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Her fascination for the human brain egged Patricia J. Theisen to develop a new programme for kids and adults
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She was an artist, pianist and an opera singer. But she excelled in art so much that her parents dreamt big for her. Strangely, Patricia J. Theisen dropped art and took up medicine! “That really disappointed my family,” recalls Patricia.
While in medical school, Patricia was so fascinated with brains and human behaviour that she felt “becoming a doctor or a nurse would be restricting my boundary. So I decided to take research and spent most of my time amidst the vast collection of books in the library on campus studying all about the human brain and its behaviour,” says this research scholar who does not believe in labelling children. It took her 10 long years to develop PEP (Perpetual Enrichment Programme) that helps children and adults develop a positive attitude in life.
KIDDIE TALK Patricia’s illustrations for her book
While she was tutoring brain anatomy at Wayne State University Medical School and was developing PEP, she was invited to India in 1990 for a project she was working on. Again she was invited in ’95 and decided to make Bangalore her home. Patricia has given free sessions to children with problems, adults and normal children with her PEP. While here she also took to the studies of the Vedas “from a physiological point of view” and wrote the book “The Enchanting Song of The Human”. How does PEP help? “Most people miss out on early development. So certain cultures are missed. This programme goes back or rather takes you back through a series of activities to what was missed out on. This has resulted in an incredible change in the behaviour pattern. PEP is designed with different levels of activities depending on the age. It makes people see things differently. Anybody can do a PEP,” explains Patricia.
She closed down her clinic recently and plans to return to the US to be with her children. “I’m not going back discouraged but want to spend some time with my children. My life here has been wonderful. Indians are wonderful people,” says the 78-year-old Patricia who also believes that each individual can so something with “the power of one life. You can positively influence others. I am a quiet person, never advertised, published, but still my work has reached many people in India and abroad. I believe that everybody has a chance to help other people. I do not have any special powers, but have been fortunate enough to know how people and their brains work and used that talent to help them.”
The fascination for the brain is because it’s an “incredible organ. It’s a matter of the timing of the brain, brain waves and things like that, which are fascinating,” says Patricia. “People seem to have lot of problems here. When I came here in ’95, life and people were so much more simpler. They would have a lot to say about their children. But now, the family unit in India is scaring me. Children are so much more self-directed. They don’t have the time to even daydream, forget play. There seems to be no co-ordination between home and school life. Parents are the first teachers; everyone else is the sub lot. Children are so restricted these days. The more restricted they are, the more problems they have. So, one should never undermine the power of a family as a unit.”Patricia has written four books, the latest one being “Stressed Out Parents”, which also has illustrations by her. “Art has helped me in my research,” she says. An exhibition of her drawings will be held at Abstract Gallery from April 25 to 29. For details call 41235444/40.
Those who would like to interact directly with Patricia can e-mail her at ptheisen@gmail.com.
This column features those who choose to veer off the beaten track.
SHILPA SEBASTIAN R.
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