When Dot first came to me, the cyst in her throat was very noticeable. It was about the size of a golf ball and was hard to the touch, kind of like feeling the bone in your elbow. It was so big she was having difficulties swallowing. Both her doctor and acupuncturist told her that it needed to be surgically removed. This was to be a complicated surgical procedure which would leave her scarred on the inside and outside of her throat.

Dot was afraid to have the surgery. She was willing to try anything else.

In our first session I had Dot give me a short version of what her life was like from her earliest memory on and describe her relationship with her mother and father. Then I had her recline so that she could totally relax, and I began instructing Dot to use a verbal technique called Voice Activated Integration. It is a process in which the client uses their own voice to communicate with their beliefs. Some clients even have direct conversations with their beliefs.

Once Dot was relaxed, the next thing that I asked her to do was open to the pain in her throat and notice if she could feel what was causing the pain. As she opened to the idea that her pain could lead her back to the original trauma that was causing the pain/cyst in her throat, she remembered when she was eight years old and she was trying to stand up to her father. She had done something that he misunderstood, and when she tried to explain it to him, he raged at her, yelling at her so severely that she had been unable to speak up for herself since that day.

Dot was fifty-two years old at the time of the first session. The pain and the growth in her throat were caused by the stress of constantly needing to speak up for herself but believing she couldn’t and feeling too terrified to even try.

Next, we talked about her relationship with her lover and her relationships with some of her friends. I discovered that she was having a hard time standing up to any of them. She needed to speak up for herself in a number of ways, but she couldn’t. There was one person in particular that she was having a hard time with and she really needed to stand up to him. I asked her to tell me how he treated her, and then, with her permission, I took on the role of her friend. Since she trusted me and knew I wasn’t a threat to her, she was able to tell me exactly what she needed to say to him. We were both in awe at how much she had to say! It was truly amazing to see her stand in her power for the first time since she was eight.

I taught Dot how to stand up to people with a wide-open Loving heart. It makes a big difference to communicate through Love. It takes the fear out of communicating and the people she is standing up to don’t feel like they are being attacked, more like Dot is simply establishing healthy boundaries. When Dot left that day, she looked like a new person and carried herself very differently from when she’d arrived.

When she came to see me two weeks later, she was excited. After our first session, she had successfully been able to stand up for herself with the people that mattered. She had changed a life-long way of relating to others. And that wasn’t all that changed. The cyst in her throat was starting to change. It was already much softer, more like the taut muscles on your palm.

The focus of our remaining sessions was teaching Dot how to use some of the Love Tools so that she could empower her life with Love. Here is what happened for Dot in her own words:

I have been working with Raven for several months. I have a cyst on my throat; the Western Medical solution is a slightly complicated surgery. Not only did my progressive doctor tell me to have it cut out, even my acupuncturist said to have the surgery.

Needless to say, I was not happy and pretty scared. This cyst had been with me for over a year and it was getting bigger. Basically, it looked and felt like I had a golf ball lodged in my throat.

After working with Raven for about a month, it was 1/2 the size and much softer. I knew then that it would go away, and my fears also went away. As we have continued to work together, the cyst kept shrinking. It’s barely noticeable now.

This process is so powerful. I am learning how to heal through my own efforts, and I have full faith that the cyst will be completely gone as I continue to do this work.

In addition, I have experienced many added bonuses by doing this healing work. Other things in my life have gotten easier. Way more is being healed than just this cyst. The cyst is just an outward manifestation. I am experiencing more Love in my life through my choice to be loving. I am happier and often feel a sense of awe and inspiration. My life feels richer. I have more awareness of the ever presence of the Divine in my life.

I am grateful that Raven crossed my path when he did. He is a marvelous healer and a truly warm, generous human being.

This healing took place in early 2007. Nine months later Dot’s cyst disappeared completely and has never come back.