The Bowen Technique - Moving depression
by Janie Godfrey
This Article has been taken from Today’s Therapist: A International Trade Journal - November/December 2003
The connections between the mind and the body are complex and powerful and can affect people in a multitude of ways, as therapists know very well. The most common reasons for a patient seeking Bowen treatment falls in the category of physical problems – back pain, neck or shoulder problems, dodgy knees, creaky ankles, that sort of thing. But The Bowen Technique has the ability to deal with both mind and body as it works at integrating all aspects of a person’s wholeness by gently balances the systems. The case histories below demonstrate this side of Bowen, as the person’s emotions and perspectives are influenced back towards well-being.
I am indebted to Bowen practitioner Pat Pendrill for the following case history. Pat is also a hypnotherapist and the client was originally referred to Pat for hypnotherapy. Mrs C, a young woman of 29, was diagnosed with depression and was prescribed medication – Prozac. Mrs C stated she felt herself to be “on an emotional roller coaster, full of negative thoughts and very tense and snappy” and she hated taking this medication because it made her fuzzy. At consultation, Mrs C was very uncertain about hypnotherapy so Pat discussed the Bowen Technique and she was very happy to try this as a treatment.
Seven days after the first treatment, Mrs C said that she had felt much more relaxed and asked Pat if she felt that Mrs C should stop her medication. Pat advised that this was something she should discuss with her GP.
By her third session, nine days later, Mrs C had seen her GP who had reduced her medication prior to withdrawal. Mrs C was much more positive and delighted with the effects of the Bowen Technique.
Eight days later, at her fourth session, Mrs C was relaxed and positive. She had successfully applied for a new job and was feeling able to cope well with her life. She asked if Pat would see her on a regular basis as she felt that Bowen helped her to relax and that it is “much better for me than medication”. They agreed that she would make an appointment when she felt it would help. Mrs C has had several sessions since. She rings every 6-8 weeks.
The following case history is from Bowen practitioner Beth Darrall and illustrates very well how Bowen treatment can sometimes be the instrument of ‘breaking the dam’ of repressed or denied emotions and memories.
Beth wrote: “Barbara, a woman of 43, is quite a sensitive person and is currently ‘coming off’ antidepressants. After the first basic Bowen moves, she immediately felt ‘spaced out’. After about half an hour, she got a terrific pain in her throat, whereupon there poured out all sorts of confessions about her childhood, and accounts of things she had never told anyone before
(sexual abuse etc). Then she had a cry (I gave her Rescue Remedy & just listened). After this huge outburst of very personal horror stories, all of a sudden the pain in her throat cleared completely and she felt much brighter and somewhat amazed at what had happened. Clearly, Bowen had prompted this enormous ‘‘release’. It certainly proves that Bowen works on many different levels.”
Because The Bowen Technique does not impose the will of the practitioner on the patient, we can feel assured that responses of this type are not forced on the patient and that, when they happen as a result of treatment, the person is able to cope with it physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Normally, this is an area that requires very knowledgeable psychiatric professionals and a Bowen therapist would never specifically seek to bring out repressed or distressing memories.
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