Using Bach Flower Remedies for Carers
Case study of carer looking after someone with Diabetes & Depression
CLIENT BACKGROUND:
My client is a 69 year old woman whose husband was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease over 1 year ago. He is still able to reside in the home but is limited in some physical aspects of daily living. Her physical health diagnosis includes blood clots in the left leg, not resulting in a stroke.
Diabetes
Having also being diagnosed by her primary doctor with diabetes and is currently using a prescription pharmaceutical drug to regulate her sugar levels.
Bereavement
Because of the death of 2 family members (mother and brother) which were closely related in time she was also diagnosed by her primary doctor with broken heart syndrome 5 years ago.
Broken Heart Syndrome
I include this information on the broken heart syndrome even though these are not current event in her life. This information was given by my client in our initial consultation.
Even though the death of her family is a past event I still feel that it is a current indication of her feelings at the moment because she spoke freely of the deaths in the initial consultation.
INITIAL CONSULTATION: The initial consultation was approximately 40 minutes in time. This consultation was in my client’s home. It was a peaceful and quiet environment with no one else being in the home at the time. I did not use a questionnaire for information but chose to ask several questions instead.
Observations:
The first physical observation I made of my client was that she was sad and dejected in nature. There was no smiling, only sad looking eyes. She was also slouched down in the shoulders. I chose to ask the following question:-
- how did she feel when she first woke up in the morning and how did she feel meeting with me for the consultation.
- Her response to the first question, how did she feel when she first awoke in the morning was that she felt sad and depressed.
- I did ask why she felt this way. She said that when she woke in the morning she immediately realized that she would once again have to help her husband get dressed for the day because he has difficulty doing this for himself.
Opening Up:
She mentioned that she knew this situation was going to occur every day for the rest of his life or as long as he was in the home. This thought made her sad not only for herself but for him also. She felt that she did not have the energy to get out of bed to help him and yet she got out of bed to help him. When asked the question, how did she feel meeting with me for the consultation, she felt that it was going to be a waste of time for us both.
In this initial consultation I explained to her how the flower remedies would not suppress the negative emotions she was feeling but that they would build and strengthen the positive qualities she already has, therefore helping to balance the mental, emotional and spiritual state of being. When asking her if she would like to continue with a remedy plan she said that she would like to continue.
Initial remedy plan: When selecting her remedy plan I used the 7 groups that have been organized. I chose the category of “Despondency or Despair” as she had mentioned that she felt that the situation with her husband would continue indefinitely.
Sweet Chestnut & Start of Bethlehem Remedies
For this emotion I chose the Sweet Chestnut Remedy. I chose this remedy to help restore and give hope in the circumstance she is in. I also chose the Star of Bethlehem Remedy because of the broken heart syndrome and the deep feelings of grief and loss.
Emotions of Grief
With the great loss of losing her family I felt she may have not recovered from those emotions fully as it was a traumatic event. I felt also that this remedy would help with the loss of a past life that she had shared with her husband when he was healthy. I chose this remedy also to help her have a positive attitude for the future and peace of mind with her past and present circumstances.
Olive Remedy
Because of her feelings of being tired and not wanting to get out of bed in the morning, I chose to use the Olive remedy. I chose to use this remedy to balance and strengthen the desire to get out of bed every morning and continue with the daily activities. After choosing the remedies I told my client of each of the positive qualities in these remedies.
Treatment Bottles
I decided on using the treatment bottle method because I felt that her situation was ongoing and not temporary. I did not choose to use the Brandy in the bottle remedy so there was no need to inform her of this. Instead I chose to use only the stilled mineral water and 2 drops each of the remedies chosen in the treatment bottle.
Dosage:
It was explained that she could either take 4 drops 4 times a day on the tongue or she could put the 4 drops into a glass of water and drink throughout the day. Regardless of which way she choses to take the remedy she needed to be sure to take the full 4 doses daily. I told her she cold stop using the remedy when she felt that she did not need it anymore. I told her I would follow up over the next 3 week to se how she felt while taking the remedies.
FOLLOW UP CONSULTATION: I called twice over the next 3 weeks to ask how she felt taking the remedy. She used the words calm and peaceful. She said she feels more joyous during the day. Each time I asked her if she felt she still needed to take the remedy she answered yes each time.
Treatment Bottles
After finishing the treatment bottle I along with my client decided to continue with a second treatment bottle using the same remedies with the same dosage. She continued with the second treatment bottle but did not quite finish it because she said she felt more positive and did not need to take it. I mentioned that she could call if she wanted to continue working on other negative feelings that may arise at a later time.
CONCLUSION AND RESOLUTION: The conclusion is that my client is happier from using the treatment remedy. She went from feeling that our initial meeting was a waste of time to feeling that she wanted to continue with the second treatment bottle because she felt the positive benefits to herself. My resolution is to continue to listen to my clients and recognize that each one has a different and unique physical, mental, emotional and spiritual makeup.
Using a questionnaire:
When Incorporating a questionnaire for clients you will find this can help you even more showing a greater understanding of their feelings and therefore this helps in the future to be able to recognize more clearly how each remedy is differentiated from another remedy.
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