Master Class: Health Issues: Striving for Wellness; Surviving Illness

Betty Scott’s presentation on health issues did not initially appeal to me. I spent almost 6 weeks total in the hospital last year due to a gallbladder operation gone awry and did not really want to dwell on illness or recovery. As it turns out, an old friend turned up who very much wanted to attend and in the interest of catching up, I decided to go with her to Betty’s class. What a stroke of fate! After a brief introduction concerning the courageous struggle of Denver Brass tubist, Kathy Brantigan, to regain her health after serious illness, Betty launched into showing us how to perform E.F.T. on ourselves to resolve any health and/or emotional issues. (E.F.T stands for Emotional Freedom Training.) This secured our rapt attention. Who doesn’t have emotional issues to resolve, pain to make disappear, trauma and phobias from which to heal? – bright promises.

She asked us to choose an affliction of some sort (pain, upset feelings, anxiety, etc.) and rate it on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most intense. We were then to include it in a statement such as: “Even though I have this headache, I deeply and completely accept myself.” This was to be said aloud while tapping on acupuncture points. Surely this was far too easy, we all secretly thought. To our surprise and wonderment, this technique produced some dramatic results including either the disappearance or lessening of: pain, tightness in the throat, and even grief over a breakup.

On my return to Germany, I used the technique on one of my graduate students who was experiencing extreme stage fright before a final juried recital in which one of the adjudicators had shown irrational harshness in grading her previous recital. When I started tapping she was crying from stress and trauma, however, the tears stopped before I was finished. She played well and earned an excellent grade. Needless to say, I was impressed. I have used the technique for exhaustion and headache with good result as well. It can also be used to reach peak performance, improve any skill and enhance learning abilities by eliminating blocks.

Betty gave us the web site address where we could receive the instructions for downloading the manual for this groundbreaking technique and I include it here: <www.emofree.com. Video tapes are also offered at a very reasonable price. The founder, Gary Craig, believes in getting this technique out to as many people as possible – a rare altruist in our dominantly consumerist worldview.

To top it all off, Betty played Gabriel Faure’s Pavane, Op. 50 beautifully and touchingly at the afternoon recital with the fine bassoonist, Albie Micklich, and sensitive pianist, Rebecca Wilt. It is rare to hear a trumpet played with such grace and melodic depth of feeling. Betty is Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she teaches one of the most popular courses on campus entitled: The Creative Process. She subs in the St. Louis Symphony and performs in the wildly popular fundraiser for IWBC, Holiday Brass.

Submitted by Abbie Conant Professor of Trombone, Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik, Trossingen, Germany