Alli

Alli is a seven-year-old child who presented with extreme tactile defensiveness. She found it extremely painful when clothing was in contact with her skin. When she was three she complained that clothing hurt. When she was three, she complained that clothing hurt. By five years of age, she refused to wear clothing, despite the conscientious attempts of her parents to encourage and require the wearing of clothing. She was extremely aggressive; complained frequently about pain; was anxious and depressed and had social problems, thought problems, and attention problems. All of these challenges were in the serious clinical range, compared to other children her age. She was described as a "maniac around the house" by her mother.

Alli had a psychological diagnosis of oppositional defiant disorder. This, in fact, was a very adaptive reaction to the pain imposed by adults and other caregivers insisting that she dress. She also had a generalized anxiety disorder. Following six months of treatment, Alli showed considerable improvement and moderation of problems to within a normal or typical range, although variation is still noted within a chronic course of such a severe challenge. The initial treatment involved various interpersonal and motivational changes in Alli's home. Of particular relevance for aromatherapy is the incorporation of aroma motivation procedures to encourage Alli to engage in morning distraction and calming exercises prior to going to school.

If Alli demonstrated her own initiative in completing distraction exercises, which included jumping on her bed and bouncing around on the floor, and if crying, whining, complaining were relatively mild (on a scale with ratings of mild, moderate, and severe), and if Alli's general state of agitation, anxiety, and discomfort were mild, she was allowed to have a smell strip with her preferred blend of three oils, on the way to school in the car. Alli's blend included orange, clary sage, and sandalwood.

The results show that there has been a consistent improvement in Alli's ratings by her mother following the use of the aroma motivation procedure. That is, Alli is more consistently completing her exercises without problems and she is less agitated and anxious when she leaves for school and earns the access to the preferred aroma in the car during transportation.

Colin

Colin is an eight-year-old child with autism and anxiety challenges. He attends special classes at his local primary school. As is typical of autism, Colin showed limited social interaction and communication skills. His attention to his schoolwork and homework was often short lived and he appeared to not react normally to the environment around him because of his neurologically based attention disorder.

Colin's attention deficit and concentration skills during homework completion were the focus of initial treatment evaluation. Colin was asked to study 10 spelling words for two minutes, and then complete a spelling test by writing the words when asked. After a short break, he was asked to complete 10 math problems (e.g., 12 minus 6). After another short break, Colin was asked to listen to a story read by an adult and answer 10 questions about the story in order to check on his comprehension.

Prior to the use of the aroma motivation procedure, Colin's attention to these tasks was inconsistent and limited. He also engaged in many actions to divert attention away from the academic requirements. For example, he would ask irrelevant questions, repeat comments made by adults, ask to go elsewhere or change activities, and say he didn't know how to do what was asked.

Following the introduction of the aroma motivation procedures, Colin concentrated more and the quality of his work improved. The procedure involved the presentation of the vial of essential oils to allow access to the aroma when Colin had been concentrating, answering questions, and completing homework for a few minutes.

The aroma blend used for Colin was lavender, patchouli, and peppermint.

Sienna

Sienna is a 10-year-old child who was born 10 weeks prematurely, with intracerebral hemorrhage, apnea, and later was diagnosed as having cerebral palsy and autism. Psychological treatment prior to the involvement of aromatherapy involved the management of severe aggression, withdrawal, and communication problems.

The collaborative treatment involving aromatherapy focused on facilitating relaxation and better sleep at night.

During preference assessment, Sienna chose cardamon, rose, and sandalwood, which were mixed for her personal blend. This blend was used for an aroma memory procedure, which associated the aroma with the relaxation of an evening bath, and with later diffusion of the aroma into the bedroom during the night. Five drops of the blend of oils were placed into a full bath of water and the oils dispersed throughout the water by hand agitation. Sienna bathed for 15 minutes. Five drops of the personal blend were placed on a scent diffuser in her bedroom 10 minutes prior to going to bed. This aroma blend was only used for Sienna's bath and in her bedroom at nighttime.

The outcome of these procedures was that Sienna slept through the night more consistently and slept longer. Previously she woke up many times during the night and was ready to get up for the day at 4:00am. After the aroma protocol, Sienna woke up significantly less often and slept for an extra hour or two in the morning.

Madam X

Madame X is a professional women in her 30s who experienced sleep disturbance. She awakened in the middle of the night and had difficulty returning to sleep because of the anxieties of her daily activities intruded into the nighttime. An aromatherapy bath prior to going to bed has been the treatment for Madame X.

Her choice for a personal blend of essential oils was orange, lemon, and jasmine. Procedures were similar to those used for Sienna. For an evening bath, the personal blend was mixed (one part) with fractionated coconut oil (three parts). This dilution was used to avoid possible skin irritation from the orange oil. Ten drops of the bath oil were dispersed in the bathtub after it had filled with water. Then Madame X soaked and relaxed in the bath for 15 minutes. Later, 10 drops of the undiluted blend were placed on the diffuser prior to bedtime.

The outcome of these procedures was that Madame X had more undisturbed nights sleep. However, following particularly highly stressful days, she still awoke and experienced the anxieties and had difficulty returning to sleep.