psychotherapy, the Focusing-oriented model pays a great amount of attention to "forward movement". When we focus inward and find the bodily felt sensation that expresses an implicit aspect of our feelings or reactions, we end up with a bodily felt release, a life forwarding movement. While in Focusing we pay attention to the underlying implicitly felt experience, our very own inner experience, we end up with something that Frankl devoted his life to: attributing primacy to the essential role of meaning, the ultimate role meaning plays in human life.
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