Hemi-Sync® Journal 1992-1 (Winter)

possibility of allowing some of the associated behaviors to emerge in the extratherapy world with other individuals who were appropriately defined as dragons. He was asked to imagine doing so with good feelings and in a socially acceptable manner (e.g., enjoying being a verbally caustic dragon without hurting anyone physically). Other sessions provided the client opportunities to integrate this part of himself further. His health and oncologic status remained stable during the first month of therapy. He returned for additional sessions. The female client perceived a leprechaun-like trickster figure whose fundamental quality involved frustrating her by never answer- ing a question, always joking, never being serious, and always behav- ing mischievously. The client’s experience was one of extreme frustration with this figure because she wanted some straight an- swers from him about her health. The experiential significance of the relationship with the trick- ster/cancer was that its qualities allowed her to experience frustration with being tricked by him. Nevertheless, the client’s attention was fixed on this figure and she wanted to know more about him. Then, as the client allowed her frustration with this character to intensify, a transformation occurred. She began to join him in playful, mischie- vous dealings, enjoying games, tricks, and pranks. Ina sense, she had become the leprechaun-like figure, a part that she had never before allowed herself to live out. She seemed to enjoy those games involv- ing flirtation with men the most. Both clients felt safer and more relaxed while confronting their cancers following the tape exercise . . . vivid images representing the cancers arose while the clients perceived their cancers . . . During subsequent therapy she began to acknowledge these playful, mischievous qualities as parts of herself. Her breast cancer remained in remission for the first month of therapeutic work. She returned for additional sessions. DISCUSSION The method utilizing Hemi-Sync was effective with these two clients. Both clients felt safer and more relaxed while confronting their cancers following the tape exercise than they had in the initial stage of the session. ‘That vivid images representing the cancers arose while the clients perceived their cancers is not surprising. Clients who are able to encounter their diseases without first experiencing a relaxation process such as the one used here have invariably described their illness metaphorically.” What is interesting is that neither approach (with or without a relaxation component) asks for figurative rep- resentations of the cancer. Itis conceivable that clients feel safer working with metaphorical representations than with an image of a tumor. Moreover, it is likely that the cancer is representable in this way because it and its associated image share the same experiential significance. They both display the same perceived qualities, thereby affording the same experiencing. The above approach allowed the experiential significance of the clients’ respective cancers to be revealed, thus opening up the Possibility of doing integrative work. This work illuminates the value of a powerful pathway to healing which involves becoming the “other,” with which one has a disharmonious relationship.” Further- more, evidence supporting the projection/retroflection view emerged in later sessions, when both clients described being capable of becoming upset with people in their extratherapy worlds who had “burned” and flirted with them, respectively. Becoming the “other” for these clients meant becoming an alienated part of their inner selves. Working with clients who have cancer is unique because the cancer is an “other” literally existing within the self, yet can be experienced as an external figure. In this way, projection can exhibit an internal element of self which, if we had our way, would truly exist outside the body boundary. Given the preliminary nature of this study and the obviously small client sample, replication with a larger sample is called for. In addition, the following should be considered in the development of a more comprehensive study: 1) a different therapist, without a knowl- edge of projection/retroflection as it is understood here, might not produce data supporting this position; 2) other approaches might be as effective and, hence, a comparative study including multiple therapeutic avenues would be desirable; 3) long-term follow-up of the two clients is needed to determine if benefits are achieved beyond one month; 4) it is possible that the two clients were exceptional in that most others would not have allowed the introduction of Hemi-Sync to produce the effects described. There may be as-yet-undiscovered variables which render certain individuals more likely to benefit from the use of Hemi-Sync; and 5) other Hemi-Sync tapes may be more effective in producing the desired effect. However, these data are suggestive. It seems to be the case that, among many other things, use of the Hemi-Sync technology is promising in that it can afford a safety zone for beginning work with elements in life that are difficult to face. REFERENCES Assagioli, R. 1965. Psychosynthesis. A manual of principles and techniques. New York: Penguin Books. Grof, S. 1988. The adventure of self-discovery. Dimensions of con- sciousness and new perspectives in psychotherapy and inner exploration. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press. Mahrer, A.R. 1978. Experiencing. A humanistic theory of psychology and psychiatry. New York: Brunner-Mazel. Mahrer, A.R. 1980. The treatment of cancer through experiential psychotherapy. Psychotherapy: theory, research and practice, 17, 335-342, Mahrer, A.R. 1989. How fo do experiential psychotherapy: a manual for practitioners. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. Mahrer, A.R. & Schachter, H.M. 1991. How to use the patient's past: An experiential alternative, some discoveries, and a theory of the past. Psychotherapy in Private Practice, 8, 4, 1-11. Pennebaker, J.W. 1990. Opening up. The healing power of confiding in others. New York: Wm. Morrow & Co., Inc. Rossi, E.L. 1986. The psychobiology of mind-body healing. New concepts of therapeutic hypnosis. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. Rossi, E.L. & Cheek, D.B. 1988. Mind-body therapy. Methods of ideodynamic healing in hypnosis. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. Schachter, H.M. 1983. Ecological science. Preliminaries for a para- digm shift? Unpublished Ph.D. document, Carleton University, Department of Psychology, Ottawa, Canada. Schachter, H.M. 1990. Doing experiential psychotherapy with people living cancer. Paper presented at the 6th National Con- ference, Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology, London, Ontario, May. "Mahrer, 1980; Schachter, 1991. “Schachter, 1990. --- PAGE 4 (OCR) --- HEMI-SYNC™ JOURNAL Schachter, H.M. 1991. Unpublished data, private practice, Ottawa, Canada. Sprinkle, R.L. 1985. Psychological resonance: A holographic model of counseling. Journal of Counseling and Development, 64, 3, 206-208. Watkins, J.G. 1978. The therapeutic self: Developing resonance—key to effective relationships. New York: Human Sciences Pes af HEMI-SYNC AS AN AID IN RECOVERY FROM SURGERY by Susan Cord walking and alert the morning after surgery. He reported that the physicians and nurses expressed amazement with the pace of his recovery. He was released on the third day postoperatively and continued to enjoy a rapid recuperation. His most significant com- ment was “I never experienced pain ... not once!” Female, age 39: abdominal hysterectomy This patient was a diabetic weighing approximately 250 pounds. She did not use Hemi-Sync intraoperatively but did use other tapes frequently pre- and postoperatively. The patient reported that the Hemi-Sync tapes were far more effective than Percodan™ for pain management. Although the surgery was difficult, the patient said she knew intuitively that she was healing quickly, and stated that she felt so good the day after she returned home from the hospital that she actually walked through the park while listening to Energy Walk from the EMERGENCY SERIES. Her most significant comment was “As a professional writer, I tend to focus on the emotional impact of words. The title EMERGENCY SERIES seems to have a negative connotation. Perhaps ‘surgical support series’ would be a more positive title for these wonderful tapes.” Female, age 45: hysterectomy This surgery was performed at Kaiser Hospital. The anesthesiolo- gist assisted with the use of /ntra-Op by turning the tape over at the end of each side. The patient began using the Pre-Op tape seven days “| feel very positive about getting well and about the whole healing process.” Susan Cord is director of the South Bay Body-Mind Cormection in Redondo Beach, California, a holistic center offering individual thera- pies and educational programs. In this article, Ms. Cord reports the experiences of three clients who have used Hemi-Sync tapes to aid recovery from surgery. Susan Cord has been a Professional Division member since 1989. ‘The mission of the South Bay Body-Mind Connection is to provide methods and techniques for body-mind integration and expansion. During the past three years, the most important tool used to assist our clients in this process has been the Hemi-Sync technology. It serves to amplify and accelerate clients’ growth and development by assisting them to relax, to move into the deep mental/physical states most appropriate for their current work, and to maintain an intense focus of attention within those states. Delivered via audiocassette tape or a 201B Hemi-Sync Synthesizer, a Hemi-Sync component is contained in all of our therapeutic and educational programs, in- cluding © massage and bodywork counseling and education in behavioral changes meditation and stress-reduction exercises sleeping- and eating-disorder clinics workshops (as an instructional aid) recovery from surgery, childbirth, trauma, and illness. The South Bay Body-Mind Connection is not a medical organizé tion. However, our services include counseling and educating indi- viduals who wish to augment their healing and recovery processes by learning to access, strengthen, and apply their innate abilities of seli- regulation. Following are summaries from reports submitted by a selection of clients who have used the EMERGENCY SERIES and METAMUSIC tapes for recovery from surgery. Male, age 73: prostate surgery This client was in good health at time of his surgery, which was performed at UCLA Medical Center. The head anesthesiologist agreed to allow the ntra-Op tape from the EMERGENCY SERIES to be listened to with headphones during the operation. The patient was before her surgery. She had not been exposed to Hemi-Sync before this occasion and mentioned that she “had to get used to it.” Adjusting to the new experience, she soon reported that the tapes became her “security blanket.” After being transported to the recov- ery room following surgery, the Recovery tape was placed in her cassette player. She reported that she woke up quickly in the recovery room feeling very alert and was pleased, once again, to be aware of the calm, soothing voice on the tape. She reached the point where simply thinking of the voice stimulated instant relaxation. This patient was not a client of South Bay Body-Mind, but the spouse of a friend. Therefore, we were able to observe the effects of the EMERGENCY SERIES on a patient new to the Hemi-Sync process. The patient's most significant comment was “I have no doubt that the tapes have helped speed my recovery. When I need rest, it is easy to fall asleep. I feel very positive about getting well and about the whole healing process.” J