Dr Edward Bach (1886-1936)
Dr Bach was a British doctor and bacteriologist born in Worcestershire. He first studied medicine in Birmingham, then later University College Hospital, London, where he became house surgeon, pathologist and bacteriologist. He also obtained a Diploma of Public Health (DPH) at Cambridge.
Through preparation of specially identified plants, he came to discover healing remedies for the states of mind. He believed that a fundamental part of the healing process was to first acknowledge and then be able to name what we are feeling. This understanding is shared by counsellors and psychotherapists today. Dr Bach went further to discover and identify a healing plant remedy for each afflicted state of mind. He discovered 38 remedies and found that when these are combined correctly they can treat all states of mind.
In 1930, Dr Bach discovered and prepared his first new flower remedies which came to be known as the Bach Flower Remedies. In the winter he treated patients free of charge.
While he recognised the role of the germ theory of disease, defective organs and/or tissue, and other known and demonstrable sources of disease, Bach wondered how exposure to a pathogen could make one person sick, while another was unaffected, when to all appearances and analysis they were in equal states of health. He postulated that illness was the result of a conflict between the purposes of the soul and the personality's actions and outlooks. This internal war, according to Bach, leads to emotional imbalances and energetic blockage, which causes a lack of harmony, thus leading to physical diseases.
The Bach system gives you a simple way to manage everyday emotions and feel more yourself. It can be used along side any other approaches to wellbeing.
Bach Consultations
If you wish to have a Bach flower consultation, the cost of the remedies (one bottle) is included in the price of the consultation. Please let me know when you book your appointment that you are wanting a Bach consultation, otherwise I may assume you are wanting counselling or psychotherapy. After we have discussed the issues that have brought you to the session, we can discuss which remedies might be useful, and we can then mix up your bottle at the end of the session.
Dr Bach was very keen that people take care of their own health and that the patient understand and be a part of the decision making process as to which remedies to choose. This understanding he believed was a fundamental and central part of the return to wellness.
I qualified as a Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner in 1998 before I was fully qualified as a counsellor in 2000. I have seen the dramatic healing effects of the remedies countless times. There is no current science that explains how they might work and there is also a lack of trials, randomised or otherwise to prove efficacy. However, anecdotal and observational evidence based practice would suggest that the Bach flower remedies continue to be as helpful today as when they were first discovered.
