Thank you very much for the comment. It was an enlightening read, to say the least.

I would offer that, since there is no objective medical test for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome as yet, or indeed any substantial guage for it, it’s difficult to establish which patients are suffering from a more psychosomatically balanced variant and who is suffering from a physiological ailment.

Obviously, the two aspects are interwoven, but in certain cases the symptoms are very similar to chronic depression or bipolar. This would make diagnosing true CFS/ME a long and difficult process – as I found in my own personal experience. I can only speak for the efficacy of my own doctor’s and physician’s treatment of me, but have been aware of an increased instance of diagnosis of the illness since the time that I fell ill. With such a high margin for error it is likely that some kind of misdiagnosis would occur, especially given some leniency for human error and for the variation in methodology of practice between doctors (take into account that certain doctors are still incredibly sceptical that the illness even exists).

Neuro-linguistic Programming is an incredibly woolly art which seems to have more in common with New Age treatment than medical science. As you indicate with Phil Parker, there seems to be a recurring theme of intense egoism amongst its ‘gurus’. I have to say that I am none too surprised that Phil Parker takes this sordid approach. It’s worth reading some of the ‘science’ and literature behind NLP, and the LP in particular, before commenting on the efficacy of the method. It reads like attempting to use an Airfix modelling kit to build an Apollo Spacecraft. It’s worth remembering that anecdotes are not proof and that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

However the worst thing about the L.P is Phil Parker himself. He is a bully, is manipulative, censors anything he doesn’t like, is obsessive about being in charge and of course is making millions out of people who are desperate to be well. At the time of writing (June ’10) many of his practitioners are leaving. There is a growing disatisfaction. Many of them were change workers before they became LP practitioners, respected professionals in their fields. They found themselves in the ‘Phil Parker machine’, obliged to spread the Phil Parker ‘brand’ rather than putting the well being of clients first. Many of them are good people, professional and caring so it is a shame.

We would recommend the LP but not working with Phil Parker – you have to sign legal papers so he can sue you if you put a foot wrong. He overcharges on books and CD’s and employs an ‘ethics committee’ to spy on ‘his’ practitioners. He can, and has, taken practitioners licences away, despite the fact that they have spent thousands of pounds on training.

Last year he told one struggling client who was on his 3 day LP training course in front of hundreds of people that she could ‘fuck off then’ because she was struggling. Obviously a man of deep understanding and compassion.

much love
x

A definite great read..Jim Bean