Please read this fascinating account of how one of my clients learned to deal with PTSD and in their own words “Kick its ass”
Hello. I have written this for anyone suffering out there. Don’t, as you do not have to. Please read what I have to say. I am no writer so excuse the way I talk, I just write as it comes.
I had not realised that the subconscious mind can store and hold onto painful memories and then bring them back at the worst and most unexpected moments. When I was much younger I had suffered abuse as a child and never spoke about it or attempted to deal with it. I buried it deep.
As a teenager, I was in a horrific accident that nearly took my life. My body healed, but my mind was forgotten about and the incident never discussed. People said it would be too painful for you to go over it again. So I buried it deep.
When I faced daily stress and anxiety in pressurised situations I was told to “get on with it” and talking was not encouraged. Once more I buried it, very deep.
Then tragedy struck and I had to deal with both loss and grief at the same time. The trauma of what I had born witness to was beyond compare. This time there was no burying it and sinking to my knees I could take no more. My mind strangely decided it was time to bring forward every painful experience from my childhood to present day all at once. I could function no longer and I kept having flashbacks at random times. I feared the worse and thought to myself, I actually cannot cope or go on.
A friend visited who said I should go for therapy. This went against everything I believed that I needed or had ever been suggested to me. At this stage, I would have tried anything. I found certain types of counselling difficult as I did not want to go over these things again, so I gave up.
So I decided to do my own research. In a library, I found a book by a man called Richard Bandler. I read bits about how we think and getting over things, but I could not make sense of it. I knew what he said was right, but I could not make it work. Throwing the book down, I gave up.
Then I spotted a web post about PTSD and NLP and it occurred to me that other people used this as a therapy to help others. This made sense that I need to visit a professional who could help. I phoned up a chap, who seemed to know his stuff and booked in. That is when I made the breakthrough. I say I made the breakthrough as this is what he taught me, we often rely on others to take stuff away from us. We need to do it for ourselves. He talked and listened in a different way and I found if I saw my world differently then I could safely view all of those elements of my life, even the bad ones. I knew they were part of something bigger, my pathway and journey. 2 sessions in and the anxiety and trauma stopped. We did something called double dissociation and pattern disruptions. I realised that whenever I hear a car door shut or I heard something else loud it would trigger memories and bring stuff back.
I could see the sessions were doing me good and I was becoming happy to return to my old life. I held on to positive anchors and really felt I could on. By the fourth session, I felt I had all the skills I needed to kick this things ass now. I read some more books and practised all the NLP techniques I had been taught.
I urge everyone out there to get out, buy a book, find a therapist that knows this stuff. I have got my life back and I am forever grateful. Go kick the ass of whatever is bothering you :)
