Marilyn and Her Four Issues by Rubin Battino, MS
Marilyn and Her Four Issues
by Rubin Battino, MS
Marilyn is 60 and I saw her once thirty years ago in therapy. We ran into each other at a Celebration of Life service for someone we both knew. Marilyn looked distraught and asked for another session. Her concerns were four: (1) I was diagnosed with mold exposure illness five years ago; (2)I’m on a special diet and binge on a particular food; (3)I have challenges at work; and (4) Memories of my first child who died at age 3.
I decided to help her out on all four in a 90 minute session.
1. Mold Exposure Illness—I mentioned the Andreas’ NLP fast allergy cure). I told Marilyn that there are two things she needed to know about allergies. The first is that allergies are mistakes of the immune system. The second is that there is a psychological component to allergies.
I explained by telling the story of a doctor whose patient started sneezing when she entered his office, He asked what was going on, and she said she was allergic to roses. He then pointed out that the roses on his desk were artificial, and her symptoms disappeared! To begin, I asked Marilyn to gently hold together two fingers on her non-dominant hand while she closed her eyes and thought about a recent time when she was in the presence of mold. She quickly reacted, and I told her to release the finger contact. To establish a safe environment, I asked her to think about a time when she felt okay and good about herself, while holding together two fingers on her dominant hand. Marilyn did this, and I told her to keep that finger contact. Then I said:
Continuing to hold those fingers together, just imagine now that there is a transparent barrier a few feet in front of you that goes wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Can you see that? [“Yes”] On the other side of that transparent wall is the younger you, well before you developed the mold allergy. You can see younger Marilyn over there in a room where there is some mold. Notice that she does not react to it at all. Younger you looks up and sees you on your side of the transparent wall. After seeing you, she moves slowly over towards the wall, which then somehow just disappears. Then, younger Marilyn walks towards you, reaches out and holds your hands. Her immune system is working well and does not react to mold at all.
As she holds your hands something interesting happens: her immune system is correcting yours, transforming it and changing it, so that you will no longer react to mold. You can feel and sense that younger Marilyn is close enough that she is fusing with you; her immune system and she have become an integral part of you. And, you can sense that, can you not? Just simply and naturally and wonderfully.
Within your mind now you thank your younger self for this gift. Just breathing slowly and naturally now, one breath at a time. And, I want to thank you for your attention, your trust, and your confidence. When you are ready, come back to this room, here and now. Thank You.
I then asked Marilyn to have the two fingers of her left hand touch each other. There was no reaction using this anchor, so I knew that her allergy had disappeared.
2. Binge-ing—Marilyn accepted the idea that there was some controlling entity or force within her that got her to binge on this specific food from time to time. I asked her to name this and she chose BIN for it. I explained that I was going to guide her through an exorcism to remove BIN.
When I asked Marilyn if she had a “safe haven” that was real or imaginary within her mind, she chose “Being with friends and family.” I asked her to think of a powerful, knowledgeable entity or force who would be able to remove BIN from within her, and she said her Dad. Then I said:
Marilyn, if you are comfortable closing your eyes, please do that. Simply pay attention to your breathing now, noticing each breath as it goes in and goes out. Just one breath at a time, one heartbeat. Occasionally a stray thought may wander through your mind, thank it for being there, and just go back to this breath and the next one. ... And, within your mind now, just drift off to being with your family and friends. Enjoy being there with them. This breath and the next one ...
And while you are there, you notice that something interesting is happening. Someone is coming close to you. It is your Dad come to help you. He comes close and gently touches your arm. Your Dad knows exactly where within you BIN is. He is powerful, and capable of ridding you completely of BIN. Your Dad somehow reaches gently inside you and grabs completely hold of BIN in a powerful and steely grasp so that BIN cannot get away. Then your Dad gently, easily and completely removes BIN from your body, floating out the window with him. Your Dad goes higher and higher with BIN until he is above the stratosphere. When he is out there holding BIN firmly, he winds up and hurls BIN towards the sun at the speed of light. And, we know that it will take eight minutes for BIN to arrive at the sun and fall into that enormous heat and gravity where it disintegrates into tiny atoms, just disappearing forever.
Now, your Dad returns to you, your family and friends. There is an empty space, a hole, where BIN used to be. Your Dad then gives you a special gift, filling that empty space with Strength, Courage, Hope, and Love. And, then, having given you this gift, your Dad moves away, for he has others to help, does he not. Within your mind you smile at him and thank him as he moves off.
Continuing to breathe softly and easily. One breath at a time. And, I want to thank you for your trust and confidence. When you are ready take a deep breath or two, blink your eyes, stretch a bit, and come back to this room here and now. Thank You.
3. Challenges at Work—Marilyn is a school teacher and loves her work. Her supervisor is making her life difficult. I told her that when I was a chemistry teacher, teaching large classes, t I occasionally told a class that they were in charge of their learning, not their inspiring or dull teacher. The implication was that Marilyn was in charge of how she responded to the nonsense of her supervisor. One way of doing this was to dissociate when she was in his presence, and observe from the side or from behind herself. She might even find something humorous in the way that the supervisor talked to her. There was something ridiculous in the way that he was attempting to intimidate her and criticize her, was there not? In a way, she could almost pity him for living this way. Marilyn enjoyed these ideas and appeared relaxed.
4. Memories and Feelings Her Child’s Death—There are always memories and reminders. Attending a memorial service was one of them. I saidthat my wife of 61 years, Charlotte, died three years ago. She designed our house. Whenever I opened a drawer, Charlotte was there. I continue to be sustained by the memories of our life together. I do biweekly travelogues at an assisted living home. Charlotte is in them, and we are together again.
I said that her son would always be with her, and live within her, like Charlotte within me. This sharing of my loss reached Marilyn—she looked thoughtful and peaceful.
I asked Marilyn if there was anything else she wanted to say and she said “No.” We hugged each other, and then she left.
Commentary
By Eric Greenleaf PhD
When you see a difficult problem, make an interesting pattern out of it.
-Milton H. Erickson
Rubin Battino takes the best methods of brief therapy and weaves them into a trance for his client’s four concerns in life. As a chemistry professor, he helped his students to learn, as Dr Erickson said, “In your own way, in your own good time,” and the sureness of his teaching – bringing powerful emotional forces to bear against her troubles - blends the elements of Marilyn’s unconscious mind towards a spectacular outcome.
Battino benefits as a therapist from his polite, caring, scientific, matter-of-fact manner, while leading his client on a psychological Magiical Mystery Tour in which she resolves her life concerns during the time of one dream cycle.
For her mold allergy he employs NLP slight-of-mind. For her bingeing, he invokes her own Dad’s protective power. For her challenges at work, he reminds her of her own authority. And, for his client’s grief, he straightforwardly shares his own loss and his life’s emotions. Sophisticated therapeutic work, simply and compellingly collaborative.
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