The life of an NFSH student can be both and exciting and a frustrating one! The enthusiasm to try out ones new found skill/vocation/revelations can be quite overwhelming, but having healed all ones house plants, the family pets and all manner of relatives until they are well and truly cooked, enthused about energy balls and the colours of the aura until friends start to glaze over and smile distractedly, it is time to find other like minded souls. We are lucky in Bristol to have a whole myriad of groups, including NFSH drop-in centres and a variety of sessions run by Healer members all of which offer specific experiences, instruction and support, but the self- organised peer support group too has its own quality as somewhere to try out and discuss the act of healing, the sensations, ideas and problems.

Our group essentially grew out of a contact list at the end of the Part Four training and started with just three of us in a room one cold Sunday night. We decided that organising and hosting the meetings would be shared as far as possible so that no one felt burdened by it, but mostly we could see how meeting together regularly would provide a place to learn and share informally. What it demonstrated and highlighted was that we are in charge of our own learning, quite rightly. The NFSH course is highly self-motivated, apart from the four parts and thankfully, due to our Regional Training Officer, a programme of associated courses, ones progress is in ones hands and identifying needs being the first step in this. Some of our group regularly practise at the NFSH drop-in centres, others do not, but in either case it was agreed that it was the healing act that should be the focus of these evenings, whatever else they should contain.

In the early days many times the discussion centred on “what could you feel, if indeed anything”- experiments into our own personal language and system of signs and meanings. Oftentimes I will confess I felt nothing specific apart from wellbeing (if that wasn’t enough!) and eventually, compelled to mention the fact, I was comforted to find that not everyone in the room was having a transcendental experience while my unruly, misbehaved mind slipped sadly to the shopping the next day or whether my children had the babysitter locked in the under stairs cupboard. The point of the support group then became obvious - to help us look at our own development with openness and honesty and to support each other’s truth in a atmosphere of equality.

Early meetings began to take shape - we would have a meditation and a discussion prior to healing and the strength of the group began to grow. By last autumn it was proposed that we look again at the purpose of the group and how to use it, with the healing always constant. It seemed that there were broadly three issues- general support and feedback for members of the group, that kind of ‘where are you?’ session that can be so valuable, secondly a place for learning specifically in regard to student issues, such as the Code of Conduct, and thirdly as a place for spiritual development through the discussion of ideas/methods.

Of course not wanting to relegate the Code of Conduct to the back of the queue, we nevertheless identified some issues that fired the imagination and to date have had sessions centred around a shared CD regarding shamanistic Soul Retrieval, and another led by Chrissy Holmes on decording. Both engendered useful debate and shared experiences and naturally spring boards for further investigation.

Other occasions have provided opportunities for individuals to practise running the meditation/visualisation/relaxation/distant healing session, and therefore enhance skills in that regard.

Just recently the group has floundered a little. Time pressures, changing circumstances and new interests obviously will affect groups such as these where the emphasis is on self-organisation. It is true that sometimes there are three people, sometimes a few more; it is also true that in the end if there are two people present you have a group! We have a fluid attitude, we know that people will come and go as their own journeys and needs dictate and that is perfectly fine, so we maintain a contact list, broadly monthly meetings which are open to all, and provide, we hope, somewhere to come for support, camaraderie and healing.

The above group is known as the “ex-Chrissy group”.  Chrissy recently asked someone how long they’d been in it – their answer was “since I ex-Chrissyied” – she was a bit bemused to know that she’d become a verb!

The Redland Healing group has been running for between 10 and 15 years. They have a two hour session every Thursday evening from 5-7 in a very good, warm, cheerful room with a waiting area. They have ten healers who come on a regular basis. Five are Full Healer members, and five are Students.

The format is that all the healers sit in a circle and open up to healing, then light and dedicate a candle to “the freedom of the spirit”. They ask that healing may be sent to the group and do their distant healing.

Usually, 15-20 people come for healing, sometimes more (a problem is trying to keep quiet so that people can enjoy the healing, but,  of course,  some talking is essential). Any “new” people Maureen usually talks to outside the room, explaining healing and giving them an NFSH leaflet to take away.

At the end of the session all the healers stand in a circle, close their chakras and the Great Invocation is read.

They never charge for healing, but do accept donations that they find sufficient to pay for the rent of the room and a few odds and ends. All healers give their services free of charge.

We’ve also had a drop-in NFSH healing session at the Pierian Centre for over four years now and it has been growing strongly. It’s an opportunity for students to give healing to members of the public. We have a lovely group of students and full healers who work on a rota basis. We are so lucky to have such a beautiful space to give healing in. There is the Well Room where people can wait and then go through into the adjoining room where we have a couch as well as chairs for healing. There is also the opportunity to have drinks and biscuits afterwards in the Pierian reception room. Our slot is from 5-7 in a Friday and people often say it’s a lovely way to start the weekend!
For anyone interested in healing, and for NFSH students in particular, there is a Support group meeting organised by the Regional Training Officer. It meets in the Healing Rooms, above the Bristol Buddhist Centre in Gloucester Road on the third Thursday of the month from 7.30-9.30. £3 is charged towards the room hire. The format of the evening is roughly divided into two – one hour is for talking about anything anyone wants to discuss, followed by an hour’s mutual giving and receiving of healing. The Rooms’ atmosphere is lovely and the ambience friendly and informal. Students may have specific issues they want to talk about, or the conversation may be of a more general nature. Obviously, anything personal can be taken to individual meetings with their mentors, but much can be gained from meeting together in a group.

There is also a small student support group who get together in someone’s home in Fishponds once a month.

Chrissy: How did healing come about at the Centre?

Janet: It was at the root of all that the Centre grew out of – given that the Founders were clergy people. Christopher Pilkington was an unusual clergyman because he’d already been trained as a healer. This was through the Church’s time honoured ministry of healing - it had been passed on to him, through another vicar – Tim Tiley, who was also connected with us in the early days. Healing was on offer to Christopher’s congregation, but he found that people didn’t really want to go to Church to receive it, so he set up a house and installed a warden, who was a healer, to run it and people who needed it went there to receive healing. That house became the first home of the Bristol Cancer Help Centre – so healing was at the roots of its whole development. It opened out to be a place where complementary therapists met in the early 1970s. There were quite a few complementary therapists in Bristol, but most were working “cold” as it was still novel and people were wary of them, so they were pleased to be invited to have a centre in which to meet others like themselves. They used to meet several times a week and when one of them, Penny Brohn, developed cancer that started the ball rolling for the foundation of the Bristol Cancer Help Centre.

At the same time, synchronistically, Dr Alec Forbes helped to give status to the enterprise. Pat Pilkington had gone abroad with Penny to find complementary therapies for her cancer and on her return, Alec Forbes’ letter was waiting for her, offering his services, and saying that he wanted initially to work in a place providing complementary therapies for any degenerative disease, but thought it wisest to pick just one – and he chose cancer. The Centre opened in October 1980 with only a phone line and a little local publicity, but it snowballed very quickly and after the first year people were coming to the Centre, to have the sessions we had on offer: counseling, a doctor’s session, nutrition and healing. Those four therapies were on offer for the first two years, while we were still in our old home. Healing was the unexpected thing that people didn’t know much about in those days and they found it unexpectedly peaceful and rewarding.

The Centre started as a healing sanctuary, so even when it moved into large new premises in 1983 healing was taken for granted, a part of the programme that was on offer. “Prayer and carrot juice” was what the media said the Centre was founded on. They could understand the carrot juice, but had to attach healing to prayer and orthodox religion. Everyone involved in the beginning were aware of Christopher and Pat Pilkington’s Christian believes, but they were very open-minded and egalitarian in their belief system, so that opened out to affect everyone who joined; everyone working in the team has a belief in the nature of spirit.

We’ve always been at pains to say that we’re non-dominational. Most, if not all, the therapists are and were non-dominational – we do have Christians, Buddhists and Quakers and many other faiths as well, but then this goes for the clientele we receive too.

Chrissy: So how did it feel to be in at the start of the Centre?

Janet: It was very exciting – we knew that it was different, that there weren’t any other places like it, so we couldn’t make comparison. We offered a large range of complementary therapies all with a spiritual aspect, even now there are not many, if any centres that do this for people with cancer on a residential basis. We have the Bristol Approach, two day and Bristol Retreat, five day residential courses and it’s great to be able to see how people benefit and change as a result of our approach. We all hold together in a bonded way, working with the continuity of spirit, and somehow that means a lot and people pick up on it. The healer’s role on the Bristol Retreat course is to meet participants on the first day (the night they arrive they’re introduced to Penny Brohn Cancer Care by the Nurse therapist, Night Assistant and Co-ordinator), but the week is facilitated by the psychotherapist and the healer together. The psychotherapist supports and leads the psycho-emotional unfolding within the group and the healer maintains the energetic holding of the group and shares the leading of relaxation, meditation and imagery exercises. The healer is with the group most mornings and for two afternoons, giving both individual healing sessions, together with other members of the healing team and co-facilitating the group along with the psychotherapist. This means that the healer sees and shares the group experience and what individuals go through. They often arrive on the Monday with fear and trepidation, anxious and wondering what they’ll have in common with the rest of the group. On the first morning the healer explains what healing is and what to expect from their individual healing session. We see how people change through the week and how they settle in and feel safer as the week progresses as a result of the support they are given. People also change as they begin to express their deeper fears and worries – often about their diagnosis and the future. In the safety of the group and company they often touch very profound feelings inside themselves and find this relieving and potentially transformative – letting out what they’ve held inside. Towards the end of the week they start looking at how to put all that they have learnt, expressed and experienced together to plan for a balanced, authentic and better quality life, whatever that may be for them as individuals. Penny Brohn Cancer Care aims to introduce and inspire people to a healthy and balanced way of living with cancer, that brings quality to whatever situation they find themselves in. In the same way we do our best to put our beliefs into action in our own lives.

Chrissy: What was healing training like when you started?

Janet: The healing training that I started with was very different to that offered today. In the mid 1970’s, there was no official programme – I had to work with a healer for at least half a day a week, observing, it felt like I was doing my apprenticeship. I also had to have a personal spiritual practice like meditation and to sit in a group- so I attended the distant healing group that the healer warden of the Centre ran. I also had to do some charitable work, which I did on our phone lines. In addition I attended any talks that were available. After all this, I gained my Full Healer membership. I think this was a good training – and there were lots of experienced healers around at the beginning.

My life as a healer at the Bristol Cancer Help Centre began when Christopher Pilkington, one of the Founders, asked me to step in for him when he couldn’t make his regular slot. Then I was given a slot of my own. In the early days of the Centre, the healers were either White Eagle Lodge and or NFSH trained.

Chrissy: Can anyone benefit from the Centre?

Janet: I think so. The Bristol Approach is a multidisciplinary approach bringing together healing, massage, meditation, relaxation and imagery, psychotherapy.

Healing has been central to its development from the start and it continues to be so. Reading comments from people after their experience of healing on the courses, it is always evaluated very highly despite previous questions, cynicism or ambivalance. People are surprised by its simplicity, at how something so simple can have such a profound effect, that they can receive a feeling of peace, and forget their worried thoughts for a while. This can start them on a journey of reflection that perhaps there is another part to them that’s not just their physical body. They think about who they are and we’re there to support, witness and be alongside their very personal journeys and for some, transformation.

People often arrive feeling out of control and leave with the skills and confidence to be actively involved with their own healing. No-one knows when they are going to die and our work supports people in living with cancer.

If people have a terminal diagnosis we support them in maintaining quality of life through the multifaceted Bristol Approach. Healing clearly holds an important role in discussions about death and dying and we help support the possibility of healing into death; that is that healing is about resolution, peace, acceptance and yielding to the cycles of nature..

Chrissy: What’s the relationship between you and the psychotherapist?

Janet: We co-facilitate the Bristol Retreat with a psychotherapist. We meet the Nurse Therapist at the beginning and end of the day so between us all we ensure continuity of care throughout the week for each individual.

With group work the psychotherapists take the lead – they’re better at words than we are – that’s their training, but we work closely together, our individual input dovetailing well through tuning in, knowing how each other works and getting a measure of the group. There is a plan for the week so you know more or less where you’re going, but there can be spontaneous change too as we respond to the arising needs of the group e.g. Wednesdays can be quite profound - when people often begin to share their fears, pain and hopes. Suddenly you realize the words have dried up and as the healer, you can catch the psychotherapist’s eye and move straight into a healing circle; no more words are needed and you can gently move around and give each person a healing. Sometimes, there’s a shared visualization – the healer will start and then the psychotherapist will take over and finish it – bringing it down and grounding it therapeutically and practically. If the psychotherapist is lost for words, the healer takes over and vice versa. You do whatever you feel is right and good at that time.

One of the healer’s key roles during that week is to hold the energy- you’re very aware all the time what the energy in the room is like – when the psychotherapist invites sharing time it’s the healer’s job to keep an eye out for everything that’s going on in the room e.g. someone over there’s not joining in, one is shuffling their feet, one is about to cry, one is anxious – and then to respond appropriately, supporting but giving them space to do what they need to do. The healer helps to keep the energy of the room balanced as a lot can build up, stagnate and be heavy if there has been discussion about life, death, loss and illness along with expression of emotions. The healer tends to this on an energetic level and practically by opening windows, rearranging the furniture, plumping up the cushions, shaking out the blankets and putting music on so that when they come back in again the room is refreshing and welcoming and clear for the start of the next session. It’s a full on energy job, in addition to co-facilitating, supporting psychotherapist and keeping an eye on the group; their posture, expressions, energy.

Chrissy: How do you feel at the end of a week?

Janet: Mostly, I go home feeling it was really, really rewarding work – I’m constantly amazed at how wonderful people are – so brave and able to move into that other part of themselves. It’s a really nice, warming feeling. Just occasionally you get a week when you feel “I think they’ve got what they want, but I’m not quite sure”. Nine out of ten times there’s a really rewarding ending to the week. I may feel a bit tired; because it’s emotionally demanding, but I’m happy and peaceful and then I am reminded that I’m in the right job.

Chrissy: Can you describe the healing team?

Janet: We always get people drawn to us. No one is here accidentally, just because they applied for the job. We’re lucky in our team that we’ve always found the right people. We’re looking for a person’s qualities; we’re checking on their sincerity and their subtle strengths. You can’t do this sort of work if you’re carrying your own fears of death. You have to be really clear of any fears as it’s the first thing people will sense when they’ve had a diagnosis if you’re not in a place of strength. You have to be strong and sound and able to carry anything that gets pulled out or thrown at you in healing sessions or groups. We’re looking for a strong, brave, fearless person who’s done a lot of work on themselves and has a sense of humour. Good timing, staying power and someone who finds it easy to work hard and play. As healers we are not ego centred and stand back most of the time supporting ready to move in when necessary.

Chrissy: How do you cope with working with people affected by cancer?

Janet: I don’t tend to get upset by what I see or experience anymore. I used to if someone had a similar situation to myself e.g. with a family still living at home. Now I have learnt to put that in another place. I stay in touch with what they need. I am there to help them through it. I am able to separate out from them – I have what I call “dispassionate compassion”. With all the loving care in the world, I come from a dispassionate place, recognizing that everyone is on their own individual journey. Of course, we healers don’t see our role as fixing broken bits, more to awaken the part that is always whole.

We work in one of the few places in the country where healers work in equality with other therapists. It’s the magic of our multidisciplinary team. Many envy this way of working, sharing, supporting and learning from each other. In the handover and debrief meetings at the beginning and end of the day we often find we get the whole picture of something we had a part in facilitating for our clients, which is very satisfying.

Chrissy: What roles do healers have at Penny Brohn Cancer Care?

Janet: Healers work on our residential courses leading and co-facilitating group work and giving individual healing sessions. In addition we have healers on Cancerpoint, our individual booked appointment service, offering ongoing individual healing sessions. In addition we have a healer giving sessions for staff to support their health and wellbeing.

Most other healers work on their own in isolation, so we’re lucky in that we have a close group of colleagues with a variety of training and experience that support each other and have a bond of friendship and commitment. The team has had supervision for the last twelve years from Paulina Baume. There’s a strong sense of continuity within the team with myself working with the Charity from its’ inception and others having a long history with the organization.

Chrissy: What part did healers play in the move to our new premises?

Janet: We’ve always seen ourselves as holding the energy from one building to the other, especially during the transfer to connect the life of one building to the other and ask for it to be held and strengthened. We’re all sincerely dedicated to invisible work, which is fundamental to the prosperity and wellbeing of the Centre.

Before we even moved or the building was finished our group of healers spent time there sat in a dusty room doing energy work – we tuned in to all directions above, below, and all around us asking for light to be planted in the place, preparing the ground for our work. We have continued to prepare, support and consolidate the energetics of building to facilitate the ongoing development of the work that is carried out in it.

Healers not only worked energetically on the building but also practically; they were there packing up and leaving our old building and unpacking and preparing the rooms in our new home. We’re all hands on people as well as spiritual holders.

Chrissy: So what’s your vision for healing at the Penny Brohn Cancer Care?

Janet: Healing has always been at the heart of the all the work at Penny Brohn Cancer Care and continues to be a key beneficial and often profound experience that people go away with.

The healers energetic work is sometimes invisible, but always done. We are considered to be of equal importance to all the other therapists in the multidisciplinary team and receive the same general rate of pay. We’ve become stronger by talking openly and widely about what healing is all about and what it does. We now have the Spiritual Council, which meets to support personal and spiritual development of staff and the organization as a whole. I see that in the future there’ll be as much, if not more healing with more open communication about all aspects of healing so there will be more access to meditation and spiritual guidance for everyone who comes into or works at the Centre. I would like to see it become a place people will choose to come to find sanctuary or connect with their own spirituality or to have time to restore themselves away from their busy lives: a place where people will not be preached at but a safe space to find out who they are with some wise guidance.

Chrissy Holmes 8/2007