My first experience with hypnosis especially how the mind affects the body, albeit "as an observer", was in the mid-1960's and involved the fact that my parents, especially my Mother, was well known as a successful dog trainer and breeder. A local M.D. had recently become a neurologist, and the doctor knew my parents from the shared experience of breeding Afghan Hounds. The M.D. telephoned one day to request my parents help someone and the following story unfolded. * * * A young woman, just entering her teens, had stumped the local medical community. She was becoming increasingly crippled from the waist down and had developed an unexplainable very pronounced irregular gait. No physical reason for this to be occurring was able to be found. As a last resort, her parents had agreed to send her to a psychiatrist who would hypnotize her to see if the explanation could be "discovered" in this way. During hypnotic trance, the following events were relayed by the young girl. It seemed she had always wanted a dog. Her dream was about to come true when a neighbor, planning to move away had circumstances such that they could not take their pet collie with them. The neighbor couple had promised the girl and her brother that they could have the dog. At the last minute, the dog went to another home. Since the physician who was calling knew that my parents were reliable, he was asking if they had a collie that the girl's parents could purchase. Since my mother at the time had no collies for sale, she indicated that the nearest she could offer was a mature, oversized tri-colored Shetland Sheepdog (incorrectly referred to as a miniature collie by many people). She reminded the doctor that there were no children in our household and furthermore there were none in the household where the dog came from originally. Therefore, my mother did not know how this adult dog would react. Being a small breed and tending to be somewhat shy, this might not prove fruitful. The physician indicated that he believed that the Sheltie would be an acceptable substitute for a collie and it was agreed that the girl's parents would bring her out so she could meet the dog.
Jock
At the appointed time, the parents with both children arrived. The dog and my parents waited on the front lawn, somewhat skeptical of the whole situation and wary that the dog might bite out of fear if the girl's enthusiasm scared the dog. As the girl walked from the car toward the dog, it was obvious that her limp was a major handicap. To avoid the possibility of her falling on the uneven county lawn, my parents to no avail tried to get the dog over to her before she could reach the lawn. She was obviously in a hurry to meet the dog. With what little background my parents had they knew she would have to bend down to pet the dog because of the dog's relative size. Before one of my parents could pick the dog up so she would not have to do this painful act, she was already squatting and unrestrainedly petting the dog. Her child's parents were in tears as they explained that their daughter had been unable to bend down for many months prior to this day.
It was decided between the adults that these visitors could adopt the dog as a gift. Some dog food was hurriedly put together to send with the dog as no arrangements had been made for this dog. As the girl walked toward the car leading her new dog, her limp was already decidedly less pronounced.
Back to Healing
