Sexual Abuse Effects Lessened by Massage

According to a study done at the Touch Research Institute with Dr. Tiffany Fields, women who had experienced sexual abuse found the effects were lessened by massage therapy. In 1996, a study involving 20 women with an average age of 35 years, were given a 30 minute massage twice a week for one month.

Immediately after the massage, the participants reported being less depressed, less anxious and their salivary cortisol levels decreased. Over the one month duration of receiving massage, the participants reported a decrease in depression and life event stress. Although the relaxation therapy control group also reported a decrease in anxiety and depression, their stress hormones did not change, and they reported an increasingly negative attitude towards touch.

Being an abuse survivor myself, I do recognize just how difficult it is to begin receiving massage work. The very first time that I tried to have a massage was on a cruise ship and I actually thought it was all about sex as many people tend to think it is. When I realized that it was not about sex and that it actually felt good to be touched, I experienced a degree of relaxation that I had not felt before.

Even with the good experience of getting the first massage, my mind always saw massage as a trigger back to past experiences that were not favorable. Even though my body was very tense, my muscles were tight and painful and my life was filled with stress, massage was not an option. I did not feel safe around anyone that was doing it and tended to discount any thought of getting a massage. I completely understand when other survivors are afraid to be touched.

My next attempt at massage started out better but by the end of the third massage, I got triggered badly. It wasn't anything the therapist was doing but unfortunately they weren't able to realize I had been triggered and so I laid there receiving the massage while being completely out of my body and not present. I never went back to the therapist and did not go back to a massage for a long time.

It wasn't until I started to think about going to massage school (of all places for me to go) that I went in and had another massage. This time, a guy was doing it and was actually one of these that applies a lot of pressure. I really didn't feel much of it. It took many months of being in massage school where I began to truly feel touch.

Since that time, I have made tremendous strides through healing and accepting touch within my own body through the Trager (TM) approach and through Unified Therapy with Dr. Paul Canali. Both have helped me release some of the trauma I went through and now my body does like to be touched. I am cautious though in who I allow to touch me but when I do get body work done on me, it is a good feeling now.

I am happy to see research being done on the area of healing, touch and massage therapy. The Touch Research Institute is a great place that is doing some tremendous research in this area. I also want to be a catalyst in helping other abuse survivors realize that touch can be a good thing even if you think there is no way on earth you can do bodywork. I've learned a form of bodywork that is not regular massage but it meets you where ever you are at and works from that point forward.


Abstract For The article cited above

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SEXUAL ABUSE

Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Hart, S., Quintino, O., Drose, L., Field, T., Kuhn, C., & Schanberg, S (1997). Effects of sexual abuse are lessened by massage therapy. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 1, 65-69.

Women who had experienced sexual abuse were given a 30-minute massage twice a week for 1 month. Immediately after the massage the women reported being less depressed and less anxious and their salivary cortisol levels decreased following the session. Over the 1-month treatment period the massage therapy group experienced a decrease in depression and in life event stress. Although the relaxation therapy control group also reported a decrease in anxiety and depression, their stress hormones did not change, and they reported an increasingly negative attitude toward touch.


For More Information:
1) Journal Of Bodywork Article about sexual abuse and massage
2) Touch Research Institute with Dr. Tiffany Fields, Univ of Miami
3) The Trager (TM) Approach
4) Dr. Paul Canali and Unified Therapy
5) Healing bodywork with Don Shetterly

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Blog Post & Images (c) 1/20/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only

Unified Therapy Seminar 2012

What:  3 Day Seminar For Health Professionals
When:  June 23-25
Where: Miami, FL (Biltmore Hotel)
Info:  305-667-8174

Unified Therapy(TM) is a revolutionary treatment approach which access innate self-regulating mechanisms.  A new direction for healing many chronic conditions including PTSD, anxiety, and pain.

This seminar is taught by Dr. Paul Canali of Evolutionary Healing Institute.  He has helped change my life in many ways and this is the work and understand that I am learning.  It is not about teaching a system as much as it is teaching concepts that anyone can use and that really help the person heal from the inside out.  

What Is Chronic Pain - Interview With Dr Paul Canali

This video interview is a very good one.  It is done by Jim Fazio and Dr. Paul Canali.  Unified Therapy by Dr. Paul Canali has changed my life.  He has helped me to understand that chronic pain can be treated and healed.

Chronic pain is in the brain, even though it feels like it is in each individual muscle of the body.  I know that may sound weird, but it is true.  I have felt it and experienced the difference in my own body going through the healing work of Unified Therapy.

Did you know that 15% to 20% of all adults in the world suffer from chronic pain.  It is what keeps doctors up at night and drug companies in business.  Yet, we aren't getting better as a world society and that is because don't fully understand chronic pain or the nature of pain.

Many research studies have been done in neuroscience and they are finding that the volume knob for chronic pain is not in the body, but in the brain.  They are also finding on brain scans that if the person experiences pain in the arm, it does not show up in the region of the brain for the arm.  Instead it shows up in the emotion centers of the brain.

Therapy Turning Point In Life - Part 1

I've been battling exhaustion for the past few weeks and it was coming on full force for me.  It was taking me down.  I kept pushing and trying, but at the end of the day, if I wouldn't have stopped for a rest, I wouldn't have made it this far.  Physically and biologically my body could not keep up and my mind was not in a good place.

As I've been doing therapy to help counteract this and taken a medical leave of absence to regroup and recharge, I think I might have finally come to a turning point in therapy.  It hasn't been easy in therapy and it required me to find courage and strength to not give up as I went through what I needed to do.

In my latest Unified Therapy healing session with Dr Canali, we went into some of the gawd-awful places that I just wish I could avoid.  If I avoid them, they will continue to haunt me and the more I can go into them, the more freedom I will have.

Dealing With Trauma

When you've been through so many horrible experiences in your life, it can be difficult at best to deal with them, try to heal from them and not let them take you under.  Dealing with trauma is not easy and if anyone tells you it is, don't buy the iceberg in the middle of the swamp they are trying to sell.

Sorry, if anyone thinks I'm off my rocker here, but I've had to deal with trauma.  Yeah, I've done a pretty good job keeping the hungry tigers at bay, but sometimes the trauma is just hard to deal with, let alone heal from in life.

I keep trying no matter what.  Some days, I want to give up and say enough is enough with this.  It can be exhausting at times and horrifying at other times.

I don't want to give the impression that if you've been through trauma, life is pointless or hopeless.  It is not!  As hard as it gets, there is hope that you can go on long enough to heal from it and find a measure of happiness and meaning and purpose in life.

Kept putting one foot in front of the other...

When I was really processing the heavy parts of trauma, I often felt exhausted and I wondered if I would ever get through things.  Sometimes it felt hopeless and sometimes my energy level didn't seem enough for what I needed.  In those times, I kept putting one foot in front of the other knowing that "this too shall pass".

In those difficult moments, I turned to nature.  Any time I could get to a park or the mountains or oceans, I would go.  Anytime I could just spend a moment outside in the sun, feeling the warmth of the sunlight or the breeze upon my face, I would do it.  If there was just a moment where I could walk down the sidewalk and escape the difficult moments of the day, I would go.

Creativity helped me deal with trauma...

I used creativity to help me deal with trauma.  Creativity through writing, drawing, painting helped.  It gave me an outlet.  If you're not one that likes to write, draw or paint - that's perfectly okay.  There are a hundred million other ways to be creative.  Just find the one that works for you and use it to help yourself.  Creativity helps you process.  It gives you a channel for those things that are so hard to put into words.

Dealing with trauma is not about ignoring it.  It is about embracing it and allowing yourself to go in and heal from it.  I still remember the therapist that told me how happy she was that I stuck with the therapy.  She told me that all too often, many will quit therapy long before they should.  No, it isn't easy going to therapy and opening these wounds up, but in order to heal - you just can't wish it away.

Dealing with trauma is not one size fits all.  You have to find what works for you and then do it.  Don't wait for others to tell you what works.  Seek out the things that help you and if it is not working, find something else.  Don't be like the friend of mine that was seeing therapists every day of the week and exclaiming nothing was working.  My advice to him was to stop what he was doing and find something that did work.

Therapy that does not connect the body with the mind may help to a degree, but it will be lacking in potential.  The body stores the memories and they can only be accessed and released by doing work on the body.  There are some great therapies for trauma healing such as the Unified Therapy with Dr. Paul Canali.  It is highly effective work and it does not take too long before you begin to see and feel a difference.

In dealing with trauma, I have found that most of the times I had no answers in what step to take.  I just searched and sought out things that would help.  I tried to recognize how my body, my gut, and my heart felt about whatever therapy I was doing.  I am a highly driven person and so I constantly evaluated if what I was doing truly worked.  If it didn't, I found something that did.

But most of all - don't accept that trauma has to ruin the rest of your life!  There is healing and growth from it.  There is a way forward.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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What Does Unified Therapy Do For Me?

What Does Unified Therapy
Do For Me?

A friend of mine emailed me to ask me just how Dr. Canali helps me in the sessions of bodywork that I get from him.  This is an account of a recent session I had with him in March 2012.  While it is difficult to completely describe everything that happens in a session, the results are amazing.

I'm not a person that runs away from going deep within and working on deep healing.  I believe the conversion disorder and paralysis I experience in 1991 is a very powerful motivator.  I desire to get to know more about myself and find the innermost part of my mind body that I am able to discover.  For me, it is about fully reclaiming every part of my body, not just settling for what is.

The account of this session is actually posted on my other website called Somatosync.com.  To read the blog post, click this link.

Somatosync is still under construction.  Slowly, but surely I am working on it and hope to be adding a lot more information and resources soon.

Trauma Keeps Peace Away

I know other people have written much more in-depth about this subject and one of them that comes to my mind is Peter Levine in his book, "Waking The Tiger".  One of the most horrible things that trauma does long term to a person is it keeps the peace away.

Yes, we can begin to find peace, but trauma keeps the body revved up.  It keeps the moments of when the trauma happened in the forefront of our brain as if they are still happening.  Because of the impact of these moments, it keeps our nervous system on edge and our brain from slowing down.

If you read the book, "Waking The Tiger", you'll see a very good and healthy explanation of what trauma does to the body and the mind.  It is the basis for much of what I have learned along with what has physically been demonstrated to me in my own body through healing with Dr. Paul Canali of Unified Therapy.

You can compare trauma to walking through the jungle.  There are predators out there and if you don't watch out, you'll become lunch for an animal in the jungle.  Let's use being hunted by a Tiger as Dr. Peter Levine discusses.

Your body is revved up...

In trauma, the Tiger pounces and attacks just like walking through the jungle.  Even if you somehow escape the Tiger or the trauma, your body is still revved up like the event is happening.  We've all had those moments that shocks or frightens us and it takes a while to come down.  Trauma does the same thing, but to a much greater degree.  Trauma keeps us in that revved up state.  The long term impacts of it can be felt and see in the mind and body for years after it stopped. 

Even long after the trauma has passed, it is as if we are still experiencing it.  This is why reaching out to support groups, therapists and other body-centered trauma healing is essential.  It isn't about being weak, but learning and discovering how to let go of the residual impacts from the trauma.  It is about finding ways to heal from our inner core.  It is about reclaiming all that we are and learning how to show trauma the door.

As if things never ended...

I went through intense torture and childhood sexual abuse.  It shaped me in so many ways.  While I've done extensive deep body healing from the trauma with Dr. Paul Canali, there are moments that the triggers act as if the Tiger is still chasing me.  Of course, I know that the events have stopped, but in my mind and neural pathways, they are still acting as if things never ended.  Trauma keeps us in that state.

The body needs to be a central part of continued healing because even though we try to disconnect, forget and numb, the cells, muscles, nervous system and the brain still remember.  They don't forget.  Unless these parts of our bodies are healed deeply, they will continue to rev up the nervous system from the trauma and keep peace away.

Deep peace is difficult after Trauma...

If your body is on full alert because it believes there is a Tiger waiting to pounce, most likely you are not going to be able to lay down and take a nice restful nap.  It is the same with trauma.  As long as the trauma remains within us, true and deep peace will be difficult to grasp.

One of the things that I so love about Unified Therapy with Dr. Paul Canali is that after you've gone through a moment of deep release, the peace that ensues is unlike anything we have ever felt.  It is such a deep peace that you beg him to just leave you in that place, not wanting to come out from it.  It is hard to describe it, but in the process of healing through this work, when you do feel what I'm talking about, it will blow your mind!

In healing, we have to learn how to understand that the Tiger is no longer chasing us.  Our minds will make us believe that it is while keeping it from our conscious thought.  Our minds try so hard to protect us that we often stay in numbing and disconnectedness.  It is in reconciling these things that we will find further healing into a life that is truly ours.  It is in these moments of healing that we will discover more of who we are and that is a beautiful thing.  It is a place of peace.

Trauma may try to keep the peace away, but the more we work to heal, the more we will discover it.  Healing is about taking our life back from those things that stole it.  It is about finding that awareness which leads us to a greater peace than we've ever known. 

#HealTrauma

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Fearing The Fear

Written By Don Shetterly

If you've read much on my blog, you'll see that this subject has been one of my most challenging experiences in my life.  Fearing the fear consumed my life at one time, but over the years and through my healing, I've learned more how to deal with fear.


I am not going to sit here and write that fear is an easy thing for me to overcome.  I'm not going to give you some platitude or meme that says you can wave a magic wand and be in control of fear.  Those things are not helpful to healing and our growth.  They are stumbling blocks if we subscribe to them.

When I was in a healing session the other day, I started to notice the little things where fear would come on strong in me.  In these Unified Therapy healing sessions, we are encouraged to bring the fear up, not shove it down or hide from it or numb it.  It is the time to bring it up.

The "oh no" mode...

For me that day, the office air conditioning kicking on sent the fear going sky high.  It wasn't easy, and at first, I could notice my breath going into fear mode.  I could feel my body begin to tense up.  I could see that my mind was starting to go into the "oh no" mode.  It felt like everything was going to come crashing down on me and that my life at that moment would come to an end.

Fearing the fear was where I was in that particular moment.  There are reasons that all of this was coming up, but that detail is for another blog post.  Just recognizing how strong the fear was getting and how much was coming at me, my body went into the defensive mode of survival.

In a Unified Therapy healing session, you don't stay in this moment.  You are taken through it by Dr. Canali gently guiding you to feel in your body, sense what is going on, and remind yourself that it is fear, not the end of the world.

As you go in and begin to connect with the fear in your body, there are often emotions or physical sensations that appear as they did for me that day.  The anger and pain surfaced.  The emotions of sadness and grief showed up.  The point of not being able to stop what had happened to me as a kid was the dynamite ready to ignite.

In this session, I also did one more thing, and that was telling myself that what happened to me many years ago is not happening now.  Dr. Canali, of course, was coaching me through this, but just that realization in that particular moment was a big one for me.  It helped me to connect reality with fear.  It helped me to see that I feared the fear, but that the current reality was different.

Yes, there is a mental exercise in stopping how you deal with fear, but this approach that is so healing and empowering is body centered.  If I didn't deal with what was going on in my body, it would be nothing more than platitudes about how to treat fear.

Most of the time in healing, we deal with fear from an intellectual mind-centered level.  However, fear resides in the body, and if you fail to go in and touch the depths of it within the cells, you're only working with half the healing potential.

The further you can go in and feel it within the body, the more you will supercharge your healing.  Healing from the core of your cells in the body is lasting and life changing.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Conversion Disorder Healing, Part 2

Note:  This is part 2 of a 4 part series.  Read Part 1, first.

It was not that long ago that I found a video on YouTube of someone who was suffering through a conversion disorder.  When I saw that video, I immediately began to cry.  I wasn’t crying for the girl in the video as much as I was crying for myself.  For this video instantly brought up within me, a connection to these horrendous moments of fear, I faced many years ago.  It was a connection to my body and mind of the trauma that I was dealing with from my past as well as these specific moments of early days of paralysis.

To this moment, I cannot even think about the video without tears welling up in my eyes.  It is such a strong connection for me because if you have been through this, you will understand completely.  There is no moment of peace for someone enduring this condition and there is no one that can tell you when these moments will stop.  You are sailing in a big vast ocean all alone on a small life raft and getting tossed and turned in every way possible.

Adverse Childhood Experiences ACE study

This study is one that needs to be told to every corner of the world.  It was done by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente.

The study is often called the ACE study which stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences.  It was one of the largest studies into the impact of childhood abuse on health later on in life.

Some facts about how the study was done according to the CDC.gov website.

1. Two waves of data collection between 1995 and 1997 with over 17,000 people.
2. Study comprised of 54% women, 46% male.
3. Ethnicity and race was 74.8 white, followed by 11.2% Hispanic and Latino with other groups making up the difference.
4. Age ranges were more heavily sampled on 60 and over at 46.4%

Major Findings According To The ACE study

Almost two-thirds of the participants had at least one Adverse Childhood Experience.  More than 1 in 5 reported three or more Adverse Childhood Experiences.

The greater the number of experiences you have as a child that are adverse, the greater your risk for having chronic health conditions as you get older.  This study shows that in no uncertain terms.

The following website, AcesTooHigh.com does a good job of explaining this in more detail.

As the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences increases, so does the risk for the following:

• Alcoholism and alcohol abuse
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Depression
• Fetal death
• Health-related quality of life
• Illicit drug use
• Ischemic heart disease
• Liver disease
• Poor work performance
• Financial stress
• Risk for intimate partner violence
• Multiple sexual partners
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Smoking
• Suicide attempts
• Unintended pregnancies
• Early initiation of smoking
• Early initiation of sexual activity
• Adolescent pregnancy
• Risk for sexual violence
• Poor academic achievement

 Adverse Childhood Experiences Definitions

1. Abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
2. Household Challenges
• Mother treated violently
• Household substance abuse
• Mental illness in household
• Parental separation or divorce
• Criminal household member
3. Neglect
• Emotional neglect
• physical neglect

How To Calculate Your Ace Score

Answer the following questions to calculate your score.
(prior to your 18th birthday)

1. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Swear at you, insult you, put you down, or humiliate you? or Act in a way that made you afraid that you might be physically hurt?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
   
2. Did a parent or other adult in the household often or very often… Push, grab, slap, or throw something at you? or Ever hit you so hard that you had marks or were injured?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
3. Did an adult or person at least 5 years older than you ever… Touch or fondle you or have you touch their body in a sexual way? or Attempt or actually have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with you?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
4. Did you often or very often feel that … No one in your family loved you or thought you were important or special? or Your family didn’t look out for each other, feel close to each other, or support each other?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
5. Did you often or very often feel that … You didn’t have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, and had no one to protect you? or Your parents were too drunk or high to take care of you or take you to the doctor if you needed it?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
6. Were your parents ever separated or divorced?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
7. Was your mother or stepmother:
   Often or very often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? or Sometimes, often, or very often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or hit with something hard? or Ever repeatedly hit over at least a few minutes or threatened with a gun or knife?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
8. Did you live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
9. Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide?
   ___No
   ___If Yes, enter 1
   
10. Did a household member go to prison?
    ___No
    ___If Yes, enter 1

Understanding The Score

Add up all your "YES" answers and that is your ACE score.

The higher the ACE score, the greater health risk you have.  It becomes an index where your risk for the health factors listed previously become more a reality.

I'm a firm believer in that if you have a health condition, as long as it is not past the point of no return, I think a person can turn it around.  Think of a train going off a cliff that once it gets to the end of the track, there is no stopping it.  However, if we're not at that point, we still have a chance to slow the train down.  I understand that I am often in the minority on this and many may think I just don't understand.  I use my own life's experiences and conditions as proof of this conclusion.

So, I don't accept that any physical health condition cannot be stopped or reversed.  This is my opinion and I cannot base it upon fact.  So, please don't take this as medical advice because it is not intended to be that.  Just don't limit yourself to the current medical wisdom out there.  I believe there is far more within us that can turn things around.

In my own life, health problems that I thought I would have to live with are no longer a major concern for me.  I don't take medication.  Yes, I still have things that crop up on me physically and mentally, but I've learned the tools that pull me back out of hell.   There have been some major physical things that I thought were not something I could change and yet, I've discovered that I can really impact them and sometimes pretty quickly.   

Why Does All This Matter

When you have been through childhood abuse, if you don't deal with it - it will deal with you.  You may think you're getting away with it and it doesn't affect you, but sooner or later it will catch up.  It will bring you front and center with it.  You may still choose to deny it at that point, but if you do, things will only get worse and I think you reach the point of no return.

From what I have experienced in my own life and through the healing work that I've learned, there is a way to reclaim your physical body and mind and heal from these adverse childhood experiences. Unfortunately, we often just give lip service to this concept while ignoring the true impacts and how we can have great influence over what happens as a result.

At one time, I thought that physical ailments on the body and mind were life sentences.  I shouldn't be standing here today writing what I am because everyone at one point thought my future was hopeless.  I've battled the depression, anxiety, suicide,  migraine headaches, ulcers, allergies, skin issues, high pulse rate and many other physical ailments.  At one time, I thought that was just the way things are.

I won't tell you today that my life is perfect and free from all of these physical issues, but I now have more tools in my toolbox to help me deal with things, without turning to medical procedures, surgeries and medications.  At one time, I needed some of those things, but it was because I didn't have the tools I now have.

It takes work and courage...

It takes a lot of work and courage to get to this point.  It is not easy and I will never mislead anyone into thinking it is just a matter of changing one's thoughts or living by some platitude or meme.  In order to begin healing, you have to go into those deep dark horror moments of life and learn how to take the power back from them.

This is not just a mental exercise, although the mind and your thoughts play a major role.  This is an exercise where with time, you learn how to feel and connect to your body through the felt sense as it connects with your mind.  When you understand that in order to heal your mind, you must feel in your body that which is hard to feel and is often blinded by fear.

Feeling in the body....

Feeling in the body is the most advanced way I have found to heal the adverse childhood experiences I have been through.  My ACE score is very high.  I've been through a lot and unless I would not have started to use Unified Therapy and the concepts behind it, I would have never made it this far.  My life was crashing when I first started to understand and explore how to heal my body and mind.

Therapy and counseling helped me tremendously, but in the end, I had neglected the body part of the mind body connection.  It is in the body part of my healing where I started to physically empower my life once again and heal in ways that I did not think were possible.  It was not some pie-in-the-sky concept, but one that has been proven many times over on many people. It does work!  You can heal!

Fear has been my constant enemy...

Fear has been my constant enemy that I have loathed and despised.  It has held me back by fooling me into thinking that I can't heal and that none of my progress is real.  Fear has kept me hunkering down in the corner hiding in the shadows as if that was the sum total of my life.  Fear has kept me withering in life as if I had no power or worth or value.

We all have to find our way through healing and the experiences we have been through.  However, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that if the body is not engaged in healing, the mind will only take you so far.  Memes, platitudes, and simple healing statements may have their place, but often they get in the way of the real - down-to-earth work that we need to do.

When life takes you far enough down the trail of no return, it either gets your attention or if you continue to ignore it, you will suffer greatly.  We do have the power to change our life from the inside out, but only if we allow ourselves to go through the fear and find it.  Often that requires a person who truly understands the effect of trauma on the body and there are far too few that do.

For a long time, I have known about the ACE study because of Unified Therapy by Dr. Paul Canali.  He uses this with his patients and helps them realize the cause-effect between trauma and their current health conditions.  It is a great tool to begin helping you see the relationship of what trauma does to your current health and well-being.

Further Information

Here is a video done of an interview of some topics, but one of those is the ACE Study.  It is with Jim Fazio and Dr. Paul Canali.  Jim is a practitioner that has learned Unified Therapy and is having wonderful success with it on his own clients. 

Final Thoughts

Where ever you are today in your life, go further - discover more and realize that there is much more potential in healing than may seem possible, feasible or even real.

I really admire Dr. Paul Canali because he has helped me understand that the body connection is where the true healing is at and without it, I would not have made it as far as I did.  He doesn't just understand the concepts of healing trauma as a pioneer in this field.  He knows how to implement them and see results from one patient to another.

Years ago, they told me I would most likely never function 100% again.  I proved the medical world wrong.  At one point they were bringing me back to life and it was up to me from that point on to go beyond what I thought I knew so that I could truly heal.

If you want to know more about my own story, check out my book, "Hope And Possibility Through Trauma"

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Insights Into Memory

I'm often intrigued and perplexed and in awe of this most misunderstood part of our brain and body.  We all have a memory, but in many different bodies, it works better for some and not so good for others.  Often our memory starts out better when we are young and diminishes with time.  I stand in awe of what it does and where it fails.

In my own life, my memory has been my greatest advocate and my strongest adversary.  It has been there for me, but it at times is a haunting force that I would best flee.  There are times that it has brought the most beautiful moments up in my life while forcing me to face those times which were pure horror and torture.

Traumatic Memories

In Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk's book, The Body Keeps The Score, I still remember him stating that the mind remembers too much and too little at the same time.  This is especially true in the face of a traumatic past.  [insert book picture]

I've seen people forget the horrible abuse and torture they inflicted upon others, acting as if it never happened.  At the same time, the traumatized victim that was the recipient, is haunted every day of their life, desperately trying to get their memory to forget.  How can a memory work one way for someone in these shoes and yet, totally different for someone else?

Memory And Conversion Disorder

When I was paralyzed by a Conversion Disorder, I reached the point where I could barely remember my name.  Most things in my life were a blur, including the trauma that I had been through.  It was easier for my mind and memory to forget all that had happened in hopes of keeping me alive, then to confront the ugly truth that lied beyond the fog.

I know as I get older, my memory is sometimes fuzzy at best and other times, it is like an encyclopedia.  There are the little things that I forget.  There are the more recent things that sometimes are hard to grasp.  Often, it feels like I need a complete defrag as one would do with a computer.  If only I could find that button to push.

Alive Inside

I remember seeing another documentary called "Alive Inside".  In this program, they show that people with various conditions including memory issues would come alive when music from their past was played.  I experimented with a trauma survivor and behold, it does work.  An almost comatose person started coming alive the minute I played one of their favorite songs.

NOVA - PBS

On Nova (PBS), I saw a documentary called Memory Hackers.  I was gulping up the information that they displayed because I believe the more we come to understand our mind and memory, the more we can evolve and grow and heal our mind body connections. 

Memory Hackers

Top 5 Things From Memory Hackers

The top five things I got from the Memory Hackers program was as follows.

1. Memory is not what we thought it was.  It isn't something we store one time and it remains that way until we die.  It can be changed every time it is recalled.
2. Telling the memory repeatedly can often allow us to alter and mold it into something it is not.  It gives an opportunity of rewriting parts of the memory as we tell it and store it away.
3. We all have parts of our memories it seems that we would like to forget or stop from controlling our every day life through phobias.  While there are ethical implications, there are real ways being tested in a laboratory to do this.
4. If someone has a great memory, it does not necessarily mean they are the smartest person around as evidenced by the HSAM section.
5. Various parts of a memory are stored in different sections of our brain which include all our senses, experiences, and emotions that were going on at the time.  

Hippocampus And Memory

The hippocampus is vital in bringing all these parts back together.   It is almost like the conductor and while it attempts to bring things at the right moment, memory is not always linear. 

There are far too many times that I have had emotions come up without the full memory, or a sensation that has happened and yet there is no emotion.  There are times a story arises, but there are no senses, emotions, or other experiences that I can put together to make sense of it.

I still remember the nightmares that lasted many years of being afraid of the color purple.  It seems strange and odd to most that the color purple would bring out terrifying horrors of anxiety, anger, and depression.  It was not until Thanksgiving of 1997 that the color purple finally came into full view and I saw the memory for what it was.

Oprah Male Survivor Show

When I went to the Oprah taping of the 200 Male Survivor show, it was an emotional experience.  Hearing others tell their stories immediately connected to those experiences in my own life.  I was a wrung out mess of tears by the time I left and in many ways, I felt so out of it.

Normally, you will not hear me telling my story over and over.  I have longed in many ways to forget these things even though I know that sharing my story may help others.  I've always been cautious in telling the memories repeatedly, because I felt that things could be altered as my mind tried to make sense of what was going on.  With this Nova program on Memory Hackers, I can see that my gut instinct was right.

Unified Therapy - Dr. Paul Canali

In Unified Therapy, we often bring a person to the edge of those moments where the memory is alive.  We do it through the felt sense or what some call interoception.  This is the act of feeling something deep within our body without becoming lost in it.  It helps empower us while bringing about awareness and through that awareness, we can begin to change it and alter it.  Often when we have been through traumatic moments in our life, our memory suffers because our brain shuts down feeling, so that we can survive.  Through turning the felt sense back on, we begin to discover and connect our mind and body together.

Conclusion

I so wish I could wave a magic wand and erase all the bad memories.  Even though I know it is possible in the research lab, I question if the body truly forgets too, or if there is some residual part of the body that will continue to poison the mind.  Only, in this case, the poison of the bad memory has nowhere to go.  It just fills the empty void.  It is my biggest concern because I've seen how my own body responded to memories that I could not recall easily.

I don't have all the answers and I know most don't.  It is wonderful to see different parts of our scientific, medical, and alternative healing worlds coming together to better understand our memory.  It is the continued focus on how our memory functions that will bring greater truths of healing and empowerment for individuals.

In this day and age of MRI scans, we can no longer sit by and embrace the paradigms of old with respect to memory.  We are living in a new day and age, and the advancement for our civilization and human body is in the mind.  I've seen this in my own life and I am excited by the possibilities of discovery for what lies ahead.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2/17/16 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Losing Your Body By Numbing Out

For anyone who has been through trauma, you fully understand how your body is not your friend after these experiences.  Losing your body is so common among sexual abuse survivors because when you go through these experiences, it is a means of survival.

Consider for a moment that if you are experiencing sexual abuse where someone overpowers you and not only is the pain great, but the humiliation and shame are beyond comprehension, the only way to survive is by shutting down.  It is a means to survive.  It is a means to get through the experience because of the overwhelming nature of what is going on.

For a long time, I did not even realize how much I had shut my body down.  It took me going through a Conversion Disorder and being paralyzed to begin understanding this.  Even in the depths of the Conversion Disorder, I could not feel a needle being applied to the bottom of my feet.  I could not feel the pain in my back and neck.  I could not feel much.

Thanksgiving Stress

Yesterday, I woke up with many things on my to do list that needed to be accomplished. So I started working on them not giving a thought to where my mental and emotional state were. After all, I had just come off of a very peaceful and fabulous weekend, so I thought - things are lookin up!

But as Tuesday wore on, I was in frantic hyper mode trying to get 50 things done at once and growing ever impatient with myself. Without even realizing it, I really did not want to see any other living person around me and so I buried myself in more of my to do lists. It was a vicious cycle and one which has played out before but the thing was, while it was going on, I did not notice it. I did not notice what was flying under the radar hidden from my vantage point.

By the afternoon, I had almost exhausted myself from the stress I was putting myself under. Yet, I did not even realize that I was even doing this. Feeling very tired and worn out, I laid down on my massage table to just let go of everything and rest my eyes. During that time of rest, I began to become aware of what was going on. And then - it dawned on me - Thanksgiving was this week.

Thanksgiving used to be a wonderful time for me as a kid. There was all this food and we often got to travel to my relatives house where everyone enjoyed spending time with each other. Playing pool on the pool table at my uncle's house or just smelling the cooking from the kitchen. Waiting ever so patiently for the meal to be served which always seemed to take longer than expected while the football games would blast from the living room TV. Even if we did not travel on that day and stayed home, it was such a peaceful time, full of memories and we especially got the day to just be inside and maybe watch some TV or sleep in - you know - the stuff kids do. It was such a wonderful time.

Hold on one darn gosh minute! The above "wonderful time for me as a kid" was nothing like what I experienced. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me! Thanksgiving was anything but this. If we had to travel to our relatives house, there was plenty of bitching and squabbling going on and oh the gossip would flow - all in catching up with one another of course and trying to talk about what was best for each family member. Yeah Right - as I roll my eyes a few times! The TV was so darn blasted loud that one could hardly hear anyone talk and maybe for good reason. After a few hours of this, my head would begin pounding because of the noise, the bitching and the squabbling. And since we were going to have a big meal for the day, we would often not get to eat anything until this point. Most of the time, it would be sometime in the mid afternoon before the meal was ready and by that time, I was so hungry, I didn't care what the food tasted like, I just wanted to stuff food in my belly.

And if we did stay home, it wasn't like we got to be kids and sleep in. There was always things to do and work to be done on our stupid little 3 acre ranch! And if my Dad couldn't think up something for us to do, there was always his moment of enjoyment which meant we went out and cut wood in the cold and snow. While he enjoyed it, I could have wanted to find something else to do for just one day of the year. And to not forget this momentous occasion one thanksgiving where my Dad felt we all needed to drink wine. Consider growing up in a home where everything was a sin including drinking wine and yet my father belittled me into trying to get me to drink the wine. The guilt trip he laid on me for exercising my right to say no to this was horrendous.

These were the memories of Thanksgiving that I have. While I would like to think they were the "Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving Memories" and as much as I would like to play like they were, Thanksgiving was anything but this. It was stressful and too many times, I witnessed my mother feeling sick or having a migraine during this day. Too many times, I witnessed my father wielding the rod of child rearing during this time. Too many times, I worked my butt off out in the cold and snow just so we didn't have to be one happy family around each other.

So yesterday, it was no surprise to me when I started to become aware of just how Thanksgiving was impacting me. In the past, I've almost laid a few big tough guys and ladies on the ground in stores because the anger of my own pain had consumed me. I still remember one year trying to pick a fight with two guys that were twice my size and to this day, I'm glad they just walked on and ignored me. It is amazing what the unresolved pain and hurt can do to a person. I'm also aware that so many others go through similar reactions like I do when it comes to the holidays.

While so much has improved for me, the stress of this time builds up. I've worked on building my own memories and while that does help, the pain of the past is still there as a foundation to my life. You can often do things to forget, but it doesn't mean everything ceases to exist.

Fortunately yesterday, I was smart enough to go to Yoga. When I got to the fitness center, my resting pulse was around 112 which is very high and even high for me. I did the Yoga and took my pulse reading again with the Finger Pulse Oximeter and my pulse had come down around 92. While that is still high, it had dropped 20 points. This morning when I woke up, my pulse was actually down to 68.

I'm glad I did Yoga because it helped reset and reregulate my autonomic nervous system. When we are out of balance and in the sympathetic mode of our nervous system, it is not uncommon for our pulse to be very high. If we can find a way to reset our body's nervous system and get back into parasympathetic mode, our pulse should come down. Yoga is just one way to help with this but the way I have found which works very well and very quickly is through the practice of Unified Therapy. I've seen my pulse rate drop from the high 90's down to the high 50's in just a matter of an hour on the table with Unified Therapy. Yoga is a good complement to this particular work and helps to maintain the work on the table. It is through the breathing and mindful connection of the body that we are able to make physical changes within our bodies.

If you are like me and struggle through the stress of Thanksgiving, I want you to know you're not alone. I've been there, done that and have far too many tshirts to show for it. If you can find things to do on that day that help ease your pain, do them! Don't feel like you have to do what society says you must do on this day just to appease people! Take care of yourself and give yourself the good memories and good experiences you deserve. Finding ways to help others can often be a good source of a soothing balm to help comfort your own pain.

And if you're one that has had happy memories, my hat is off to you. Consider sharing that with others who don't have those memories and being understanding of those that struggle through these times. Just thinking happy thoughts or whatever advice you may have just might not necessarily help the people who deal with intense pain during this time. Allowing them to just be in whatever way they need to and letting them know that they aren't alone, can be one of the greatest blessings you could give to those in pain. It might not seem like much to them but believe me, those thoughts given with the purest of love is a great and wonderful gift.

I'm happy that I was able to spot the stress beginning to show itself in my life like I did this year. In years past, it would have just completely pulled me under. While it is still difficult to some degree, I do try to do things that help take care of myself. The pain is not as difficult as it once was but it is still there.

So I'll end this on a happy note that I am thankful for how far I've come, that I survived this far into my life and that I'm beginning to really separate the joy from the pain of my past. I'm also thankful that I am able to write about this so others out there maybe won't feel so all alone on holidays such as this. May we all reflect on all that we have, not what we feel we don't have and may we all be extra sensitive to those who are still struggling to see this.

Healing The Physical Trauma of Child Abuse

Written by Don Shetterly

This Unified Therapy session wasn't easy.  It was tough beyond any words that I can write.  In fact, just getting myself to see Dr. Canali was more than difficult.  I procrastinated.  I tried to wish it away.  I tried to numb it away.

No matter what, as hard as I tried to wish it away, my avoidance was not helping the issue at all.  I was begging for mercy.  I wanted relief.  I could not find it on my own no matter what I was doing.  As I wrote a few days earlier in a blog post, it was the Rash That Won't Stop that got me to the point where I finally went to see Dr. Canali.

My life had become one of so much difficulty with little sleep.  The burning and itching I described in that blog post were no lies.  It was all too real.  My anger was hard to contain with everyone and everything.  I did not know at that moment before the session if I could make it through this.  I was not sure if I could make it through this.  The session with Dr. Canali had become my last hope.

What I had written, I shared...

I shared with him what I had written in that blog post. I couldn't even manage to get the words out.  My voice would not articulate them.  As he sat down beside the massage table and read them out loud to me, my eyes welled up with tears.  To most people, they are words on a page.  To me, they were heartaches and pain from the abuse I suffered.

As we began to go into what was coming up in my body, it was evident to Dr. Canali and myself just how locked up my pelvis and abdomen were.  In fact, most of my pants were not fitting at that time.  They felt like 5 sizes too small.  The itching in this area was intense.  Any touch anywhere close and the pain would shoot through my body like there was no end.

Moving through things, everything from the itching to the heat in my body and the pain would kick up.  We would take it as far as we could, and then Dr. Canali would allow me to drop back down.  It felt like a physical workout.  It felt like there were moments that were almost too much.  However, I knew that this was part of the healing process.

An empowerment boost of healing...

The more I started to see that we could go into all of these things and then drop back into a more peaceful state, the more empowered my body became. It was as if pushing into these difficult moments and then dropping back was an empowerment boost.  A boost that kept me taking on more of the trauma my body had been holding for many years.

Some of these trauma memories of abuse that I was dealing with, I have seen in other forms and ways at various times.  However, this one was the more physical side of being raped and held down with no way to stop it.  It started by the time I was around six years old and continued until I was much older.

As we moved through the session, we discussed those things, and I was allowed to share them.  It wasn't easy to say the words.  It wasn't easy to recognize just how much the evil and darkness of these abusers and tried to squash any hope for light and existence I had.

The Body Shows The Trauma...

The physical trauma resides in the body.  The body remembers even if we attempt to keep it from reliving memories from years past.  The brain will try to block it, but when the body shows the evidence, it is then that the brain is in survival and numbing.

As we went through the session, I could feel the physical tension leaving my body.  It was more than if I had gotten a relaxing massage.  It was where my body goes into that deep peace and rest that it desperately needs.  The itching came down.  The pain came down.  The elevated body temperature I was feeling dropped down.

I noticed as we left the office and went out into the summer heat of a South Florida afternoon, that I was tolerating the heat much better.  Before this moment, I could barely stand in the summer heat for a few minutes.

I noticed that the world around me seemed more at peace.  I sensed the quiet stillness accessible to me even though the hustle and bustle of the city continued.  I felt lighter and more joyful.  I felt more hopeful and alive than I had a little while earlier that day.

As we left to go back to the hotel, I started to notice that the pants which were tight on me before the session, were now needing a belt.  There was so much physical tension in my abdomen and waist that had released that I could barely keep my pants up.  It shocked me because it showed me just how much trauma I was holding in my physical body.

I went from not wanting anyone close to me touching me to allowing myself to be touched.  I went from wanting no intimacy to welcoming it happily.

In that session with Dr. Canali, so much physically changed in my body.  It was like I was coming back into my body and learning to live life again as was meant for me to experience.

Healing Is More Than A Mental Exercise...

Once again, the work and concepts that Dr. Canali has discovered are helping me understand what trauma does to the body and how we store all of this for years and years.  It is not just a mental exercise.  It is an exercise where you connect the mind with what comes up in the body and then you are gently guided in different ways how to let go of it all.  It is a process that helps you find deep healing and peace, that is more than a quick point of change.  This healing is lasting.

As I write this, several days after the session, I can still feel my body letting go and processing all that went on in that session.  I can feel how little moments in life kick up the body temperature or the itching while being able to talk myself back down and put reality in perspective with what I am feeling.

Yes, I've had moments of anger and frustration, but I can deal with them more appropriately than I was.  I'm able to go in and stop and rest and allow my body to just be in the moment.  I've been able to be in a hot tub and sauna, be outside in the heat of an afternoon and not feel like I was going to lose my mind or pass out and drop on the ground.

I'm working to take care of myself, changing how I see things in my life and observing how I react.  I want the reactions to be from a more mind and body centered approach than feeling like an unwilling participant.  I'm focusing on the bigger picture of my life much more than I have been and seeing how all of this plays into where my life goes.

I'm monitoring how much I let in from the world that is full of screaming, anger, rage, and disrespect because the actions I see every day do nothing to help me in my own life.  I'm allowing myself to disconnect from them and replace them with things that are genuinely helpful.  I know that if I get caught up in the darkness of the day, it will do nothing positive for me.

Most of all, I feel better.  I feel more empowered.  I feel more centered.  It is like there is now hope where I thought I had lost all hope.

I'm thankful for Unified Therapy and Dr. Paul Canali and what he knows and how he helps me.  He is one of a kind.  If there are others beyond him (and a few other practitioners) that can do what he does for me, I have not found them.  He is a pioneer in the field of healing trauma.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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All The Rage Coming to Melbourne Florida

Hey everyone, I wanted to let you know about a movie documentary a good friend of mine is trying to bring to this area.  He does excellent therapy work called Unified Therapy around Melbourne, Florida.  Anyway, he is trying to bring the movie documentary, All The Rage, here in October.


They have a minimum number of tickets they have to sell to make this work.  The more people who sign up, the more this becomes a reality.  If you live in the central Florida area, don't miss out on this.

It is an excellent movie documentary on the story of pain - back pain that is!  Many people suffer with back pain and there are so many dollars spent trying to treat it when some simple concepts can do so much.

Dr. John Sarno found a way to address and deal with back pain, without medications and surgeries.   That's where the story starts in this documentary.  In fact, many years ago, John Stossel did a 20/20 interview with Dr. Sarno about his practices.  He was so helped by the procedures that he wanted to share this with everyone.  Even Howard Stern sings the praises of Dr. Sarno.

I won't get ahead of myself on what all this movie is about, since the link below shows a trailer and gives more information on it.  I've seen many of these theories implemented and I know this stuff works.  In the link to movie tickets, look for the trailer.

Go ahead - check it out and reserve your seat.  You won't regret it.  The movie documentary is getting some great reviews from people who have already seen it.  The more that sign up, the more this can happen and it will be a big help to my friend, Jim Fazio.

Link to Movie Tickets:  http://gathr.us/screening/20637

 

 Link To My Blog Review:  Healing Back Pain Beliefs 

 

Link to Jim Fazio's Website:  http://www.jimfazioib.com/ 

 

Today, I Know

(Written by Marie Davino)

I have been in some kind of therapy or other since I was 18, due to a difficult and dysfunctional family life as a child. In addition, I was bullied at school and had an eating disorder that became a lifelong struggle.

It has, at times, been a rough and very rocky road to say the least.  I knew that I had experienced some kind of abuse, but the memories of it were incomplete or vague. That made it difficult  for me to know for sure if I actually was molested… and to let it go.

The questions were always, “what if”, “what really happened”, or “who was this person?”  These questions haunted me, and were always in the back of my mind. I tried to recover the memory in different ways with different therapies over the years to no avail. I finally decided I would have to be ok with not ever knowing…until recently.

I worked with my last therapist for ten years, and he was wonderful. I will always be grateful for the work we did together and for the time and effort he gave to help me heal my past wounds. I reached a point where I was very happy, had left it all behind me, and felt my life was quite fulfilling for many years…and then, the bottom dropped out. I felt myself spiraling into a depression that  I could not express or understand. I tried my best to manage it with all of the tools I had learned over the years. Nothing was working.

That was when I found Jim Fazio and Unified Therapy. I began to work with him, and reached a level of trust so quickly that I was able to explore the reasons for the depression I was experiencing in great depth.  It is difficult to describe how the sessions go, but I can say there is very little talking, no advice or judgment, and all mind-body work in a safe, relaxing environment.

The sessions were intense and powerful... after each session was over, when I allowed myself to let go, I felt an overwhelming peace and joy that I had not experienced for a very long time. It was progressing so quickly that after a few months the memory became clearer… until one session when the answer came… I knew it was real, where the existing memory was leading, and that it happened.

The next morning, this poem was written in my mind in a matter of minutes, and I had to write it down.

Today, I Know

(c) 2017 By Marie Davino

Today I see the world through different eyes
Yesterday it was maybe, probably.
Maybe.
Today I know
Yesterday it was how could someone do that to a child
Today it is how could someone do that to my child
Yesterday I wondered why? (I suffocate!)
Why? (I can't breathe!) why? (I can't speak!)
Why? (Did I make this up?)
Today I know
The Angels gentle message
Floating on an ocean full of tears
drowning out my screams
Buried in sand up to my nose, hide my face from horror.
Can't move, can't breathe, why? (No one hears me.)
Today I know.
Paul sings it was far away… but it was here all along
He sings it will stay forever, but now I know
I will fight till I can let it go
These words of a million wounded souls, spoken a million times
Nothing new here...I am just one more broken heart to heal.
Freezing cold. Burning up.
No more shadows. No more darkness. No more silence. Today I weep.
Today I bathe in the soft lightness of mourning
In the gentle hands that hold me
Because now, I know.
Tomorrow I will see the world through different eyes.

I am sharing my experience on Mind Body Thoughts because through my work with Jim Fazio I found Don, and we have become good friends. What he writes on his blog is courageous, open, and honest, and helps me find the courage I need to continue to heal through some very difficult times. Many thanks to Don, for sharing so much of his life with us so we can see there is always hope…and to Jim, for holding on tight and going through the darkness with me.

- Marie

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Jim Fazio, LMT, CSI, UTP

Website:   Integrative Bodywork, Inc.

Activating the Brain-Body Connection for Healing.

Promote Health and Wellness, not disease and illness

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly and Marie

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Seminar With Dr. Canali

Activating The Brain-Body Connection Seminar Series

Time: May 16, 17
Place: Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, FL (Miami)

Click here for More Information

Post Traumatic Stress is responsible for more chronic pain, suffering and misdiagnosis than any condition on the planet. The Heal Trauma Save the World Project™ is about isolating reproducible and evidence based aspects of trauma and somatic autonomic regulation therapy to create a highly effective and reproducible treatment approach. There is nothing more important that a healthcare provider can learn than the secret of diagnosing and treating the traumatized nervous system. This seminar is open to professionals from all health care disciplines. If you want to be a part of something life changing, please join us for a 2-day seminar focusing on the application of Unified Therapy™ to cases involving traumatic stress.

Most Common Misdiagnosis In Medicine

Somatization and conversion of emotional and repressed feelings, personality disturbances and unconscious psycho-biological states are responsible for an incredible amount of misdiagnosis and human suffering.

Slide from Seminar with Dr. Paul Canali
Unified Therapy, A Breakthrough Nervous System Re-Regulation Therapy
Nov 2010

Dealing With Panic Attacks

Written By Don Shetterly

Years ago, when I went through Conversion Disorder, I struggled with moments that the doctors hardly understood, let alone had terminology for.  I remember having a "panic attack", as it was called at the time, and given a pamphlet to be taken home to read.

The only thing is the panic attack was a symptom of a much larger condition.  Up to that point, the doctors had only diagnosed me with Multiple Sclerosis, which was later found to be wrong.  I would not know for some time that the diagnoses were Conversion Disorder, depression, and anxiety.  The doctors kept these things from me in those days.

We were all focused on getting to the point I could walk again, as I was paralyzed at that point.  The goal was to get me integrated back into my regular daily routine and activities as quickly as I could, but I'm not sure anyone thought it was possible.

Noise From A Yard Sale...

When I got home from the hospital, I remember waking up that first morning.  I heard a lot of people outside my door. Peering through the window, I noticed what appeared to be a yard sale by my neighbors.

This would be considered a reasonable thing by most people but all of the sudden, I would find myself shaking, crying, and struggling to catch my breath.  I was scared beyond belief.  I tried to hide on my couch, but the people's noises and talking would not stop.  I had no idea what was going on with me.  I felt as if I was going to die.  I didn't know what to do.

Calling my doctor, he prescribed medication for me and then I made the bold gesture of trying to go out and make it to the pharmacy.  I made it about two blocks before my legs were shaking so much and my breathing was to the point I felt like I was going to pass out.  Driving a stick-shift pickup was not easy, and I managed just to turn around and go back home.

Nothing was calming down.  My breathing was way off and challenging.  I felt so full of despair.  I finally called a co-worker friend to get the prescription for me.  The medication helped, but it knocked me out for hours.

Anxiety Took Me Down...

There would be many more times I'd have to deal with anxiety, from venturing outside my house to trying to get back to work, to going inside a store.  Anxiety would hit me hard and take me down quickly.

I learned to go without stimulants like sugar, coffee, chocolate, soft drinks and anything that might kick my body up.  While that helped, it wasn't the cure - but it helped.  I had many sessions of therapy where we would work through the anxiety issues, but it seemed as if they were never-ending.

Another thing I did was to keep a small rock in my pocket wherever I went.  I learned that if I felt a panic attack coming on, I could reach in my pocket without anyone knowing and just grab ahold of the rock.  To me, it felt grounding and safe so that even when my life felt out of control, the rock helped bring me back.

Would I Make It...

Life was a struggle.  It was difficult.  Normal things to other people were difficult life-challenging issues to me.  In those days, I wondered if I would ever make it.  I wondered if I would get beyond this and back to a normal life.

I have since learned so much more about how to deal with anxiety.  Even at times when it gets the best of me, it is nowhere to the level of full-blown panic attacks that it once was.  I have done so much intense and deep healing work using Unified Therapy that the anxiety is a fraction of what it once was.

While the mind plays a starring role in a panic or anxiety attack, the body is what generates it.  This is the most helpful revelation that I have found in my healing.  Ignoring the physical presence of why it is coming up makes it harder to deal with anxiety.  Dealing with what the cells of the body remember is where freedom and liberation from a whole new level takes place.

I never was one to accept a condition I had or a label handed to me.  I fought those hard, and I still do.  I know that if I latch on to the condition I was given, I see myself as that issue, not as potential for healing.  I desire healing.

I've fought the odds against so much that I was not supposed to conquer.  Even to this day, I do not accept where I am.  I'm always striving to push forward to places that too many believe do not exist.  As I heal more and more, I am finding that there is so much hope and possibility.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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