ITALY REVISITED BY COLLEEN WHITEFORD
ARTWORK AT THE OFFICE The next part of the examinationwas not exactly finalized by the timewewere ready to proceed. In true Italian fashion it came together about 30minutes later, while those of us being testedwatched the examiners scramble to get things in order. It was another case presentation but on paper, and we had to demonstrate the steps for recording and completely treating the patient in the FM ® method. This timemy examiners were four Italian men, and they seemed to argue with each other in Italian as much as they pummeled me with questions in English. It was not a calming environment. I did the best I could and felt okwithmy responses, but they kept pressing formore information which made me wonder if I had missed something. After I gave them one more point Hard to believe a year has passed since I wrote about my first trip to Italy in pursuit of Fascial Manipulation ® (FM ® ) certification. Now I am just back frommy second quest, this time for certification as an instructor. It was another good, busy trip with little time for rest or recreation. Like last year, people came from all over the world with a handful of us from the US. It was great to attend such a gathering and actually know a lot of people! Many were there last year, and it was fun to reunite. We all stayed busy with classes, certification, instructor testing, and the one-day Fascia Congress. The class I participated in this year was on Acupuncture and FM ® , comparing the two approaches. I knew they had a lot in common but wanted to learn more. It was pretty amazing to see the correlation of the fascial tissue lines with the meridians. I came away from it with a much broader appreciation for traditional Chinese medicine, of which acupuncture is a component. There were a lot of Chinese participants in the room, listening via translator. It got a little crazy when there was a demonstration of evaluation and treatment by a Chinese doctor. The doctor spoke Chinese only, so a young Chinesewoman translated her comments to English for all of uswatching. The patient spoke only Italian, so another translator interpreted her remarks in English. Sometimes they got a little tangled up as to whose turn it was to talk or translate, but overall they did an admirable job! The evening of the last day of the course came quickly and it was examination time. There were three of us testing to be FM ® instructors: Ferdinand from Spain, Christina fromAustria, andme. The first part of our examwas treating a patient while two other instructors critiqued us. It was not fabricated or acting - they gave you an actual patient with a problemand you had 45minutes to evaluate and treat them. I hoped and prayed for an easy, English-speaking subject and got neither. Micalawas pure Italianwith lots of problems and injuries. Fortunately I was able to sift through the history, formulate a plan, and treat him all in the allotted time (wish I could be so punctual in the clinic… must have been the adrenalin). Afterwards came themoment of truthwhen one ofmy examiners asked Micala how much better his wrist was with my treatment. I waited nervously until his response of “80%” made me shout a silent hallelujah!
that I would treat on the patient the lead examiner, Stefano, shouted out, “It’s enough! I don’t need tohear anymore!” I wasn’t exactly surewhere that leftme, and as I got up and started to leave I askedwhen I would know the outcome. He looked atme kind of funny and said, “You don’t know? Of course you passed!” It was awet noodlemoment. Later, in true Italian fashion, they toasted us with Prosecco, hugs, and well-wishes in Italian. It’s still kind of surreal that it’s behindme now, but I have the certificate hanging on our fridge to prove it! I don’t really knowwhat to expect with teaching courses at this point. InPoland there is a three year waiting list for an FM ® course– they are that popular and well received. But in the US things are a bit slower to catch on. I’mhopeful that people will come to appreciate the great tool that FM ® is for treating an incredible array of problems, and want to be trained in it. In themeantime I’mgoing to enjoy a temporary reprieve from intensive studyingand testing, andmaybea littlemoreProsecco too! Ciao!
Juanita “Winnie” Higgins Winnie Higgins was born and raised in Southern New Jersey and at the age of 90 came to Virginia to live with her daughter. She paints mostly in acrylic but does work with watercolor and colored pencil from time to time. She has won numerous awards both county-wise and state-wise in New Jersey, has taught classes in acrylic painting and judged several exhibits for the Federation of Womans Clubs USA. Her artwork will be exhibited at our Harrisonburg office July 29 - September 25. Open house at our office with light refreshments will be held July 31 from 6-7:30 pm. Come by meet Winnie and see her work!
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