Are you treating the person, or the moment?
A client comes to you after a breakup.
And they say that they can't stop thinking about the person. Places that they visited together are being avoided, certain songs or visuals bring in pain, common friends are being shunned and blame & guilt are playing tag within their mind. Quite a lot is going on actually.
But that is the present state. What about who they are and what is their base state. Because a person doesn't respond only according to the current emotional picture, they also have a certain state - a particular way of meeting life.
The two states aren't same but are not exclusive either. How did they come to this? That can be explained based on nature or nurture, whatever you feel inclined to. Suffice for now that it's there. But which state would you prescribe Bach Remedies for?
The Present State Is What's Loudest Today
Of course it is the loudest, or rather seems so because it is a change and a change is always more visible (except a woman getting a haircut- beats me everytime). In a ‘normal’, everyday life, the base state tends to be invisible in plain sight. But with some event or input, they may start exhibiting altered behaviour.
Someone who is a go-getter may lose hope after a major setback. Someone who is carefree may become extra careful suddenly. Or someone with a loud streak of independence might start asking everyone for suggestions after a series of bad decisions. It might even be the same person but the change in behaviour will be very visible to themselves and close ones.
But just because they are more visible, the base state shouldn't be dismissed either. Nor should the current state be overlooked because it is temporary. Focusing only on what is (or seems) loudest today can lead to missing something that is more consistent, something that keeps returning no matter the circumstance. So what should a good practitioner do?
What Did Dr Bach Mean by Type and State?
There is an interesting history behind this. In the earlier stages of his work, Dr Edward Bach gave considerable importance to what he called types. At one point he believed that the first twelve remedies (the Twelve Healers) corresponded to twelve fundamental personality types. In his work Free Thyself, he even instructed the reader to consider which of these types they belonged to.
But as the system developed, he moved away from the idea that the Twelve Healers alone represented fixed constitutional types. And by the time his work was complete, all 38 remedies stood within one system, covering both characteristics that can look deeply woven into personality and emotional states that may arise under particular circumstances.
That the same person may temporarily experience grief, shock, resentment, indecision or repetitive thoughts that are not characteristic of their usual way of being. And a careful consultation listens for both.
The Base State Is What Repeats
Or it can be how the clients describe themselves. Many times, they hand this over directly to a practitioner. But not usually in a clean, simple wording like “I can't say no to people”. Rather they would say something like “If I don't do it, then who will?” or “I was always taught that I shouldn't say no to anyone”.
Such statements, when listened to, are what point us towards the base state. And it's worth listening to the difference between what a client tells you what happened and a client telling you who they are. Interestingly, there is also a thread between the two and can be described in shadow work as the present event disturbing an old. unaddressed wound.
So Which One Do You Prescribe For?
Much as I would like to give you a simple rule, I won't. Because the real question isn't base or present states. Rather it's judgement about what needs support in this person, right now. At max I would say this though - the present state takes slightly higher priority but if it connects somehow to the base state, address that. Usually, a practitioner may find them both in the same consultation, asking to be addressed together.
This is the one reason that a simple straightforward this-means-that match falls short. There is the event telling you what happened, the current state telling you what bothers, and the base state telling about the person. Three different pieces of information, telling you something about one person.
A Note on Additional Maps
Some practitioners also use astrological or numerological charts, as given in Soulvyom's Comprehensive curriculum, as an additional map of possible base tendencies. These should not however, be used as a shortcut to a remedy. It does give a direction but should be used as something to go and check against the person in front of you.
A tendency suggested in a chart still has to show up in the client's emotional maps before it means anything. The full framing of how these lenses are used, and how they aren't, is covered in the comprehensive course.
About the Author
Lt Col Abhinav Sharma, SM (Retd.) is a Bach Flower Remedies practitioner and educator at Soulvyom Research LLP. He teaches Bach Flower Remedies through live comprehensive programme and also provides personalised BFR consultations. His teaching focuses not on learning the remedies but recognising and distinguishing similar emotional states and applying remedy knowledge to real conversations.
