.jpg) |
| Bird artist not known |
Although this graphic is relevant to homeopathic prescribing rather than selecting Bach Flower Remedies, it is another way of viewing or understanding the onion peeling effect.
When we select a remedy for someone, we target the emotion they are feeling at that time. For instance, if they say how tired they are, so drained of energy that they could cry, we would identify Olive. (The equivalent of picture 1) It would not be correct for us then to assume they are automatically in need of, say, Willow unless they actually express self-pity or resentment about their plight.
As we encourage them to tell us more about how they are feeling, it may, for example, come up that they are unable to turn down a plea for help as they don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Only then would Centaury be indicated. People will only tell us as much or as little about themselves and their background as they feel comfortable with. So it would be inappropriate for us to make the leap, say, from acknowledging the people-pleasing to the guess that they had childhood trauma and therefore need Star of Bethlehem.
We are not taking a complete case history in the way that homeopaths do. Instead we choose the remedy that seems most relevant to the emotion presented to us at that moment. If they tell us more, we will understand more and then the need for further remedies will probably become apparent. If they return for a further consultation, more about their emotions and history may come out, and that’s when we can help further.
An important part of this process is that as clients benefit from the flower remedies, they – over time – come to understand themselves better and peel their own onion: they might admit that they have always driven themselves hard because their father expected perfectionism. Now they have come to see and articulate that, we can see the need for Rock Water. Over the course of a discussion, or maybe several, more of the onion is peeled back until – like this final bird drawing – we and the client can see the whole picture.
