This is a translation of an article written by its founder Valerie Clertan and originally published by COPMED. Used with permission.
We Are Multidimensional Beings
When we face difficulties – whether internal (physical and/or psychological distress) or external (relational, social, professional, etc.) - sometimes it's enough to provide solutions in the present context for things to return to normal. But sometimes this isn't enough, and we see the problem recur and even become established without any apparent cause.
The next step is to check if this event might be connected to other similar events in our past, like beads stringing together to form a bracelet. In fact, the current event is often just a trigger, another echo of an underlying dysfunction.
Back pain, for example, can result from poor posture, a fall or accident, or sometimes occur without any observable cause. For the body, it's recorded as another layer in the "back pain" category. Removing this last layer may not be enough to resolve the entire issue... which is why it will resurface at the next opportunity.
However, if we consider the entire history of this back pain, we'll find traces, buried in cellular memory, of similar events conducive to reactivating this symptom. There is an original impact that silently emits traumatic information, ready to resurge at the slightest opportunity to remind us of its "presence"... We must therefore trace the original trauma, then modify what has been engrained (inscribed in our organism), so that this part of the body can find its way back to self-regulation and return to optimal functionality.
In addition to their personal experience that may have led to back pain, the person may have genetically inherited a vulnerability in this area of the body - while other family members may have inherited other issues that their ancestors already suffered from (known or unknown): one inheriting the paternal grandfather's alcohol problem, another inheriting the maternal grandmother's tendency toward melancholy, etc.
This is observable in countless areas. Our ancestors had no means to repair their traumas; they lived and died with them. The methods that allow us to break these chains of transmission are extremely recent, and the approach itself is still (too) uncommon.
This explains why nowadays, clients often carry numerous transgenerational burdens. These inherited patterns are heavy because they've accumulated over generations without previous opportunity for relief. There are all the tragic events that no one could express during their lifetime, often due to taboos present at the time (family taboos or those of religious, ethnic, social, or cultural origin), creating heavy unspoken issues, family secrets, fears, shame, and guilt...
And when we understand that "what isn't expressed gets impressed," we better understand where all sorts of manifestations without apparent valid reason come from.
Experience shows that information comes from much deeper transmission levels than our conscious mind can detect or even suspect. Therefore, it becomes necessary to investigate to trace the original traumatic context (age, circumstances, protagonists, etc.) as well as how it was experienced and recorded: the feelings, specific emotions attached to this event, beliefs that were established around it, behaviors that resulted...
This complex set of data is imprinted at the cellular level of the organism, to be preserved and transmitted to descendants, so that the experience of the elders benefits the newcomers. The body continues to emit the same stress for generations, like a warning message sent to descendants.
"The method approaches each human being in their specificity, but also in their totality..."
It is partly thanks to this phenomenon of cellular recording of existential experiences that species survive and perpetuate themselves since the dawn of time.
But these cellular data need to be revisited to be updated and made appropriate to our current life. For example, there's no point in retaining the trace and aftereffects of periods of famine when food is abundant today... For cells, time doesn't exist. Therefore, the age of stored information doesn't prevent access to it. Of course, the more we tackle the root of difficulties, the more the repairs are inscribed in deep layers, and the more lasting they become.
The benefit of these "updates" is obvious for the person consulting but it's also beneficial for their descendants, since MCI works at the level of cellular memories.
The information "I have back pain every time" (or "I'm afraid every time" or "I lose sleep every time," etc.) will simply be deactivated, thus breaking the chains of genetic transmission.
A problem is a solution seeking itself. It's up to us to help it emerge! But for this, we must look in the right place, where the shift can happen, where transmutation can take place.
WHAT IS MCI?
MCI is a psycho-physical healing method, specifically created to optimize therapeutic results for health professionals and helping relationship practitioners.
Its complete name is "Méthode Causale Intégrative" (Integrative Causal Method). "Method" because it is a complete discipline, structured and coherent. "Causal" because it systematically connects presented symptoms to their generating causes, to better unravel their origin. And "Integrative" because the method was developed to be integrated into the regular practice of very different practitioners, providing them with cross-cutting skills in accompanying their patients/clients.
HOW DOES AN MCI SESSION WORK?
The first part is dedicated to a verbal exchange, to fully understand the situation and request of the present person. If they mention pathologies that fall within the medical domain, we verify that they have complete medical follow-up.
The rest of the session can take place lying down, sitting, or standing, according to the practitioner's preference. From there, the body guides the session through muscle testing:
First, to establish an assessment of dysfunctions and indicate how they connect between different levels (a fear, for example, can come from either a personal or transgenerational blockage, and have physiological repercussions through energy circuits).
Then to conduct necessary investigations (tracing the origin of the blockage and its context, making sense of what manifests and creates disturbances) as well as selecting appropriate interventions (balancing) to perform.
Finally, to evaluate the impact of corrections made in relation to the initial assessment. Muscle testing provides real-time bodily feedback.
The body is a true living barometer, able to provide indications about what weakens it but also what strengthens it. By dialoguing with it in both a precise and subtle way, MCI allows for customized support.
The emphasis is on awareness, through the transparency of information that emerges from cellular unconscious archives, and the connections that can be established with the current issue of the person consulting.
All this takes place in the form of ongoing interaction between practitioner and client; an MCI session is teamwork!
TOOLS OFFERED
The MCI toolbox was specifically designed so that healthcare professionals from all backgrounds can select what seems appropriate for their regular practice. It is multiple and varied, but above all very adaptable to each profession's specificities.
Available balancing techniques range from acupressure (or digitopressure) to NLP, Enneagram, including EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or even EMDR (in cases of significant trauma), corrections aimed at restoring optimal bodily mobility, visualizations accompanied by harmonizing phrases from Family Constellations, concrete or symbolic reparative acts, etc.
Emotional supports are offered: flower essences (Bach flowers or others), mineral essences, essential oils in aromatherapy, crystals...
Qualified prescribers (naturopaths for example) can supplement with natural health products to support the organism in its recovery when needed. Muscle testing will allow them to best adjust their prescription taking into account each organism's specificity.
WHO IS MCI FOR?
Everyone, without exception, from conception onward. From age 5, children can attend sessions (accompanied by a parent of course); for younger ones, the parent comes to the session and serves as a relay through the transfer technique.
This transfer technique offers the advantage of being able to consult during pregnancy (in case of difficulties for both mother and baby).
People with disabilities, handicaps, or autism can also benefit from the method's contributions through this means. In all cases where the body is the best, or even the only way to express oneself, MCI provides privileged help. Most often it acts as a complement to other approaches more focused on physiology or psychology. Its field of action is psychosomatics as a whole.
SOME EXAMPLES ENCOUNTERED DURING SESSIONS
Intrauterine Life and Its Events
I had been following a woman in her thirties, like many in our time: brilliant, hyperactive, passionate about her profession and invested in her career. She wanted to conceive a baby naturally, which was taking time.
She eventually became pregnant and the pregnancy was going well, until the last moment when she learned that her baby was in breech position and without turning, vaginal delivery would be compromised.
She came back to consult me about this, and as soon as the body was questioned, it was the baby who "took the microphone": he didn't want to leave the womb because he feared that once outside, thus physically separated from his mother, she would throw herself completely into her work and have only minimal time to devote to him.
He therefore preferred to stay inside to keep her with him! The mother received these revelations like an electric shock, something she hadn't suspected.
The main balancing work was for her to promise her baby that she had taken note of his fears and would take them into account by reducing her work hours, at least for the first year. She also had to explain to him that a breech birth would be dangerous for both of them and ruled out the possibility of a natural birth.
Two days later, coming out from her midwife's office, the mother-to-be called to tell me that everything was fine: the baby had turned and was well-positioned, she would be able to have a normal delivery.
Panic Attacks in the Street
Orianne is 19 and moved to the city a few months ago to pursue her higher education.
Unfortunately, she can no longer make it to university because anxiety grips her from the moment she wakes up, intensifying when she leaves her studio apartment, to the point where she must turn back and return home instead of attending her classes.
She's ashamed of her condition, feels abnormal and ridiculous, isolates herself waiting for weekends to return to her parents in the countryside, to whom she doesn't dare say she's skipping classes for fear of disappointing them. Her academic year seems compromised.
When I questioned Orianne's body about the origin of her anxiety, it indicated age 7, associated with a dog phobia and fear of death. She startled upon hearing these words and remembered that in her childhood, she had gone on foot to a little neighbor's house to play, and suddenly a rottweiler had appeared and attacked her face.
The poor child had been disfigured and had to undergo plastic reconstruction - which had beautifully restored her face but hadn't addressed the terror she had kept inside.
She realized that since that time, she had always gone out accompanied, had always been driven everywhere by car, and had long ago pushed this traumatic episode from her mind. It took several sessions to release the various emotions and avoidance strategies that Orianne had put in place to protect herself from another potential dog attack.
She returned to university with enthusiasm, and during our last meeting, she triumphantly announced that she had met a boyfriend... who had a female rottweiler, and that she spent hours playing with the dog on the living room carpet!
Rage as Inexplicable as it was Great
Rafael is a teacher who appears to be a polite and composed man, but he confides that beneath this smooth appearance simmers a volcano he struggles to contain. Internally, he feels constantly tense, ready to pounce on people he finds disrespectful.
The slightest injustice drives him crazy and makes him want to fight; he has come to dread his own aggressiveness, his social life is hell.
He is irritable and moreover, suffers from unbearable itching even in his scalp.
He has no idea what event could have triggered this state; he describes himself as someone "who was born angry."
The root of this consuming rage turned out to trace back to his Portuguese grandfather, who had indeed faced a great injustice when he was in his twenties: a woman in his village had become pregnant while her husband was away.
She had a lover, who was also married, and to avoid denouncing him and triggering too great a scandal, she claimed that Rafael's grandfather, then a young bachelor, had forced himself on her sexually and that he was the father of the child she was carrying.
The accused had proclaimed his innocence in face of this unfounded accusation, but he hadn't managed to convince anyone and had been sent to prison (they didn't joke around with moral affairs in General Salazar's time...).
Upon leaving prison, he was a broken man, become solitary and taciturn, he had exiled himself to another region where he had found a wife to marry, and had worked the land tirelessly to feed his small family, avoiding all contact with society. Rafael could not by himself overcome all the feelings inherited from his grandfather; however, he was greatly relieved, both morally and physically, during our sessions, to be able to rehabilitate and pacify his grandfather's memory.
Although adults represent the majority of MCI clients, I particularly appreciate the opportunity to work with children and adolescents – because the younger you free yourself from your burdens, the more chances you give yourself for the rest of your life! These are extra years of happiness...
WHO CAN PRACTICE MCI?
All health professionals and helping relationship practitioners can find many advantages and shortcuts in practicing MCI: doctors, midwives, nurses, osteopaths, physiotherapists, naturopaths, homeopaths, psychologists, psychotherapists, psychomotor therapists, speech therapists, sophrologists, energy practitioners, etc.
The training curriculum is intentionally short and compact (10 weekends spread over one academic year) and focused on practice.
To find an MCI Practitioner or learn about training: Visit www.valerieclertan.com
Valérie CLERTAN
Kinesiology & Family Systems Integrative Causal Method®
Original version of this article published in COPMED.fr
