Dr Michael Gormley and Peter Sutherland           

True healing (not merely the temporary alleviation of symptoms or the apparent conquest of a disease by science) is never fully on our terms.  Any original and wholehearted response to life carries the capacity to shift the energy of consciousness, and the result is transformation of one degree or another.  Yet within such a spontaneous aliveness there is something that always remains unpredictable, something of faith and grace...
                                                          Richard Moss

I was telephoned by a patient who wondered if I could help with his eminent father, Lord 'John Smythe', who was going through a severe depression and was not totally satisfied with the conventional psychiatric help he had received to date.  It was also made clear that his father was not very open to looking at his feelings.  I immediately felt flatterd to be asked for my professional help and challenged by a case that was proving difficult for other doctors to resolve.

  I should add, by way of introduction, that I am a GP in private practice in London.  I refer patients to many complementary therapists, healers included, as I search with the people who come to me for the best ways to deal with physical, emotional, mental and spiritual problems which have challenged them and the doctors and other therapists they have consulted.  Peter Sutherland has seen some of my patients for healing over the past two years, with very satisfying results.

  My first meeting with John gave us a chance to get to know each other and explore more details about his history.  On the physical level he had a bad snoring problem which was causing him to suffer from an oxygen shortage to the brain in the night and consequent tiredness in the day.  He had been given a special oxygen mask to use but didn't like it.  In addition he was on enormous doses of a sedative antidepressant.

  I resolved to get him set up with a better system for countering his oxygen deprivation and changed him to a less sedating antidepressant.  I also took the hazardous step of encouraging him to look at his buried feelings and in particular his anger, as it became very clear that he had learnt at an early age not to show his feelings.  John had developed a very kind and charming facade but was unaware of what was happening on a deeper level and very frightened of confronting people.  His family were aware of this but powerless to do anything.  An attempt at getting him to see a local counsellor regularly had failed.

  Despite my new approach, nothing much seemed to happen, so I suggested that he consider seeing a healer who, like John, is a committed Christian.  I told him that in my experience healing is a way of reaching the hidden difficulties which are not always amenable to traditional therapies as well as giving the strength to resolve them when the body and mind become ready.  He accepted the suggestion and went to see Peter Sutherland on several occasions.

  Peter very quickly picked up intuitively that there was a major issue from John's earlier years that he had never dealt with.  He felt that it was draining our patient's health and had contributed to his elder daughter's schizophrenia.  Peter also felt certain that it was a matter of time before John came to me or him to talk about this painful subject.  

  I was greatly relieved that Peter had got to the bottom of the problem so quickly and that it was just a matter of waiting for the breakthrough.  John would then be happier and healthier and my reputation would be intact.

  My disappointment was intense when John cancelled appointments with Peter and myself on the basis of a transient illness.  He never rebooked and we felt we had lost him.  I finally decided to write to him some two months later to find out how he had been.  He informed me that his depression had been cured by ozone injections and that he was pleased to say he was off all his antidepressants.  His letter was polite but curt and I felt our relationship was over.

  In looking back at this case I realise now how all my buttons were pushed.  I had gone into overdrive.  Here was a medical challenge, a V.I.P. and a family I wanted to please.  I thought that with Peter's help I could fix it.  After arrogance hopefully comes humility.

Working with Dr Gormley has been a privilege, a pleasure and a series of healthy lessons.

  It seems appropriate to state here that honesty has always been a natural priority in my life (some say, too strong a trait) and in my dealings with Dr Gormley.  I feel that absolute honesty is paramount, yet, armed with this, I did fail Dr Gormley.

  First among questions I have to address in this interesting case is one of geography and class.  What would be John's state of health today, had he been Mr J Bloggs, referred to me by Dr A N Other, both of London SE17?  Second, why oh why was I quite relaxed about my relationship with this eminent gentleman yet so seemingly overburdened with fear and trepidation as soon as I discussed him with my eminent doctor?  How could I be so insecure and anxious?

  After my initial meeting with John it was clear in my mind that a major part of his problem was deep-seated and related to his impressionable years, now some four decades past.  I was certain the remaining problem would present itself to me in a short time, as it duly did.  It is the awareness of this second part that did the damage, for I discovered what I believed at that time to be wholly new territory - an inner awareness, during healings, of the family relationships to my patients' problems.  Because of the perceived eminence of my doctor and patient, I 'sat on' my awareness of the schizophrenia for too long.  My 'discovery' brought into awareness the patient's daughter, with whom I was feeling an increasingly glowing affinity, even though she had been mentioned very briefly only on one occasion.  At the conclusion of our last session, I told John that at our next scheduled meeting, in two weeks, I would adopt a new tack (intending to discuss my intuitive perceptions with him at that time).  Sadly, that meeting (10 months ago) was cancelled and there has been no further positive contact.

  I was greatly benefitted from the small group discussion at my first meeting in the Doctor-Healer Network, last September.  Dr Gormley and I were able, with the help and support of other group members, to clarify the details and lessons of this experience.  So important was this learning experience that I now regard that benefit as the very best result of the healing.  Following on these lessons I am now simply aware of the link between the two leading questions and statement.  I shall never again make the same mistakes as in this case.  My true Christian love and profound respect for Michael Gormley is now firmly embedded in most positive anchorage!

  My chief, self-critical regret is that the answer to my first question appears to be that had I not delayed sharing my awareness with Dr Gormley, both John and his daughter would now be healed.  (I have learned that a particular feeling which accompanies intuitive awarenesses is predictive of cure when that awareness is shared with the patient.)  The answer to the second is also written here.

  I assure the reader of lessons learned and I do truly pray this case history still has to run.

  I, the editor of this Newsletter, was privileged to participate in the group discussion mentioned by Peter.  The openness and honesty of Michael and Peter, and their steadfast search for understanding and improvement in the care they offer their patients is an inspiration to me and to others.
 
  My observation now, as it was initially, is that we mortals cannot judge ourselves or our clients regarding the appropriateness of their holding onto their symptoms and dysfunctional patterns.  Nor can or should we feel responsible for bringing about the release of these patterns.  It is a person's choice when and, indeed, whether they will release what they are able to release.  I believe that what appear to outside observers to be dysfunctional patterns may be extremely helpful to the people who are experiencing them.  A healer or psychotherapist can only suggest the possibility of a client's opening old closet doors behind which hide old skeletons, or opening doors to new awarenesses and experiences.

  The last point, the focus of the sharing, is probably the more important one.  Carers must remain open to learn lessons which clients bring to them.  Just as John came to teach Michael and Peter, he may have had further students waiting for other lessons.

Dr Michael Gormley, 3 Basil Street, London NW3                        
 Peter Sutherland, 54 Queen's Gardens, London W2 3AF
 

You may quote from or reproduce these editorial clips if you include the following credits and email contact:
Copyright © Daniel J. Benor, M.D. 1994 Reprinted with permission of the author P.O. Box 76 Bellmawr, NJ 08099 www.WholisticHealingResearch.com   DB@WholisticHealingResearch.com

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