It was Sunday morning of the conference, and I was in  Roberta Neault’s session on “Counsellors’ Career Journeys”. Roberta said [hoping I’m recalling accurately], “I encourage you all to set aside time on Monday to reflect on what you learned at this conference”. After all that was the theme – Reflecting on self and practice. And the past few days had given me much to reflect on through those who spoke in both the concurrent and plenary sessions and those I met and talked with inbetween sessions – new inspiring ideas, fresh perspectives, challenges, affirmations, salutary reminders to be purposeful in my work and intriguing possibilities to explore.

I resolved to do exactly what Roberta suggested.  Set aside time on Monday to reflect on the conference. And I did.  I sat down, reviewed my notes from all the sessions and gathered up my swirling thoughts.  This conference was unique in my experience in that I feel it spoke to my mind, heart and spirit.  Thank you again to the CCPA and the organizing committee.

Here’s some of what stood out to me.

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Pain in the Brain

Where is pain felt?  Where is it registered?  Where is it really experienced?  Pain seems to be experienced solely in the spot where it was inflicted.  We burn our finger, we feel pain in our finger.  I believe there is enough scientific “knowledge” out there to indicate that when pain is triggered in an area, the signal is sent through nerves to the brain, it is registered in the brain and a reactionary message is sent back through the same nerve system to the triggered area.  That would explain why, in simpler terms, a child does not notice the pain of a scratched knee while they are still playing; however, once they notice the injury, or someone points it out for them, the child feels the immense pain, begins to wail uncontrollably until they receive a bandage and a kiss.  It may also explain why a guy (such as myself) doing a chore from the “honey-do” list doesn’t notice the scratch on his hand until his darling wife draws attention to it; however, once he notice the injury, the guy feels the immense pain, wails uncontrollably until he receives a bandage and a kiss.  The brain was previously occupied by something more important to register the pain of the injury.  It was there, but the concentration of the involved act was more intense than the pain signal.  It wasn’t until other systems became involved that the brain had to notice.  The visual input (seeing the scratch), the emotional input (the reaction of others), the change in focus (the activity being stopped), all play an important role in noticing the pain.  With chronic pain, there is also the mental anguish; the emotional suffering (feelings of helplessness, the worry that it will never end, etc), the lack of sleep, the decreased physical energy that makes up  vast majority of the pain experience.

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The views expressed in these blog entries are my own.  They are probably not completely endorsed by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, although they should be…

I’m sparked to write this entry partly by the book I’ve been attempting to write (check back on earlier blogs) and by my attempts to start my own private practice.  I’ve worked for the Alberta Government for some time now and was dismayed but not surprised to discover that even though I am an ethical practitioner and specifically trained to do clinical hypnosis, I was not allowed to use these particular skills with my clients.  I am also not completely surprised that a training that I took with the  police and social workers regarding  interviewing child sexual abuse involved relaxation and guided imagery to help people recall details of events, but they, too, were not allowed to use the word hypnosis.  What does surprise me is that, as I pursue EAP providers to supplement my private practice, there are still bodies that are involved with the direct counselling of clients that do not accept or support the use of clinical hypnosis with clients.  I get the general public being a little more on guard when I mention that I do hypnosis as part of my practice… we wouldn’t want to be tricked into clucking like a chicken, but major service providers?  Fear and avoidance can only mean one thing… lack of knowledge.  We fear what we don’t know, and most of us; even trained head shrinkers, don’t know hypnosis.

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