Parts Integration and Unconscious Communication

Sometimes, you don't have opportunities to enter into a specific and formal use of parts integration to resolve issues, and with these two examples I found that just through conversation the subjects were able to deal with matters that had become mental blocks for them.

Often our unconscious drives certain actions or thoughts and emotions that we would like to overcome but find hard to surmount. In these cases while the conversation was noticeably on a level with their conscious, there was a level of sufficient unconscious communication to be suitably therapeutic. We often don't realise how much we are doing in terms of unconscious dialogue and become agreeably surpised at the outcomes. Parts Integration is a powerful and very useful technique, and for these two cases the mere acknowledgement of a part of them that was truly valid, was being protective and had their best interests at heart, was sufficient to allow their OWN inner resources to clear a path for them to go forward.

1. Prior to my mother having a stroke over a year ago, she was a very active and accomplished artist. Although she recovered the use of her dominant hand to be able to write letters etc she felt unable to return to painting. This was a mixture of perfectionism (the quality of output would never be as good as pre-stroke), pain in parts of the affected hand, level of feeling or numbness in the affected fingers, physical and mental stamina to sit for periods at the easel. Weeks and months went by and the in-built resistance was always there. To be fair, even I began to feel that she would never lift a brush again - although I always maintained a belief that she would be able to carry on. We often have lengthy conversations and I'm mindful of taking these opportunities for "subtle therapy"; there is no way I could manage formal therapy with her due to skepticism and resistance! Very recently I alluded to that part of her that was resistant and not yet ready to make the changes and allow her to start painting again, and that it was understood that it was very important to that part of her to continue to protect her from the consequences of all those reasons. And that there would come a time when that part of her would be ready to allow all the changes to take place, and that all the parts of her would know and recognise when that time had come. Within a few days of this conversation she rang to say she had done some painting, and when I saw later what she had done I was amazed at how good it was, given that she had not held a paintbrush for over a year.

2. I was working with a regular client - a young cricketer - whose feet suddenly started backing away from deliveries from a bowling machine that were swinging in to him. This was half way through a session, and these were movements he had not done for well over 9 months regular work with me. After about 5 minutes of this, and some obvious frustration, he eventually missed a ball and was struck on the leg in an unprotected area. It was painful for him. Once recovered sufficiently I talked with him about adjustments I might make on the machine - but I also said there was clearly a part of him today that was now taking centre stage and, for protective reasons, was making him (or driving his foot movements) back away from the ball. This part of him clearly felt it had valid reasons for doing this and that it would carry on resisting for as long as it felt was necessary. I'm happy to say that with minor changes on the machine - which were subsequently cancelled out - he immediately returned to being the player he had developed into and that part of him that was in conflict with the rest was suitably "put to bed once more". He was as happy as a sand-boy at having put the gremlins behind him as quickly as they had become manifest, and I pointed out that the mind is sometimes as resistive or as co-operative as it wants to be, and that this is all part of what he was, is and will be. The secret is respecting all those parts and making them function as a whole as often as is possible.

I was delighted at this outcome, and the instant eradication of the presenting problem. I often use conversational means of facilitating unconscious communication as I know how well it works. I've had great success with a variety of reframes for players who have been plagued by negative movements that blight their techniques and sometimes they can't really believe what's happening to them.

As far as Parts Integration is concerned, I'm always amazed at the ability of the unconscious mind to effect changes and that quite often all one needs to do is acknowledge the integrity of the unconscious.

Gouroux

Alternative Therapies - BBC2

I missed Monday 17th March transmission of Prof. Kathy Sykes' programme on Hypnotherapy, but I was able to catch up with it here.....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b009jcrj.shtml?q=alternative&start=1&scope=iplayersearch&go=Find+Programmes&version_pid=b009jclh
It is available until 24th March to watch.

Having read in advance a mixture of positive and adverse criticisms and reviews I knew I would need to be especially watchful of nuances within the programme.
For me the really interesting meat in the programme sandwich came with Kathy Sykes' discussions with a number of other Professors. Irving Kirsch, Amir Raz, Peter Whorwell and Pierre Rainville, in their separate ways, illuminated for me a interesting level of research that is going on "out there".
I have been working a lot this winter and spring studying the effects of visual field enhancement on skills outcomes for young cricketers - this includes enhancing both actual visual activity as well as using visualizations. Professor Kirsch's work in particular I found fascinating in this regard and I will follow this up with interest as I continue with my case studies in this area.

Another interesting and revealing part of the programme was the lady in Glasgow who underwent complex dental surgery using the analgaesic effects of hypnosis. I was filled with admiration for her dentist (also her hypnotherapist) who kept up a dialogue with her unconscious as he performed the procedures on 2 of her front teeth. The person most stunned was Prof Sykes - who by this stage in her "journey" to find out more about hypnotherapy was clearly warming to the whole subject.

My overall impression of the programme was of one that started out at quite a basic almost street level but finished by being reasonably scientifically based.
For most people outside therapy and science I surmise the programme would not be that interesting......which means we must commend the BBC and Kathy Sykes for some further illumination for the rest of us really interested parties!

Olympic Investment?

I always thought Olympic facilities were meant to be an investment by the host cities and countries for the longer term good of their own people - part of the infrastructure.

When I was directed to sign up for one of the Downing Street Petitions I was curious to discover what led to it's being set up. The petition is here: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OlympicShooting/
and the reasons for it are these......

Over £18 million (at the 2006 bid price) will be spent on building the 2012 Olympic shooting sports venue at Woolwich Barracks and then after the Olympics it will be pulled down again. This is not only a total waste of money and an immoral use of resources but more importantly it does not leave any lasting legacy for shooting sports in this country. Every year the Great Britain shooting teams bring home medals from competing in ISSF and FITASC disciplines world wide. Surely it deserves a lasting legacy?

Waste not want not

PW

Pain Management with meridian based therapies

Meridian based therapies (MBTs) are becoming increasingly used worldwide and are a powerful adjunct to the spectrum of treatments being offered by alternative therapists. Those using hypnotherapy, NLP and Time Line solutions in particular find Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and Evolving Thought Field Therapy (evTFT) another means of obtaining a ready solution for their clients, either on a stand alone basis or in conjunction with other treatments.

My first use of TFT was for myself. I had trapped the end of a finger whilst cleaning grass from the blades of a set of gang mowers. The skin was not broken but the blade had pressed hard against the fingernail. After the injury the discomfort became more and more acute (but localised to the finger end) as the day wore on. Although I had got off to sleep quite normally, I was awoken at around 4am by pain. The pain was over the whole hand and I could not identify the epicentre of the symptoms.
I used a running cold tap, then ice, ibuprofen gel but to no avail. In Dr Callahan's book Tapping the Healer Within I recalled there was a TFT algorithm for physical pain. I performed the treatment repeatedly and after about half an hour I had reduced the pain enough to be able to go back to sleep. What I did notice in the ensuing days was that there was no perception of pain (as had been before) from that particular hand. It was not anaesthetised or numb, but any pain message to the brain seemed to be processed in a different way.

More recently I have used only partial elements of the physical pain algorithm for a client who had been struck by a hard ball on the foot in the course of sporting practice. It worked for him immediately and he was somewhat amazed as to "what on earth had I done" to hasten his relief.

I did not set out to use the treatment, or should I say part of it. Opportunities present themselves on odd occasions and often there is no time to enter into an explanation of what one is doing - especially if only part of the treatment is performed. If it had not worked for him then he would have merely had to suffer the discomfort longer - but the pain would have diminished. My intervention just moved things along exponentially. I did tell him afterwards what it was though!

In evTFT, there is a treatment known as Touch and Breathe (TAB). Here, instead of tapping selected meridian points, the client touches the points while performing a number of full abdominal breathing cycles. The algorithms (or particular sequence of meridian points) are the same as for TFT itself.

Very recently I was visiting my ageing mother who was having a particularly bad day - not well, in bed, emotionally wound up, agitated etc etc. Her breathing was fast and shallow as she related to me all the things that had beset her prior to my arrival, including an upper back pain and a pounding headache. Whilst talking to her and trying to guide her to a calmer place with controlled breathing, she had an angina attack. She has medication for this which provides suitable relief, but on all other occasions she has been left with the headache and completely drained of all energy. While helping her with this and continually talking her through the guided breathing, I placed my fingers on the meridian points relating to physical pain - in a sequence that matched part of the TFT treatment. It occurred to me that the Touch and Breathe (TAB) might work with her breathing and my touch.
Normally for the headache she would take paracetamol - but this was not required in this instance as some five minutes later her headache had subsided. As her recovery continued she showed little sign of being physically drained, as usually happened.
Again, I did not tell her about the treatment (although I have since) mainly because there was no need (and no time) and she is more than a little skeptic! I was gratified to discover the extent of its efficacy especially as it was only a partial and somewhat fragmented use of the full treatment.

Whilst this may have undermined some of my mother's skepticism, for me it has reinforced the view (and the confidence) that merdidian based therapies - even with only partial use - can bring about relief. I've used TFT for clients with anxiety, obsessions and trauma (after a car crash); with success in every instance.