Clinical Cases
Neuro-Psyche-Somatic Model
I am always in awe of so much precision from
Mother Nature’s coping mechanisms…
Breast Cancer
Jenny is s 62 year old woman, right handed, mother of a 44 year old with a severe developmental disability, mental age of about 10
Her mother
Extremely religious, “sacrificed” her life to God
Mostly unable to take care of herself, on welfare
Jenny couldn’t really take care of her during COVID, very hard on Jenny
Suffered from a deeply hunched back probably from living in complete submission to “God”
Although Jenny was only 17 when she got pregnant, her mother forbade her to get an abortion
Her brother
Always in and out of prison
She took him in whenever he would come out of prison
Has stolen money from her
Her half-brother
30 year younger than her (she is a mother for him)
She took him in to help, give him “a chance”
She always called her dog “my baby”
Description of the dis-ease
Breast cancer is a kind of cancer that begins as a growth of cells in the breast tissue.
Bio-logical conflict*
A profound self-devaluation in the ability to be a good mother, to protect or to nourish a child, or its “equivalent”, like her partner, her siblings, her parents, but also a dog, a thesis, a business, etc, whatever the woman calls “my baby”...
Left breast: mother/child worry conflict
Right breast: worry conflict towards someone you mother, parent, sibling, partner
Bio-logical Response
Proliferation of breast cells
Left breast: so she can become a “more motherly” mother, a “bionic” mother for her child
Right breast: so she can take “better” care of the other members of her family
She felt completely “inapt” as a caregiver
Circumstances
Her daughter resides in a specialized facility where she leads a partially independent life. She contacts her mother daily to request money, reacts strongly whenever her mother disagrees with her, and seldom shows affection towards her mother unless there is a benefit involved. She struggles with obesity, smoking, and poor dietary habits due to prioritizing spending on cigarettes, which deeply concerns her mother.Five years ago, her cherished dog was diagnosed with mammary cancer. Being one of my closest friends, I was familiar with her situation and the guilt she felt for not being able to love her daughter as she believed she should, like a "perfect" mother, while also feeling responsible for caring for her mother and brother. I observed her ongoing internal conflict and distress. Five years later, a few months following her mother's passing, a mammogram revealed breast cancer in both of her breasts.
Bio-logical Resolution & Transmutation by Consciousness
She endured an almost two-month wait before her surgery. Through our work, we were able to transform her internal conflict by reassessing her understanding of responsibility and her concept of being a "good mother." This involved cultivating self-compassion for her understandable struggles in loving her child in a conventional manner and instead establishing healthy boundaries. As a result, she recovered swiftly both physically and emotionally, despite undergoing surgery. Remarkably, she ultimately didn't require chemotherapy.A year later, she is cancer-free, enjoying excellent health, and has undergone a profound shift in not only her self-perception but also in recognizing her boundaries and the extent of her responsibility towards other family members.
* There are very often many types of cells and tissues forming an organ, thus many different possible “inner conflicts”. I have chosen to name only the one that was relevant to the cited case.