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Case #1: Healing Bodily Shame and Armor

The Client : Boy, 10-and-a-half years old, has a 13-year-old brother, lives at the seaside with his parents and his brother. His mother is a schoolteacher and his father a seafood dealer.

In the first interview with his parents they told me that their son had excessive body armoring and protection. Despite living in a tropical climate, he would only wear Bermuda shorts that went down below his knees.  He would not wear a sleeveless T-shirt (although he lived in front of the beach), and would not allow any condition of nudity even in the most protected moments of his home situation.

His mother reported an episode when he went to see a female doctor. When she wanted to hear his chest he would not let her touch it with the stethoscope. His parents reported that these behaviors started at six years of age. His mother reported the difficulty she had buying sleeping clothes for him because he thought pajamas were unacceptable. He couldn't put up with any joke involving touching, or conversation involving a sweetheart, or descriptions of intimacy.

His parents and I checked thoroughly in an attempt to discern anything that could have happened to him concerning sexual abuse. They had already investigated it with another psychologist. The psychologist who saw him before I did had a spiritual approach and practiced PLP (Past Lives Psychotherapy). She sensed a former live in a monastery, undergoing serious conflicts with his body and his sexuality. I worked with that hypothesis, keeping it as one aspect of my investigation, without dismissing the possibility that the trauma may also have occurred in his present situation.

Initially, this young boy refused to see me alone in therapy. We agreed to see him with his parents, without disarming his defenses. I used one technique of Milton Erickson, which is called "make an alliance, become an ally in the defense of your patient."

He entered my office like a cornered animal. I immediately saw much fear, defense, and embarrassment. We started to talk about his studies and about his school work (he was a very good student), until he was more relaxed. He told me he liked to draw. I proposed that we all — his mother, his father, himself and I — draw a picture. The theme was a self-portrait.

I have worked for many years with psychological tests and children's drawings. In his self-portrait he drew himself with long Bermuda shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt.  His torso was drawn with very square lines, indicating strong armoring. (See his drawing below.)

The picture brought to mind the stance of a goalkeeper: always in the defense. The grass that was his ground gave the impression of spikes, a strong projection of defense and anxiety.

He drew an apple tree and its fruit in relationship to his body.  One can immediately associate this powerful symbol with the Paradisiacal myth, including the expulsion from paradise, the covering of the body, the guilt, the temptation, and so forth. The flower essences of Crab Apple and Manzanita were immediately indicated for helping this young body heal a difficult relationship to his physical body. In  the drawing, there are features that can be interpreted as a support-system: the sun (awareness), clouds (dreams and projects), and fruits (creativity and production).

First formula:

Rescue Remedy + Manzanita + Crab Apple + Pink Monkeyflower + Rosemary + White Trumpet (Easter) Lily + Violet + Turk's Cap + Hyssop + Pine

I selected Rescue Remedy due to the constant state of shock and embarrassment that he lived in.
Manzanita and Crab Apple were suggested by the patient's drawing , the apple representing the body being incarnated in a happy and accepting way.
Pink Monkeyflower is very good to work with the embarrassment and fear of exposing oneself.
Rosemary was used to reveal more about what was making his incarnation so difficult, and to bring physical warmth and embodiment.
White Trumpet (Easter) Lily :  To address the soul struggle's to find purity and to accept one's sexuality and one's body.
Violet : To strengthen the soul's contact with the world, to diminish vulnerability.
Turk's Cap : This is a type of Hibiscus that remains a bud and never fully unfolds into a flower. It's inner question is: "Why did I shut myself? Why do I fear my body and touching?"
Hyssop is a flower essence that cleanses the ill effects of guild and shame. Guilt is a synergy of feelings that are: fear, anger, sadness, and embarrassment. Hyssop goes deep into the basis of  guilt, addressing levels of karma or original sin.  As written in Psalm 51:

"Clean me with hyssop
Purge me with hyssop
and I shall become white as snow."

Second Session

In the pre-interview his mother reported that his general behavior was the same: He wore long loose clothes, would not be shirtless, and would swim with his clothes on. But one evening when the family was in the dining room after dinner, the boy proposed a game, called ‘confidence.'" The boy started the game touching each member of his family, one by one, and allowing himself to be touched in return.

I gave encouragement to his parents about this small, but illuminating progress. I interviewed him, again together with his parents, and he was a bit more comfortable with me, too.

His mother also reported that his suffering was more apparent and expressed in his face and in his eyes.  He sometimes complained of lack of breath.

Second Formula:

Macrozamia + Monkshood + Manzanita + Five Corners + Crab  Apple + Pink Monkeyflower + Flannel Flower + Green Jasper + Unlocking Sexual Grace (a flower essence combination)

In this formula I chose the Monkshood as the leading essence.

After the patient's first visit, I spent 6 days in Alaska, and encountered the Monkshood , or Aconitum . It is a poisonous plant that contains two highly toxic alkaloids: Aconitine, Benzaconine  and Aconine. Close up, this flower looks like a secluded monk with his hood.

Studying that flower, I remembered the patient in question, and the insight of his previous therapist that he was struggling with his own body and desires as a psychological residue from a past life. In the repertory of Alaskan flower essences by Steve Johnson, the question of repulsion to intimate contact is indicated as one of the healing qualities of Monkshood.

Third Session:

In this session, I confirmed that Monkshood was a major flower remedy to help the patient to become free. When I went to open the door to receive his family (I always received him with his parents, and that was very enriching), he smiled and came to me spontaneously, embracing me (something that had never happened before).

His parents reported further progress, describing many incidents in the family living situation in which he had shown greater trust and spontaneity and was open to receive physical warmth.

Third formula:

Monkshood + Flannel Flower + Oregon Grape + Mallow + Borage + Zinnia + Iris

Fourth session

This session began with a report from his parents, saying he was happier everyday. During the session  he was alone with me, and was feeling more comfortable. We spoke about football, surfing, and what it was like to be eleven years old. I noticed his clothes were not as loose-fitting as before  and that he wore a short-sleeved shirt, more colorful and bright. There was a "shinier" look in his eyes.

Fourth formula:

Monkshood + Manzanita + Flannel Flower + Mimulus + Sunflower + White Trumpet (Easter) Lily + Bouvardia

Fifth session:

This session included an interview with his parents, and then another consultation with him, alone. Further progress was made: He would let his father enter the bathroom to shave while he was in the shower. He was happier, more joyful and relaxed.

Fifth formula:

Monkshood + Flannel Flower + Manzanita + Bouvardia + Sweet Pea

The progress continued; our contact was closer and showed signs of increased trust. I included Sweet Pea to help enrich his social ties. He had moved to Belo Horizonte recently, where his grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins live. He was going to a new school, had new friends, and had moved from the beach to the mountains.

Sixth Session:

In that session we decided jointly that it would be our last meeting since the patient was more confident. He was wearing clothes more appropriate to his age and to the weather, had a bright look, and was accepting his body and his sexuality. He was going to turn 12 and was prepared to enter adolescence in a better way.

Sixth (Final) Formula:

Monkshood + Walnut + Rosemary + Manzanita + Mountain Pride + Transition formula

When I was writing this case study, I received and update from the boy's mother:

"He is a handsome young man, soon to be 16. He dates, goes out a lot, dances and is doing very well at school. We discovered a new aspect about him — he is very caring for the elderly. He visits his old grandmother and wants to know all about her needs. Besides going out with her, he does her bank errands. He has earned a ‘reputation' for being a ‘hugger.' He now wears ordinary clothes. One of my difficulties with him was when it was bedtime: besides wearing clothes  that would hide everything, he would roll himself in the sheets, like a cocoon, fearing to be uncovered. Today he sleeps undressed and relaxed. He is becoming an increasingly compassionate and attractive young man."

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