Who Heals the Healers?

Castlepollard,
Co. Westmeath,
Ireland.

2nd June, 2010.

Dear Reader,

Deciding to visit a professional requires motivation. How do people know what therapy to choose? How do they select a therapist? When they finally arrive their thoughts, feelings, hopes, fears and expectations about what may happen have likely already been established.

The therapist in advance of this first meeting may have their own anxieties about the initial meeting. Some may be confident that no matter what presents they can handle it. Others may be going through a stressful time in their own life and be hoping that this client will be easy; not too challenging. In ideal circumstances they would like to cancel, but the mortgage is due this week….

These examples illustrate the complex web that is woven in the invisible ether before these two people meet. Multiply this by the number of clients seen in a week and all the ingredients are there to create stress, burn-out and possibly dis-ease for the therapist, and disappointment for the client.

Who heals the Healers? Training ends when qualification is received. Not all therapies have a professional body, and for those who do the time and resources are often taken up in setting up a system of self-regulation. It would appear to be left to the individual to maintain their well-being and develop their practice without the benefit of another point of view.

This is not a concern that has popped up with the dawn of the New Age, but one that has been expressed by significant figures in the past. Many writers have written on this theme and their words are often quoted under the banner of the wounded healer, “Physician, Heal Thyself”.
Carl G Jung summarises this best by saying that we can only bring somebody as far as we have travelled ourselves. These words are easy to quote but far more challenging to put into practice.

The first complementary medicine exhibition was held in Dublin’s Mansion House in 1984. People flocked to the event and in response to the strange sounding names such as ‘Reflexology’ ‘Aromatherapy’ and ‘Metamorphosis’. Their first question at each stand, often in between the giggles, was generally ‘What’s that all about!’

Twenty six years later and the contrast is remarkable with an extensive range of therapies available throughout Ireland under the broad heading of Complementary and Alternative medicine. The names of many of these therapies are now familiar and have been tried out by many.

It is therefore an opportune time to discuss the consumer issues that arise from this level of growth. These can be summarised in two categories;
1. issues for the consumer, and
2. issues for professionals, (used in this context to covers all disciplines).

Consumer Issues

When a consumer goes to a doctor, dentist or optician they are safeguarded by statutory regulation. Statutory regulation means that it is illegal to practice these professions without being registered with the appropriate body. As statutory regulation in not yet written into the statute books for complementary and alternative therapies, choosing a reputable therapist requires information gathering on the part of the consumer before choosing which therapy best meets their needs and which therapist to choose.

Some disciplines have self-regulated by forming a professional body and setting minimum standards of practice. In general, these organisations determine the minimum level of training required to practice professionally and maintain a register of therapists meeting this criteria. Letters used after their names by therapists often denote the body they are a member of. This should not be taken for granted, as many organisations also offer associate status for therapists in training and interested parties.

In addition, some associations have developed a code of ethics for practice and will provide information for consumers. This process is known as self-regulation of a profession. While this is welcome, it should be noted that membership is voluntary i.e. it is not illegal to practice without being a member.

Given this situation it is vital for consumers to ask questions. If you do not fully understand the explanations, keep asking until you do. Most reputable therapists will appreciate your questions. Another possibility is to first contact the professional body for the therapy that interests you, and request general information. This can be very useful in forming the questions you need answers to before making your final choice.

Having made your choice next come the practical concerns. How long is a session? How much will it cost? What can you expect to happen? Where does the meeting take place? What would a successful outcome be? Will regular sessions be required? How is progress evaluated?

Having gone to a therapist what was your initial evaluation? Why did you go in the first place, and now that you have been there, did the experience meet your needs? If you had any questions did you ask them? If not, why not? A common difficulty for clients at their first visit is to feel they don’t know enough to ask the questions they want to. Not everybody chooses the therapy most suitable for them at the first attempt. The answers to these questions are vital stepping stones on your personal journey.

The most vital point here is to trust yourself - make your evaluation before discussing with friends etc. just as you would with a doctor, solicitor, hairdresser, restaurant, or hotel. The procedure is no different. The reason for evaluating alone is that each persons experience is unique. A friend may experience the same therapy and therapist very differently to you. This is not necessarily a reflection on the therapist.

How suitable was the premises where you were received? Were you interrupted during a session? How was basic hygiene? Was the therapist ready at the appropriate time to meet you? If not how was this dealt with? Did you feel this time which you had contracted and paid for was solely to meet your needs? Did you leave knowing more about the therapist than you got time to tell of yourself?

Issues for Therapists

The word ‘Holistic’ is a familiar one in the area of complementary therapies and comes from the Greek ‘holos’ meaning whole. In the context of therapeutic work, ‘Holistic’ is understood to be an approach which recognises the Body, Mind, Spirit and Feeling aspect of being a person. To be true to the essence of the Holistic paradigm it is necessary to include both therapist and client, for when the two meet a particular energy system is created. To read more about this energy approach, see Applied Energy Therapy TM on my website www.psyche.ie.

Training in a particular discipline such as massage for example, will at the most basic level cover the workings of the body, massage strokes, and contraindications to treatment. While the thought, feeling and spiritual aspects may well be discussed, a massage qualification does not equip a therapist to deal with the emotional material that can often emerge.

Professional therapists will know very clearly the boundaries to the service their training equips them to provide and will make appropriate referrals as required. The therapist’s personal ethical code is what supports them in discussing the options available with their client. Openness and accountability are words not often used in this regard but they are as relevant here as in the business world.

When therapists work with a client outside their area of expertise they are exposing themselves to burn-out. The underlying motive to do this is worthy of exploration and will likely reveal some interesting personal material. It is not acceptable practice for a therapist to cross this fine line. The difficulty here is that these needs are generally unconscious, however, the responsibility for how they are met rests with the therapist in all cases.

What forum do you have as a therapist to monitor this unconscious process? When therapists identify their worth as persons by the success or failure they have with their clients they are unlikely to acknowledge to themselves that they need support around the personal issues their work may activate. If unchecked, power struggles and subsequent slipping of therapeutic boundaries can creep into the therapeutic relationship. Therapeutic work carried out in this manner can under no circumstances be truthfully called professional, never mind healing or holistic. In fact it can be damaging to the client.

The nature of therapeutic work is such that a therapist’s unconscious material will emerge in the course of their work. This is a simple fact and is no reflection on any therapist. The issue is knowing how to deal with this process. This places an ethical responsibility on every therapist to have a system in place to deal with this appropriately on an on-going basis.

Fritjof Capra illustrated the process of how unconscious material is generally dealt with in a lecture he gave by asking the audience to imagine a driver who responded to the red light on the dashboard of his car, indicating a critical oil shortage, by disconnecting the cables leading to the warning signal system. Satisfied the problem was adequately handled, the driver continued the journey.

While dealing with unconscious material can be challenging at times, the personal discoveries that are possible can be life changing.

To those not familiar with working on their internal process it can be difficult to recognise unconscious material without the help of a trained person. Many spiritual traditions would go so far as to say it is not possible unless we are enlightened beings such as Jesus or Buddha.

We come into being and exist through relationship. Relationships both personal and professional reflect our unconscious material. The hidden aspects of ourselves are visible in the qualities we love and hate in others. While we may feel fearful, we have a choice; to engage on a path of self discovery full of wonder, or to disconnect the cables to the indicators that show there is soulful work to be done!

Conclusion

The eventual introduction of statutory regulation will ensure the minimum standards for professional practice. The questions raised in this article aim to address the deeper personal issues. These issues have the potential to unravel the blocks for each human being to allow them to grow and develop personally and professionally.

To facilitate those interested in engaging in this process I facilitate this on a one to one basis or in a group situation under the title of a ‘Nuts & Bolts’ meeting. Contact details are on my website www.psyche.ie, and you are welcome to make contact with any questions or comments.

Yours faithfully,

Mary Stefanazzi

The Energy of Money

Castlepollard,
Co. Westmeath,
Ireland.

4th May, 2010.

Dear Reader,

In this time of recession more people are talking openly about money and their relationship to it. Looking at the theme of money in our lives can be a very interesting exercise at many levels. For clarity, I will talk here about one level, although there are many more we could discuss.

At the most basic level we interact with money on a constant basis as a medium of exchange to provide us with the basic goods of food, warmth and shelter which meet our basic survival needs, irrespective of how much money we have to start off with.

I am often fascinated when people say ‘I don’t waste my time thinking about money, there are more important things in my life’; and find myself left with lists of questions in reply. How can you deal with the important things if you ignore the basics? How can you pay for the more important things if you don’t know what your bottom line is? Is it really possible to live the way you want to without considering the financial implications?

In my work I facilitate people to explore the theme of money in their lives. I use an energy based approach with I created back in 1993, called Applied Energy Therapy TM. This approach can be used to explore any topic, but lends itself particularly well to looking at the theme of money in a persons life. You can read more about Applied Energy Therapy TM on my website at www.psyche.ie.

When you know what your patterns are, this can be an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of how you operate in relation to money. The result is generally to continue as before, or make some changes.

A interesting example is when the theme is to spend, spend, spend, and not count the cost till another time. People sometimes discover, to their surprise, that the reason for this belief is that they were afraid people would not like them, or worse still, think them mean.

As everybody is different, the approach will vary depending on the person and what their priority is. During the month of May 2010, I am offering a free consultation competition on the Energy of Money at my Westmeath office, to three people. To enter, e-mail me at info@psyche.ie, outlining in reasonable detail why you would like to avail of this opportunity and why I should choose you. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Mary Stefanazzi

Easter 2010

Castelpollard,
Co. Westmeath,
Ireland.

3rd April 2010.

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the launch of my website, www.psyche.ie Your questions and comments are welcome and will contribute to the Frequently Asked Questions section (FAQ), which will be added to the website in due course.

It is significant that this website is born at Easter; a time of rebirth, when things emerge slowly from darkness with the vitality of new growth and new beginnings; for darkness is always followed by light, therefore light and dark are inseparable.

We tend to celebrate the light, but an interesting question to consider is why don’t we also celebrate the dark? There would be no annual show of snowdrops or daffodils without the time they spent in darkness. When a person is excited, and jumping around because they have won the lottery, we don’t generally tell them to go and see a doctor, or pull themselves together. Yet, when we are troubled, or feeling low, we are often told to snap out of it. How reasonable is this?

These observations have led me to question our beliefs about mental health and mental illness – what is the line between the two, and who decides where it is. Having the perspective of another culture from my Italian ancestry possibly gave me a different perspective on what I saw around me, who knows? However, over the years my commitment has been to on-going personal development. Without having any clearly defined questions, I was on a quest for answers. Fortunately, I met some wonderful teachers along the way.

I am convinced that each person has within them all the wisdom they need to live a fulfilled life, and to realise their full potential. While this sounds wonderful, it is worth noting, that our innate potential does not arrive in the post, together with an instruction booklet. Most of us learn by trial and error, with lots of frustration and many setbacks, with the occasional wonderful moment when all the dots join up. It is a truly unique, organic process, for those who are interested, and not everybody is.

At times we all need support along the way. Needing support does not imply we are going crazy, or that we are not able to cope, or any other such statement. Acknowledging that we need support can be the most vital step we may ever take. The challenge is often in finding the right kind of support.

My commitment is to Offering Support in Challenging Times. If that is what you are looking for, I welcome your call, and will be glad to answer your questions as directly and honestly as I know how. My contact details are on www.psyche.ie

Yours faithfully,

Mary Stefanazzi