Jenny, how did you first hear about Dr. Nims’ BSFF techniques?

Jenny Skewes: My husband, Leigh, heard about BSFF at an training he took a few years ago. I immediately liked what I heard and sought out information on how to do it. Then, a workshop by Dr. Dennis Shum caught my eye. He wrote that BSFF was the best technique he had ever come across. I knew of Dr Shum and his reputation as an excellent psychiatrist through colleagues. I was sold completely at that moment, and I excitedly phoned Leigh to tell him the course was on offer, and for us, the rest is history!

• How did you first learn BSFF?

Jenny Skewes: Dr. Dennis Shum was one of the fortunate people to study with Dr. Nims when he first brought Be Set Free Fast to Australia, sponsored by Don Heggie, in 1998. Dr. Shum has delivered BSFF workshops on his own, and we have assisted him each time. Dennis set up an email for people who had completed the training, but it seemed that only Leigh and I were contributing. We were just so excited with the results! We also used the email to ask questions, which Dennis always generously answered. It has been three years since we were originally taught BSFF in 2003.

• What was your experience after you left the BSFF seminar?

Jenny Skewes: After our first BSFF training weekend with Dr. Shum, we felt a little apprehensive about using it, but this was only self-doubt. We each treated ourselves for self-doubt, and, of course, our use of the BSFF technique took off wonderfully. Leigh and I both had complex clients who were open and keen to try it out.

• Describe the first time you used BSFF with a client.

Jenny Skewes: The first person I used BSFF with was a client with bulimia who also suffered depression and sexual abuse. I just followed the BSFF format we had been taught using the muscle testing. I remember that it took ages, and I felt a little all over the place with the format! We measured the anger towards the perpetrator and where the person felt this in her body (something I personally like to do). Being curious, I usually question about feelings before starting. Then I get a SUDS (1-10 Subjective Units of Distress Scale) and measure body feelings again shortly after commencing treatment. I find that clients are encouraged when their described body experience starts to shift, usually becoming smaller. An example that a person might give is a “knot in the stomach”. The format I follow is Larry Nims’ technique. The forgiveness was huge for this person. On a follow up visit, she told me that when she felt the urge to purge, she used her cue word to stop the urge. After several times she discovered she was no longer thinking about it. She felt as if a weight had been lifted from her entire body, a statement I was to get used to hearing!

• How did other clients respond to the introduction of BSFF into their work with you?

Jenny Skewes: I had four clients in the week following my training; two people with bulimia, a person who had been adopted dealing with abandonment issues, and another person from a severely abusive upbringing with anger issues. I had previously used a mixture of Solution Oriented Counseling, hypnosis, EMDR, and TFT with all four clients. As these techniques had all been successful to some degree, these clients trusted me enough to try something new.

Like the old “onion skin” analogy, layers were being peeled away, and they were all improving, but BSFF was the last piece of skin for them all. Each one I used the BSFF with, immediately felt they were now ‘right’. On their follow-up session they were all able to tell me how wonderful they were now feeling. The two clients with bulimia reported an absence of a desire to purge. One went on to the University and the other made a significant career change. I believe that the BSFF Forgiveness Protocol contributed greatly to these people’s progress.

I still occasionally hear from these clients and all are living life to the fullest. The person with trust issues, especially with her spouse, emailed me pictures of their second honeymoon! The previously angry client purchased the Be Set Free Fast book from the net and worked on a journal of self- discovery. He came to see me about six months later feeling empowered and happy with his life.

With these results my confidence in using BSFF continues to grow. The versatility of this approach enables its user to adapt it for any person willing to give it a go. I tell people that it is only limited by their imagination on how use it to their benefit!

• Have you met Dr. Nims in person?

Jenny Skewes: I haven’t had the privilege. However, watching Dr. Nims on the new Be Set Free Fast DVDs has been a delight. It is so great to see the man who created this technique sharing his own personal challenges and demonstrating his technique in his easy-going and respectful style. I have incorporated “subconscious body-work” and find it very useful. With analytically oriented people who get stuck in their heads, I discovered that if we just treated the “SUDS Level” number left at the end of the session, it moved quickly! I try different things and share and adopt what I find useful. Like Dr. Nims points out, we go with the client and invent when necessary, because, thoroughness and persistence is essential in creating the more lasting results!

• What is your most surprising result personally with BSFF?

Jenny Skewes: When I was three years old, I became lost at the Adelaide Show. This memory returned recently when I lost sight of friends in a huge shopping complex in Las Vegas. I became so uncomfortable that I analyzed the experience.

I remembered that a policemen tried to give me an ice cream, and I felt bad because he was being very nice, but I couldn’t take it because all I could do was cry and say, “I want my Mummy. I want my Daddy”. My mother verified that this memory was correct.

After this experience, my mother and I always agreed on a meeting place if we were separated while in town. Then when I was ten I lost sight of my parents in a huge department store in San Francisco, and Mum hadn’t given us a plan. I immediately had visions of the ship sailing without me and became distressed!

As an adult, when I’m unsure of where I am while driving in any large city, I feel extremely anxious. Not long after doing the BSFF workshop, for example, I was driving in an unfamiliar area of Melbourne, and the anxiety came up to a SUDS Level 7. As soon as I treated the fear, cue and breathed out, it disappeared! I couldn’t quite believe that all of a sudden I was calm. It was a hugely exciting experience for me! I often drive to different areas in Melbourne, and now it is a joy! I also no longer fear losing sight of friends in shopping areas. Not all of my issues have been resolved so quickly, but this one was and for that I am very, very grateful. And I was driving my car as I treated myself, without my hands leaving the steering wheel.

• What is your most surprising result professionally with BSFF?

Jenny Skewes: This is so difficult to answer as I have now seen so many wonderful surprises, but some that have been personally lovely for me to witness are: A couple with differing libidos, such a loving happy couple otherwise, so much so that they were prepared to leave each other as he felt he was making her life miserable with his constant desire and she felt he was missing out on what would make him happy! Of course, I used counseling and set tasks, but we also scheduled each for individual BSFF sessions to help loosen their frustration and to help them be able to relax around the problem. As counselor, I asked them to be as sexual as they liked with only once exception, not to have sexual intercourse until I told them it was okay. Setting it up this way reduced enough of the fear for the woman and created some forward movement for the man. After BSFF the woman was able to increase her desire and was happy to have intercourse more frequently and also experienced much enjoyment. The man was happy with the increase in sexual activity and just used his cue to treat any frustration than had been decreasing his enjoyment.

The woman was so happy that she leapt up and hugged me at the last session. She explained that I had been their last hope, because they had been to many professionals, including a sex therapist. This was over 12 months ago. Coincidentally, I was disembarking from a ferry during an interstate trip to a popular holiday resort, and a lady suddenly said “Hello Jenny!” I looked up to see this very couple, looking happy and enjoying their second honeymoon!

I worked with another client who over-ate and drank three liters of Coke a day and also had abandonment issues. This person had tried to cut back unsuccessfully. One of his problems was that he hated water. I used BSFF with him diligently and within two weeks he was drinking two liters of water a day and had cut back to 300 mils of Coke. He no longer had the need to eat chocolate bars and had started exercising.

Later, this client surprised me by revealing that he had hidden his badly chewed fingernails from me. After a month of treatment, he proudly displayed perfect nails. He said that he didn’t know when he had stopped chewing them! So, sometimes, BSFF clears other issues without even trying!

I also had a client who had been a victim of sexual abuse. This person presented in a severely traumatized state. The client continually harmed herself by cutting. With BSFF and counseling she was able to move on from the hurt and addiction. I applied the use of the cue word on our first meeting to assist in her withdrawal. After beginning her treatment, this client cut herself one last time, and unlike her prior experiences of cutting, she felt the pain. After the BSFF was completed, the client reported that she no longer needed to hurt herself and felt much empowered by the forgiveness.

A lonely, elderly person became addicted to gambling on “pokies” machines. I incorporated the CUE WORD that they called the addiction. I believe it is important for people to learn about choice with addictions, and this is the heart of Be Set Free Fast--to choose and not just react.

I want people to be able to face the addiction and have the choice not to use, so this is always part of the discussion. I include the addiction in the BSFF Forgiveness Protocol, as I find people often see the addiction as their friend; I also worked on the loneliness and a small social phobia. This person was able to go to a dance group and to ask people to dance, as well as go to places where the pokies were and not have the urge to gamble as before. I have received many new clients from this one person’s recommendations. BSFF does jump-start referrals as people spread the word about their results.

• What is your most surprising result when using BSFF with a friend?

Jenny Skewes: I used BSFF with a friend who had smoked for over 40 years. This person had tried everything, including prescription medications such as Zyban (for which she had reached her limit). Finally, she phoned me for some hypnosis. I offered her the BSFF and a conversational hypnosis, which is useful for finding what else requires treatment. I incorporate statements and the CUE WORD during the process. This friend has not smoked since.

I recently used BSFF with a student in a demonstration at the weekend seminar with Dennis. This student had also smoked for over 40 years. I was concerned when she mentioned that she was willing to volunteer, because a demo is not long, but we decided to just work on the urge to smoke. However, as we got into the work, an abreaction from an abusive past arose, and I realized that the smoking was used like a self-harm. The student and I stopped the demonstration, and I continued to work with her privately. The rest of the class went off to lunch and by the time we joined them, this student had thrown her cigarettes in the bin and left the building with glee. Other students remarked on the change in the student’s face, and this is something I often notice with clients--their faces become smooth and stress free. On follow up, this person is very happy and reported that she has no desire to smoke.

• What has been your most stubborn problem in your life and how has BSFF helped or not helped with that?

Jenny Skewes: The most stubborn problem in my life has probably been the “invalidity treatment” of me from my family. This word popped into my conscious one night while I relaxed with Leigh in the lounge room. Of course Leigh said, “Well, we all know that!” but it had never really been conscious before. I was able to work on this with BSFF, and now I feel so freed from family expectations. It has changed the way I respond to them, and they generally treat me with more respect. When they are hurtful, I just accept that it’s them with a chuckle. This is not to say that my family are not wonderful people, it was just a case of family dynamics and personalities working as they can, in any family.

• If you knew a person who tried BSFF once then stopped, what ONE THING about BSFF would you give that person?

Jenny Skewes: Further education around BSFF, the new BSFF-DVDs, and further practice.

I offer BSFF as a package that includes a two-hour session, then a follow up of one hour. The three sessions are paid for at the first session, and this then guarantees that the client returns for the follow up session. I see the follow up session as important in making sure the person has no problems and is getting the best they can out of BSFF.

• How do you use BSFF with people who are in the "shock" of a problem--after an auto accident, right after surgery, etc.?

Jenny Skewes: I make sure to explain that in these situations BSFF is working on the excess emotion, because it takes time to come to terms with a crisis situation. BSFF cannot take away the fact that the event happened, but it will help one cope with it in a calmer fashion.

Most people cry quite a lot during these types of sessions, so I continue to work through the emotions. Here is an example: a client who was unhappy over tight housing verbally abused a staff member from an emergency housing program. This staff member had been unable to immediately help the client, who we later discovered had a build up of previous trauma. We were able to get to the end of the tears, and the staff member left feeling that he could handle any further abuse from his client. This person later made a point to thank me profusely and to tell me how much better he was feeling. I always like to emphasize that it is the client who does all the work. I just opened up a space for the subconscious to do the work. (To Continue For Conclusion of BSFF Jenny Skewes Interview from the BSFF Everyday Freedom eMagazine! Click Here!)