Bregje (35)

"Bart Derkx expresses rest and ease from the moment I enter the room. He understands me immediately and feels whats wrong with me. Then he touches the tension zones of my body. Then I learn to feel those points too and to relax myself at home", tells Bregje.

To flow away the tension

In silence it happens. When Bregje lays down on the mat, first she keeps talking. But the more Bart Derkx touches the zones of her body where the tensions have constipated, she becomes more silent and she relaxes. Her belly, legs, forehead and her neck are the body zones that Derkx pays special attention to. And he involves Bregje in his attention. The treatments are a relief for Bregje and that’s why she starts crying  afterwards sometimes. Bregje lives in a semi-independent community with permanent help. 

She has a physical and behavioral handicap because of her brain damage and her autism. She feels socially insure and fears not to be accepted by her fellows and society in general. That produces mental tensions with physical symptoms. Besides she has intestinal problems and tensions because of her daily catheterization and the painful dysfunction of her bowels. Now two years in treatment, Bregje maintains a relatively normal social life, and, more important, she accepts her body as it is. She feels more certain now. The secret of this? "Bart Derkx expresses rest and ease from the moment I enter the room. He understands me immediately and feels what's wrong with me. Then he touches the tension zones of my body. I feel the tension flow away. Then I learn to feel those points too and to relax myself at home", tells Bregje. During this treatment Derkx remains a while at her neck. Bregje feels her neck becoming soft and warm. It helps. 

Derkx’ opinion about his treatment: “The attention for her body is really important, because Bregje has negative feelings about her body. As a consequence of all the radical medical interventions  in her youth Bregje feels distance between her body and herself as a person. She never had the real authority over her body. Derkx: ‘Our body is the main instrument to present ourselves in the world. I let her feel her body as an independent and vital entity. A body can’t be wrong. It is the way it is. The more Bregje keeps in touch with her own body, the more she behaves relaxed and open fort her fellows. Then I see her walking really flexibly!"

Instead of being able of walking only on rather massive shoes Bregje now can walk on light sandals. The maximum walking distance has grown from 3 to 7 kilometers in one stage. Cycling will help her too, instead taking the bus to me. That will be her next step.’