(The details in this article have been changed to ensure the privacy of clients)

In many healing modalities practitioners search for what they call the ‘root cause’ of an illness or condition. Are those headaches the result of eye strain? Are those frequent colds due to an immune system weakened by fatigue? Is that rash indicative of a food intolerance? While we want to bring relief to present symptoms, our underlying goal is to prevent them from recurring, to address whatever imbalance caused them to occur in the first place.

As a herbalist, I use herbs for many conditions from colds to insomnia to chronic illnesses. Sometimes the root cause is obvious and sometimes it requires a little digging. Depending on what is uncovered, I may recommend my client see a practitioner of another modality who is better able to address the root cause. At other times, it can be addressed with herbs.

 And sometimes it remains elusive.

One September many years ago, I had a client who I shall call Kate (not her real name) who came to see me with a dreadful sore throat. She had seen her doctor and it was not a strep infection, but she could barely talk or swallow. I gave her a herbal tea mixture and within two or three days she was feeling much better. Then in January of the following year, the sore throat reappeared, this time it was so bad she had her husband call to make the appointment as she could not talk above a whisper. Again, I gave her a blend of herbs for her throat and this time added some other herbs to strengthen her immune system. And again in two or three days, she felt much better.

I didn’t hear from Kate again until September when again she came back with the same sore throat, this time she had lost her voice completely. I gave her the same herbal blends and recommended she take it easy for a few weeks. It was early January, as I was checking my records that I began to wonder if I would hear from Kate again. Sure enough, a few days later her husband called. Could he pick up the herbal teas? Kate was too ill to get out of bed. I gave him the herb blends with strict instructions that Kate should come to see me when she was feeling better.

Kate called the following week, she was feeling much better, her voice had returned and she was happy to come in to talk to me.

She was as perplexed as I was about why she was getting sick with such regularity. We examined her life with a fine-toothed comb, diet, exercise, had she been anywhere different? What about her husband or children? No, not really. Had anything different happened over the last couple of years? Well, yes. Her husband’s parents had been to stay for a month in August of each year, and again for two weeks at Christmas. But surely if they were carrying something they would be sick too, or she would have succumbed long before the month was out?

This was quite logical and true; it did not seem as if Kate’s in-laws could be passing along an infection. In a moment of, admittedly, belated inspiration, I asked Kate how she got on with her in-laws.

“Oh my father-in-law is great,” she said. “He’s always so helpful with anything that needs repairing around the house, and last summer he built a tree fort with the kids. He’s a wonderful man.”

“That’s great,” I said. “And how about your mother-in-law?”

Kate was silent for a few moments. “Well...” she began hesitantly.

Kate had a rocky relationship with her mother-in-law, who she felt did not approve of her in any way. Her job, her parenting, her clothes, even her cooking were sources of vexation to her mother-in-law, who complained almost non-stop. Kate tried to keep the peace, as her mother-in-law was chronically ill and was not expected to live for many more years.

“But,” she said, “I bite my tongue so often it’s a wonder I haven’t lost the ability to speak at all.”

There are occasionally times when a client has an epiphany, and this was one of those times. We sat and stared at each other. Could it be that simple?

Could those regular bouts of sore throats and loss of voice be caused not by a virus but by the body responding quite literally to the messages the mind was giving it?

Kate left the appointment pensive, and I began to read anything I could find about the connection between emotions and physical symptoms. In my research, I came across hypnosis – something I had hitherto thought akin to magic tricks and stage magicians. The more I read, the more intrigued I became. This was not a parlour trick, this was a way to achieve what Kate had unwittingly accomplished, an effect on the body caused by thoughts and emotions. The same process through which Kate had caused herself illness could be used to create positive results.

As is sometimes the case, the universe provided a means to learn more. My husband had a colleague who had recently used hypnosis to overcome his fear of flying. It had worked tremendously well and he passed along a business card. That hypnotist also taught hypnosis and I signed up for an introductory course. Then another course, and another, and then online courses and international conferences. The more I learned the more it seemed to fit so well with my practice. Those elusive root causes of some physical symptoms could finally be tracked down and eliminated. And everyday issues like stress, anxiety, fears, and insomnia could be helped. Chronic pain could be lessened and soothed, chronic illnesses ameliorated. 

Herbs will always be my first love, part of me is still the kid in rubber boots making potions in jam jars, but I love the ability hypnosis gives me to help a client rediscover their power to change, to let go of unwanted behaviours and habits, and to become the person they want to be. 

And what of Kate? I did not see her for more than a year, and when she came to see me for a different issue, I asked her about the sore throats. She smiled conspiratorially at me. “They’ve gone,” she said. “I bought a dog”.

“A dog?” I asked, more than a little confused.

“Yes, a dog. My mother-in-law doesn’t like to walk much, so whenever she gets to be too difficult, I take the dog for a walk, and then I can say all the things I need to, without anyone hearing me. It seems to work.”

Mental and physical health are often profoundly intertwined, and I am deeply grateful that I can offer clients the ability to improve all aspects of their wellbeing.

Rebecca