Today was another of my trauma mornings. I have been pushing for some time to be able to use the techniques I have with people who are hurting, rather than forcing them to go through the more traditional but slower methods. And it had been agreed that I can. Obviously very many people experience a trauma, though not all are traumatised as a result. I have heard of children who were in a car crash, were knocked down by a car, found a broken paving stone that threw them into a manhole full of water, a boy on a bike who was nudged by a car into a crowd of children, where both parents died within a short space of time or together…… And have worked with adults who have been horribly bereaved, have been in house fires, witnessed a drowning they were helpless to prevent, as well as all those people who are genuinely traumatised by seeing their dog run over, or fear they are lost on a mountainside etc. Yesterday I read one of those magazines were most of the stories are about rape, awful suffering, assault etc. Some of the stories end with ‘I will not let this person ruin my life’ but very many conclude that they are now unable to leave the house, walk in the dark, go on holiday etc. This seems very wrong. There are an awful lot of techniques now that have been found to be very useful indeed, but somehow people are not aware of them. Obviously, most people should be able to access counselling. But after that, they may be on their own. How do you know where to go for help? And what is best? What if you feel that counselling is not for you anyway? My trauma person this morning was lovely. She looked calm and sensible, but as we approached the stuff she was anxious about, she fidgeted more and more with the clasp on her bag. She was very relieved it wasn’t going to be a counselling session as she had talked – she felt – far too much. I’ve probably said before that I have wands in my room but that they don’t work well enough; she and I and her mum talked about the other ways. We talked about Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing, and hypnosis, as well as how it is often supremely helpful for the client to be in charge of the process so that she can do it for herself. We skirted around the issues, and because time was nearly up, did a Container exercise. This involves inventing a container for your problems. It’s magic, so the size is not important and it can be any shape and material and colour you want. You decide how you want to lock the container, and put all the nasty thoughts and memories you have in there and lock it tight. Then you put the container somewhere safe, until you are ready [perhaps with your therapist] to take out a problem and deal with it. This morning, the container was tossed into the sea – it might as well wait there for a while.
