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Healing a Physical Symptom at Long Distance

31st Dec 2004 by Marian Way in

How Judy Yero healed her wrist using email coaching from Marian.

By Judy Yero, author of Teaching in Mind

After six weeks in a full arm cast for a broken wrist, I developed RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy). I was unwilling to accept my doctor’s prognosis that the condition was “chronic and progressive” and his limiting belief that there were things I would never be able to do, such as bend my fingers fully or regain full range of motion in my wrist. Initially, the condition was accompanied by significant pain and discomfort, as well as irritation over my “limitations.” I chose several alternative therapies, such as some NLP patterns and listening for the metaphors I used to describe my symptoms, which included razor blades and sandpaper around my wrist.

Being my own Clean Language facilitator was hardly the best choice, so I wrote to the Clean Language e-discussion group and asked if anyone would like to take on a long distance interchange. Marian took up the challenge and started working with me via email. I would write about what I was experiencing, she’d read it and ask Clean Language questions about certain words and phrases. We worked like this for about two months, during which time my hand gradually improved. My Occupational Therapist was amazed at the progress I made and told me she’d never seen anyone with RSD get better—only worse!

Marian was great at keeping me on task when I would have strayed into irrelevant chit-chat, and pointing out metaphors that I would have ignored. She had a wonderful knack of zeroing in on just the metaphors that quickly produced the greatest amount of change. That wasn’t easy when we moved quickly from bracelets of razor blades to merging mountain streams to armies of little “helpers” dismantling brick walls! But she never batted an eye (at least that I could see by email).

I’d done a lot of work with NLP and a bit with CL over the years, and I was amazed that issues I’d thought were resolved emerged once again. Over a period of several months, Marian helped me fully develop my symbolic landscape and many shifts occurred that appear to be both significant and lasting. After a few months of frequent emails interspersed with periods of quiet, we stopped the active exploration. By that time, my hand and wrist were about 70% back to “normal.”

It’s been a little over a year and, while my fingers still feel a bit “stiff,” there’s little I can’t do that I did before and my range of motion is normal. I think I’ve agreed to keep a few last vestiges to remind me not to fall back into the old patterns of behavior, but I rarely think about it any more.

My work with Marian convinced me that one can accomplish a great deal with CL even by email with a knowledgeable facilitator. I can’t express my gratitude enough for her work and caring and would recommend her to anyone wishing to explore their inner landscape.

Photo by Yoann Boyer on Unsplash

About Marian Way

A highly skilled facilitator and trainer, Marian, who founded Clean Learning in 2001, has developed and delivered training across the world. She is the author of Clean Approaches for Coaches, co-author, with James Lawley, of Insights in Space and co-author, with Caitlin Walker, of So you want to be… #DramaFree.

Marian is an expert Clean facilitator, an adept modeller, a programme writer and an inspirational trainer. She has a natural ability to model existing structures, find the connections between them and design new ways for people to learn. Marian was a leading innovator within the Weight Watchers organisation, which included developing the “points” strategy, a local idea that went on to become a global innovation. She is a director of both Clean Learning and Training Attention CIC, world leaders in clean applications for corporate, educational and community development. She designs our programmes and workbooks, leads workshops and teaches on all our courses. She’s trained people in Great Britain, Russia, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Japan and the USA. Marian is also a recognised Clean Assessor.