When Ross gave his address at the International Bowen Conference recently, he included as part of his presentation a testimonial by Lee Mules, one of his inspirational Australian clients. He highlighted the ideal use of Tom Bowen’s Therapy as a relaxation and assessment base supporting the corrections and changes achieved by any modality. Lee’s story appeared in the last issue of EmmChat... here we include part of Ross’s speech on Lee’s treatment.
In February 2009, I had a 43 year old woman present to me at my clinic. She had the aftermath of fungal meningitis, having contracted it 6 months prior. This had left her blind and deaf with no sense of smell and with numbness in her hands and feet. Her mother relayed to me her history.
The daughter had been a professional woman, the manageress of a large motel. She had been a keen and active sportswoman, a single mother of one and a motivator to her peers. The medical viewpoint sounded devastating as I listened to the prognosis. They gave little or no hope of her regaining sight or hearing and a slight chance of regaining sensation in her hands and feet. I felt a fear run through me as I thought this could happen to anyone I knew or loved. I agreed to treat her daughter - her name is Lee. This is the basis of her treatment....
The only communication I had with Lee was touch. I needed to gain her confidence and I needed a technique that would allow me to build this confidence through touch that would not overload the nervous system which had sustained great damage. I selected Bowen therapy as a gentle touch method to instill confidence without correction. This would allow me to assess the body tissue and, at the same time, allow Lee to assess me by my touch, my actions and the confidence in the way I made the moves. I began to feel her body relax with me. I was then able to make small but powerful corrective moves with Emmett Technique. I believed these moves to be essential for her recovery and that her nervous system could respond to these small corrections without overload. I would return to the Bowen therapy when I felt tension return to her muscles, again inducing a state of relaxation. Bowen became a small but essential part of Lee’s treatment. It allows me to gain client rapport, test the muscle tension and induce relaxation From Lee’s story comes the encouragement to all therapists to look for the best in all therapies and see how well they integrate together. Bowen is a small part of my treatment but is an essential part, for me to gain client rapport, test muscle tension and to induce relaxation. This is DONE for your clients benefit.
The brilliance of Bowen Therapy is in its ability to work so well with other therapies and yet still have its own special qualities. As the first Bowen promotional flyer stated to us in 1988 – it has the ability to be an adjunct to all other therapies or used as a stand alone therapy, let it be as it was in the beginning.
I thank Lee for allowing me to share her story with you.
Ross Emmett
EmmChat Issue 6 June/July 2010
UPDATE: Lee has just let us know that she has recently visited one of the worlds leading hearing specialists who has advised her that nerves have re-grown in scar tissue in her ear. This was the first time the specialist has EVER seen this occur. We will endeavor to continue to bring you information relating to Lee’s recovery in the future.