The Beggining
The initial interest in creating the technique that has become to be known as the Romanowski Method occurred in the early 90's. I became very intrigued by observing while treating patients dramatic changes that occurred from tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system. The observance of clients shaking or hearing about them having an "episode" of shaking after the session lead to the desire to know just how something similar could be recreated in most people who would in later years choose to do the work. The shaking or twitching experienced while doing this work is the nervous system's way of releasing trauma and returning to a parasympathetic state. Many people carry traumas in varying degrees and remain "on guard" for the next trauma. This creates filters on how we perceive the world in and around us, and we begin to create patterns of thought that support these "unrealities".
Accepting the knowledge that each of the original people, the clients who experienced trembling, were taken to an "edge" of discomfort before a pain threshold was reached would be a undertaking. It would take years to understand the concept of "edge", and a basic routine would also go through years of trial and error until the Romanowski Method would become what it is today. Developing a basic routine would take years, and it continues to evolve today.
In the beginning, my interest was in finding a way to be able to work with a person the least number of times possible to create the desired outcome, a elimination of acute or chronic pain. Travel to other countries enhanced this desire, as the ability to work with a person who you are only perhaps going to see once or twice. Success was going to be based on finding possibilities to take a person to their self imposed limits, acknowledging them, and perhaps surrendering into them.
I believe progress has certainly been made in this area. However, what I wasn't ready for was the ability to know that there is this other possibility for something life changing to occur. People began having life changing transformations in that hour we spent together. To this day, it is difficult to explain exactly what is happening, perhaps with some scientific study more of that can be understood. People experience being "in the moment" so much so that their awareness shifts into present time without any awareness or desire to be in the future or review past events. Others speak of removing "masks" as if the filters they chose to use have been removed, and they see and exist in a different reality in the same world. The ability of this work to remove the "label", created by "self", leads to internal sensations of change that open up people to other possibilities of existing in the world. Once the internal sensation shifts, the external environment is perceived with less of a filter.
Whatever is happening, I have continued to do this form of work. But this work is not for everyone. Any person considering undergoing either a session or series of sessions needs to understand that the contact between the therapist and the client works just below the threshold of pain. It cannot be promised that it is possible to expect that a person will not experience pain during the session, as boundaries are going to be explored. The client however, also must understand that they are responsible for indicating that the pain threshold has been crossed as at times it may be difficult for the therapist to know from their observance that restrictions or inflammations in the tissues have risen to a level of pain.
I've also come to accept that this method has in some cases become synonymous with pain. Not the ideal way of being recognized. But, the outcomes of many have kept me on this continuous journey to know why we have this ability to go through dramatic shifts just by exploring physical discomfort. Receiving this work has been transformative in my life, and I know that anytime I begin to catch myself caught up in an unresolved issue, it's time to get on the table.
Jeff Romanowski