A good friend of mine just related a disturbing fact:
She was overcome with nightmares of a past abusive experience when recently faced with a decision to move forward in an area of personal growth.
My first reaction when she shared this information with me was to fire her therapist!
From my perspective and in my opinion, my friend has been kept in a psycho-analytical box that has done little to neutralize the “emotional resonance” of a traumatic experience going back over 40 years. And, my friend has been in “therapy” for many, many years…
Layers of rationale and justification have been created as a reaction to the event
The subsequent “therapy” has continued to build upon that mountain of rationale – rather than providing her with a methodology for adjusting and neutralizing the emotional impact of the event.
In other words, my friend has spent years in a course of therapy that has attempted to adjust her to living with the event as opposed to turning the event into a non-emotionally charged memory – breaking the “loop” of triggered reaction.
IE: An experience that can be “viewed” without emotion.
Which is what we ultimately categorize as a “normal memory”. It may not be a pleasant memory but it doesn’t cause trauma when “viewed” 40 years later. And, it doesn’t “haunt” our ability to make rational choices in our day-to-day life.
In the Intentional Prosperity System I spend a great deal of time explaining the phenomenon of “emotional ghosts” – the term I use for unresolved emotional memories – and how the “broad stroke of unresolved emotional memory” can be easily triggered by new situations which have nothing more in common with the traumatic memory than a “hint” of a similar “emotional flavor”…
The “triggering mechanism” is highly exaggerated in an individual who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
Think of a “radar” that is set to such a high sensitivity that a bird is “seen” as an incoming enemy missile with a nuclear warhead. That’s how even the “hint” of emotional resonance associated with a past traumatic event is processed and reacted to by someone with P.S.T.D.. Going to a full scale reaction of “10″ (on a scale of 1-10) when the reality of the situation would only justify a “1″ is typical. A bit of caution or a question – not a fight or flight response.
The net result of years of avoiding anything which triggers a “10 reaction” has created a box which my friend who is obviously very unhappy with several aspects of the life her 40 years of avoidance has created.
With so many well established emotion- neutralizing techniques available
-many which are covered in depth in the Intentional Prosperity System – it is painful to see a friend continue to suffer a life experience that comes short of real joy and fulfillment – because of a lack of understanding why emotional triggering takes place and how to minimize and “remove” the unresolved emotional trauma which continues to impact my friend’s life.
Emotional triggering that has over time become a highly rationalized and justified habit.
Avoiding anything that even remotely feels like the “resonance” of the original trauma – leaves one stuck in a reactive ego/personality and robs one from exploring the imagination and possibilities using discernment as the ultimate determination of “yes or no”.
For what it’s worth I’m a proponent of Cognitive Therapy. But, as in anything, you’ve got to find someone who really knows what they’re doing…
Too many of us know that our lives are missing something. I have an article and a video that focuses on why we feel that way and what we can do about it. Is something missing in your life?
On a lighter note: Here’s a video of “When Love Comes Again” from my new web site Our Special Secret.com hope you enjoy! click here
-Bob Baran
