Dr. Hack referred Mrs. X to me because she was suffering from Bruxism, or habitual grinding of the teeth, especially during sleeping… she had worn down many teeth and needed numerous crowns and it was causing her pain and costing her a fortune in dental bills.

First red flag was that her Husband called me to make the appointment. Generally I always talk directly to the primary client when making appointments. Mr. and Mrs. X came in my office together and she insisted that he remain with her during all of our sessions. This happens normally only when the client is a child.

She sat in her chair, arms crossed, telling me that she had clenched her fists and teeth and had been depressed since childhood and she was over 60 years old… an old habit indeed. And she spoke out of the corner of her mouth, like the prototypical gangsters in the old movies, the ones that have a cigar clenched in the other side of the mouth, and it was fascinating, since she was a New Yorkah, even.

She told me flat-out that she had difficulty with sleeping and in trusting anyone but her husband and her brother. I saw where that placed me, uttering under my breath, “Oy vey and OMG” and even with all the apparent resistance, I ’soldiered on’ working with her in letting go of the ‘old baggage’ using the Emotional Freedom Technique and lo and behold, during the guided meditation, she actually relaxed and fell asleep in the chair in my office!! Mr. X kept looking over at me, smiling incredulously, her mouth was open and teeth far from clenching!

Kay Heatherly

After they left, I told Dr. Hack that I so greatly appreciated his sending me one of the most difficult and resistant clients of my 20-year career!

Now, I was the one almost gnashing my teeth at the thought of her subsequent visits. But on the second session, she came in almost grinning and telling me how well she was sleeping, and to the third session having lost that ‘ganstah’ talking out of the side of her mouth, her speech was almost normal and she was joking around joyfully and bantering with me and her Husband, a sense of humour that had been hidden away during the initial visit.

Perhaps, we are not at the Mission Accomplished moment, but she has made brilliant progress and as I told Dr. Hack in the meeting today, I actually got to the point that I enjoyed this client couple and would be pleased to see them again in the near future.

Success is measured in many different ways.

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