My impressions are strongly colored by the warm welcome I received from Mihaela and Simeon, my hosts in Bulgaria. These are extraordinary people who deeply connect with spiritual awareness and healing on many levels. They have been organizing seminars on various forms of healing for several years in Sofia, inviting teachers from England, Israel and other countries to share their wisdom in EFT, EMDR and related therapies.

It was fascinating to hear the story of the shift from Communist to democratic government. Under the old regime, everyone was cared for. Everyone had a home – however modest the accommodations, no one was out in the cold. Everyone had access to healthcare services and education. Although there were complaints about the quality of services, at least no one was without a roof over her or his head.

The weaknesses of the Communist system were evident in the shortages of food and commercial goods. While the theory of all working for the common good of all was a high ideal intended to inspire people to contribute their energies and time, in practice this did not work. Management and productivity, particularly in the agricultural and business sectors, were far from optimal. The repressiveness of the Communist regime is well known and needs no comment.

People got by with garden plots where they grew their own vegetables. This was a major source of food supplement, which helped tide people over their transition from the old regime to the new.

Today, the free market of a democratic government offers many more opportunities to live more luxuriously for those with initiative and some capital resources. However, cities are increasingly crowded with people who are following the allures of promises of a good life presented in the media; seeking a better lifestyle than they can achieve on farms. Housing is expensive, and medical care is expensive and strained to provide adequate services.

In this atmosphere, complementary therapies are a true blessing. WHEE is particularly helpful modality because it offers self-care for pain, stress and distress wherever and whenever needed. My WHEE workshop was well received, with an extra day added to the Practitioner Level 1 training to allow for translations.

Mihaela and Simeon were wonderful tour guides on a two-day exploration of a bit of the countryside East of Sofia. I was particularly taken with the little village where we stayed at a country inn. Here, as in other parts of Bulgaria, I found the food fresh and delicious (See details in previous blog entry.) People in the village live largely on the income provided by holiday visitors. They take care to maintain the quaintness of their architecture, requiring all buildings to have large slates on the roof and stone rather than paved streets.



In my inner travels, I found it easy to relate to the workshop participants as people and as healthcare professionals. WHEE and other wholistic healing approaches are particularly welcome in Bulgaria - in the context of the generally lower psychological awareness. General public awareness is more on levels I was used to seeing 40-50 years ago in the US. In parallel with this limited awareness is the continued prevalence of psychoanalytic approaches, with a growing but still limited awareness of more rapidly effective methods.

In contrast, Mihaela and Simeon in particular, and many of the workshop participants were delightfully, deeply aware of spiritual dimensions of life and our discussions were consistently stimulating and interesting. This is all the more remarkable for my hosts being in their 30's.