This morning I sent an email to Phil Parker as follows:
Dear Mr Phil Parker
My name is Marianne Gutierrez and I have a website mainly for my thoughts but also my opinions on therapies that claim to cure CFS/ME.
I wonder if you would be kind enough to answer a few questions about your Lightning Process?
1. Do you think that psychological/psychiatric aspects are the cause of CFS/ME?
2. If the answer to the above is ‘Yes’, why do you think that? If your answer to the above is ‘No’, what do you think is the cause?
3. What is your definition of a) training and b) automatic response?
4. What calibre of person do you expect to be successful with your process?
5. Do you think that your patients have a right to know every aspect, experience and qualification that you and your practitioners use on your patients? Can you list those aspects here?
6. Giving an average how long does it take to be successful for people using your process?
7. What measures do you have in place to gauge the Lightning Process success rate?
Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Marianne Gutierrez
Dear Marianne
I am concerned you think the Lightning Process is brainwashing. Creating new neural pathways for the brain is important for me in my experience of ME – it’s not just about physical fitness and fatigue. I can now lift things in my daily arm exercises that are much heavier than unfamiliar things that set off my symptoms – and I need to lay new pathways in my brain to stop doing this as it’s most illogical! The brain is not working properly and neither is the immune system, and ‘neuro-excitory toxicity’ as my Australian ME specialist doctor calls it is something that can be set off by either thoughts/emotions (ie stress) or muscular movement/fatigue. Dr Paul Cheney also uses something like these terms and he is a big expert on ME/cFS in the States and very much believes this is a physical illness – as does Phil parker (see website).
I have found great benefit in doing the LP course despite struggling to improve in some areas – I no longer need two hours in bed (or any) during the day, I don’t sit down when going shopping or talking to people (I used to use a seat-stick all the time) and I can drive again hurray! My 3 friends who have done the course all got better dramatically soon after the course, and I am working to do that too.
Love, Jane
Hi Marianne
I am researching treatments for CFS. My daughter has been suffering with it for two years and it breaks my heart.
Lightening process has caught my attention but my natural skepticism is in place at the moment. As chrisitans I would be very concerned about any occultish facets if they are indeed present. A lot of things about the treatment do seem to make so much sense. I would love to have email addresses of people of who have acuall y tried the treatment. DO I trust all the testimonials that I read, What do you think?
Janet
Hi Janet, Phil Parker says somewhere on his website that if you were traveling in London you would ask friends how to get somewhere. In other words, he was suggesting that if you want to know about his therapy ask those who have tried it. However if I am travelling in London, I rarely ask friends because they have their own way of traveling and I invariably get lost, so I use a map. In Phil Parker’s case, the Lightning Process map would be his website. If you like what you read, and what he says then try it. If you are concerned about a process that goes against your beliefs – then don’t try it. That decision is between you and God. What would I do in your situation? I would not use any therapy I am not sure of. Unless it shouts YES to me, I wouldn’t use it. The Perrin Technique shouts YES to me, so I am going to try it. Bear in mind what most people and experts say: CFS/ME is a physical illness. Chatting to Shirley Kay about the Perrin Technique was a real eye opener for me. She told me the findings which were my symptoms.
Sometime ago my Mother died and I couldn’t cry. The tears wouldn’t come. But a muscle in my back was extremely painful and going in and out of spasm. I asked my sister to massage my back and explained what to do. As she placed her hands on my back and worked them up my spine to my head, I felt this enormous wave of emotion reach up to my throat as if it was going to choke me and suddenly the tears flowed and I cried and cried.
This was such a graphic visual aid of how emotional stresses cause tight muscles which cause further problems and an inability to release thoughts, stresses and emotions. This in turn congests the bodily functions and all grinds to a halt and a variety of symptoms and CFS/ME is diagnosed. (my interpretation of the illness)
So which comes first? The tight muscles causing trapped thoughts or trapped thoughts unexpressed or misunderstood causing tight muscles?
I am amazed at how relaxing the trapezius muscle in the neck, shoulders and upper back and the pectoral muscles in the chest relaxes and almost changes my thought processes. My stretch programme can help with stretching and relaxing muscles.
It does appear to be a chicken and egg thing. However only the individual knows if a physical treatment is more appropriate than a mental approach. Both appear to be beneficial for the reasons given above. Both approaches work for some and not everyone.
Calcium supplements have really helped me and these in turn help the muscles and nerves. Stress, protein, digestion, nerves, muscles, bones all demand calcium. It is an interesting cycle of events.
However to answer your question. You can drive yourself mad reading everyone’s testimonials and getting their opinions. At the end of the day you and your daughter have to decide Yes or No regardless of what I or anyone have said. You are a Christian, you believe God is in your heart and speaking to you, so go with your gut instinct and ask the Lord to close the doors if the decision you make is not right for you and your daughter. I hope this helps. Please email me for chat or any other information, I would love to know how you get on. God bless. Marianne
Hi Jane, Thanks for leaving a comment. You may find the information in the comment I left for Janet above useful (or not!). Concerning brain washing – I think of this as repetition which can alter thinking in an automatic way. So perhaps I am wrong there.
For example we learnt the Times’ Tables by rote. So because of this repetition I can multiply numbers. But because of this repetition I don’t do the maths to work out the multiplication – I just know it, I don’t necessarily understand it.
I am a need to understand person before I can accept things. This is why I personally feel that any programming simply by its name expresses to me some kind of brainwashing, some kind of forcing someone to obey the system, some type of trusting someone or something without being fully aware of what that is. Being a rebellious soul, I’m not good on obedience.
As for everything else you mentioned (please also see my comment to Janet above) we are on the same wavelength … I think. (there’s a pun there somewhere!)
Anyway I am so pleased you are feeling better and that the Lightning Process helped you. And I do thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, because it does help people to make up their own minds on what is good for them. God bless, Marianne