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The Case of Quivering Frank
by
Bruce K. Stampley, MD(am),PhD,CH
Frank was referred to me by his physician after said Doc ran out of ideas. Frank
was diagnosed with “Parkinson’s –like symptoms”. That translated to “I don’t
know what else to do for this man”.
Frank presented as an average looking, well-kept man of 60. The exception to
this average look was a very pronounced shaking of his right arm. He came to
my office with his wife, who asked if she could sit in on the initial interview. I
agreed, although this is against my normal practice to allow anyone to sit in on
an intake session.
The doctor who had referred Frank to me had provided me with a complete
report of Frank’s recent medical history and all the tests that had been run in an
effort to determine the cause of Frank’s palsy.
There was no physical evidence to support the idea of Parkinson’s.
As we proceeded with the initial intake interview, Frank’s wife frequently
interrupted his answers to my questions to interject her own answer or correct
his.
It turned out that Frank was a writer who was just about to have a book
published, that he had had some serious business setbacks over the last two
years and was only just beginning to see some relief from the financial plight he
had gotten into.
Deeper questioning revealed that the shaking had started about two years ago
and had progressed to the point where Frank could not sit at his computer to
work.
When I asked Frank about his views on hypnosis, his wife answered that “they”
did not really believe in hypnosis but had come because the Doctor had
recommended that they do so.
When I directly asked Frank, he told me that he had done some reading on the
subject and was at least open to the idea.

Based on that weak answer, I suggested that he go home and decide if this was
really the modality of alternative health care that he wanted to pursue.
Frank and his wife left, and I supposed that “they” would not be back.
About ten days later Frank called and asked for an appointment. I agreed to see
Frank but told him that no one else would be permitted in the session. We could
tape it for his reference if he desired, but no one else was to be in the room.
Frank showed up for his appointment with wife in tow, shaking even worse
than he had been the first time I saw him. His wife was not happy that I would
not allow her to observe the session.
Frank proved to be a very good subject. He was a very intelligent, quick-witted
person, and understood immediately my instructions and explanation of what
hypnosis is and what it can allow one’s mind to do.
In my practice, I rarely use the word hypnosis, preferring the words altered state
or relaxed state.
I do this because of the public conception of hypnosis as mind control by an
outside source. I go to great pains to explain to my patients that I am simply
there to guide them to where they need to go in order to produce a healing
effect.
Even though he was shaking so hard that he literally had to hold his right arm
down, Frank responded well to suggestion and went into somnambulism easily.
As he reached that relaxed state, I was amazed to see the palsy stop altogether. I
asked Frank to give me a report and he replied that where he was he didn’t have
to shake.
When asked why that was, Frank replied that he didn’t have to shake because
he was in a place where he wasn’t mad.
I brought Frank back to semi-awareness to confirm what I had just heard. As he
came back, the tremors came back, although they seemed less pronounced.

Satisfied that I was not having auditory hallucinations, I led Frank back into the
trance state. As he went deeper into trance the palsy diminished to the point that
I could not visibly discern any unusual tremors in his right arm.
Using ideomotor signalling, I asked Frank to ask his higher mind if there was a
need to have these tremors. When the right index or “yes” finger moved in the
positive manner, I asked Frank to ask his higher mind if it was ok to
communicate directly with it by verbal means and would it be willing to
respond to me in the same manner.
Frank’s other self agreed to this procedure immediately, so I pressed on, asking
what the purpose of the tremor was.
Frank (or his “other self”) said that the tremor was an acceptable way to express
his anger. When I asked further what he was angry about, he said that he was
very angry with his father.
Frank had grown up in a highly structured Jewish family whose father was very
controlling and administered physical punishment for small infractions of “the
rules”.
Frank spent his childhood angry with this father and when the old man died
suddenly at the age of fifty-two, Frank’s twenty-third year, he had not
confronted his father with his feelings. He had been carrying this unresolved
anger with him for almost forty years.
Based on that information, I did a Gestalt session with Frank and asked him to
forgive and then say goodbye to his father. At the end of the session Frank was
sweating profusely and tearful but appeared to be relieved.
Upon leading him back to a full awareness, Frank said that he felt as though a
huge weight had been lifted from him.
I noted that at the end of the session, Frank had no visible tremor, but I
deliberately made no comment.
I walked Frank to the front office and stood by making a bit of small talk while
Frank’s wife paid the fee. When I suggested to Frank that probably only one or
two sessions would clear this matter, his wife interjected that “they” couldn’t
afford much of this foolishness.

I said goodbye and watched as they walked to their car, the wife talking
constantly as they crossed the parking lot. I observed that Frank
had a noticeable tremor as her reached for the car door.
At the next session, Frank again had a tremor although it did not seem as
violent as at the first session. Again, he responded well to the induction and
went into trance easily.
I immediately asked Frank’s “other self” to tell me why he was shaking again.
Was there some process of illness in the body that was the cause? Frank again
told me that anger was the cause of the tremors. Questioning led me to believe
that Frank was angry with his wife for being the controlling figure that
represented his father.
I asked Frank if he loved his wife. He said that he did. He hated that she” had to
run everything”.
I took Frank through a scene where his wife was doing all she could to help his
career the best way she knew how. If she was sometimes overbearing, it was in
his interest.
I gave Frank instructions on forgiving and understanding and installed a post
hypnotic suggestion that it would be good for Frank to suggest that he and his
wife seek the help of a marriage counselor.
When Frank returned to his full awareness, he was quite relaxed and there was
no tremor in his right arm.
That was the last time I saw Frank.
Through the doctor that had referred him to me, I learned that Frank no longer
had the Parkinson’s type symptoms and that he and his wife were going to a
marriage counseling group.
My conclusions were that Frank’s unvented rage at his father, which was
transferred to his controlling wife, had been converted to a palsy which was an
acceptable visible manifestation of that anger.

Once the father was forgiven and his other anger able to be expressed in a
comfortable setting, Frank’s Parkinson’s-type disease no longer had a place in
his life.
This is but one example of how hypnosis can help uncover the real causes of
physical problems and help lead to a sensible resolution.
Bruce K. Stampley, MD(am), PhD, CHT
http://www.online-hypnotherapist.com