This morning I'm doing something I never dreamed that I would do: I'm going to see a therapist.
All my life, I've placed myself firmly in the category of Not the Kind of Person Who Goes to Therapy. First of all, I was vaguely suspicious of it as a general concept. I'd heard horror stories from friends who went to therapists who convinced them they had problems they didn't have, presumably to keep the high monthly fees rolling in. On top of that, I simply didn't see how talking to a professional counselor would help anything. I've always had a good network of friends and family members whom I could count on during difficult times, and I would turn to them if there was anything I needed to get off my chest. My conversion to Catholicism in my late 20s pretty much sealed my opinion on this issue: Now that I had prayer, the sacraments, and a wise spiritual director, what use could I possibly have for secular psychology?
What I was missing, that I have only recently come to understand, is that sometimes traumatic experiences can impact us in a way that goes beyond the purely emotional realm, and is closer to being a physical malady than a purely spiritual one. For example, in the book Getting Past Your Past, author Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., points out that the memory control center of the brain, the hippocampus, can actually shrink in people who have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Shapiro developed a technique in which therapy clients can use eye movement techniques combined with guided imagery, called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), to help rebuild this area of their brains. She writes:
Happily, as brain scans have now shown, it is possible for the hippocampus to regrow. Although there has been limited research in this area, one study recently showed that 8 to 12 sessions of EMDR memory processing for people with PTSD were associated with an average 6% increase in the volume of the hippocampus. These effects were maintained one year later.
When I was considering therapy for myself in the aftermath of recent traumatic events, I spoke with Licensed Professional Counselor Jennifer Madere to gain a better understanding of how this all works within the larger context of the spiritual life. I found Ms. Madere through CatholicTherapists.com, and shared my concerns about therapy being misused as a replacement for prayer and trust in God. She offered a great explanation, one that really resonated with my own experience, in which she analogized it to stomach indigestion: If you had a stomach ailment in which your digestive system were unable to digest a certain food, treating the physical cause would go hand-in-hand with praying about it. Similarly, sometimes we have traumatic experiences that our brains are unable to "digest," and certain therapy techniques can help break down those memories and allow our brains to incorporate them in a healthy way.
This is something that Dr. Shapiro talks about in her book as well. She gives the example of having an argument with your coworker. Under normal circumstances, you might feel stress or anger in the moment, but after a little time your mind takes what can be learned from the situation, discards the rest, and stores it as a normal memory -- i.e., it has been processed. But sometimes an experience impacts us so profoundly that it overwhelms our brains' normal abilities, and the memory is stored in a raw, unprocessed form. Shapiro writes:
Sadly, disturbing experiences, whether major traumas or other kinds of upsetting events, can overwhelm the system. When that happens, the intense emotional and physical disturbance caused by the situation prevents the information processing system from making the internal connections needed to take it to a resolution. Instead, the memory of the situation becomes stored in the brain as you experienced it. What you saw and felt, the image, the emotions, the physical sensations and the thoughts become encoded in memory in their original, unprocessed form. So, whenever you see the coworker you argued with, rather than being able to have a calm chat, the anger or fear comes flooding back.
I have been working on this "processing" of traumatic memories in therapy sessions, and have found that not only is this therapy not detracting from my spiritual life, but it is enhancing it. When we offer up the difficult moments of our lives to God, we can find peace and healing -- but first we have to be able to offer them up. What I found was that, before I began seeing a counselor, I was not allowing God to be part of these moments at all. Whenever I tried to access those memories in prayer, I would become so overwhelmed and upset that I would stop praying. Even though the events were recent, I was already falling into a pattern of shoving them down into my subconscious, trying to pretend they never happened at all -- and you can't offer something to God that you don't admit exists.
It's important to note that there are a wide variety of therapy techniques, and not all of them involve bringing up details of traumatic events (Dawn Eden makes some important points about that here as it relates to survivors of childhood sexual abuse). I happen to be doing a therapy that does involve visualizing traumatic memories in a safe way, but that might not be the best method for everyone. The point is that sometimes therapy techniques, even secular ones, can be an asset to a strong spiritual life.
If you're having difficulty finding healing in any area, I strongly recommend at least exploring the possibility of seeing a licensed counselor. Before I started therapy, I had slammed the door on those troubling memories. They festered in darkness, where nobody was allowed to access them -- not me, not even God. For me, the process of therapy has been the process of cracking that door open, little by little. It may take a while, but it has begun to open, and finally those bad moments can be bathed in the healing light of Christ.
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You make a great point. I’d love to see a counselor to deal with some of the past and current events in my life. Maybe one day. Good luck! God bless!
Thank you for your wonderful recommendation for getting therapy when you need it. My dh and I sought the advice of a priest many years ago when it seemed divorce was our only option. He led us to a wonderful Catholic (very important detail) therapist who helped us find healthier ways of communicating, dealing with marriage issues and so much more - like praying for each other and with each other.
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As you say, we go to doctors for physical aliments so why do we shy away from seeking help for mental ones? Seeking good help is not a sign of weakness or a lack of trust in God as God gives amazing gifts of wisdom, love and mercy to so many trained professionals.
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If you are suffering, your marriage is suffering or your children - God is always there but He often uses other people as well and finding help is possible.
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Be assured of my prayers as you go into the tough places!
Good for you Jen! I hope this will be helpful in coping with the tragedy that you recently witnessed.
In our parish we have an excellent therapist who splits her time among four different parishes. We usually and she recommends it offer people Lozano prayer prior to meeting with her. In some cases this is step is obviously not necessary, but most people enjoy the freedom they recieve, which makes the therapy (if still necessary) much smoother.
Amen. Alleluia. I am so thankful for that for you. It took me over 50 years to acknowledge that I could use some help. God bless you, as I know He does.
I remain unconvinced that psychology as a field has anything of its own to offer. People’s problems break down into two root causes: biological and spiritual (and in your description of “brain processing” a bit of both). I’m not saying that psychiatrists/psychologists can’t help people (nor saying that struggling people shouldn’t seek help from them), but when they do help, they are borrowing either from the field of medicine or from spirituality. The EMDR you describe is actually physical therapy.
It’s tough to have much confidence in such a field when it fundamentally fails to understand that human nature is a body/soul composite. Spiritual/philosophical writers like de Sales elucidate a very sophisticated breakdown of the faculties of the soul and intellect that make id/ego/superego look like a crayon drawing on a refrigerator.
If you’ve found a Catholic therapist that can borrow the best of Catholic spirituality and the best of medicine to help you, that’s wonderful. By all means, take advantage of it.
Dear Jennifer…I am so glad you decided to seek therapy to help you process your recent traumatic experiences. It was a wise decision, and may God bless your efforts to seek healing. I really appreciate your candor in sharing your struggles with us. (I also appreciated the reference to the excellent article about Dawn Eden and sexual abuse.) Please keep us posted on how things are going for you! Our prayers are with you…
I am so glad you found someone to help you process the trauma you experienced. It took me a couple of tries before I found a good faithful Catholic therapist, but it has made a huge difference in my life.
Several years ago, I went through a couple of EMDR sessions with a trained therapist, and found them both terrifying and healing.
Thanks for writing about this.
You remain in my prayers.
In the context of this discussion, does anyone have experience with the “Stephen” parish ministry that appears to continue to gain popularity as a lay precursor to entering therapy if indicated?
Good for you. I hope this inspires others.
I’m glad that you are going to get help. I once went to a therapist for similar reasons, and he gave me some much-needed and helpful ways and vocabulary to talk about what I was going through. I was lucky. He was really wonderful. But I do share your general concerns about therapists who sneer at the spiritual side of things and who therefore treat the Catholic faith or any religious faith as some sort of ancient, superstitious holdover. So I’m really, really glad that you found a good Catholic therapist. God bless you!
I’ve been to several purely secular therapists over the last 10 years and I didn’t receive much help from any of them. The best therapy sessions have been the ones where my therapist and I invited God into the session together.Because only through God can true healing happen. I think the Church could benefit from a stronger Psychological ministry. And this doesn’t mean they have to create some sort of bobo healing. There are plenty of trained doctors of Psychology out there who could really utilize this to serve people.
Wow, receiving this in my inbox today was certainly a blessing. I have just done an intake to start counseling and have been overwhelmed and frightened by the prospect of embarking on this journey. I am afraid of the shunning by the therapist, of my faith. I am hoping that this is not the case.
I have many of the same issues as you Jennifer, and am guilty of stuffing down the events that I don’t want to deal with.
While I don’t have access in my rural area, to a Catholic therapist, I am told that this particular clinician is not hostile to faith.
Good luck to you and many prayers for you as you take on this challenge
The best book that I have read to help me understand the value of therapy is “Now It All Makes Sense”. The author is not Catholic and does not attempt to convey things from a Catholic viewpoint, but more like the analogy that Jennifer Madere made with digesting things properly.
EMDR therapy honors the spiritual connections. In fact, the book Getting Past Your Past describes how a minister used EMDR to help him work on his spiritual development. There are a number of stories describing ways to use it in that manner, along with specific techniques to use at home.
In the past few months my husband and I have each started private counseling and next week we start marriage counseling.
My husband has struggled with OCD and sex addiction for our entire relationship. As a result our marriage has included verbal abuse, physical abuse at times, physical intimidation, and other problems. At this point, I have extreme issues with hurt and anger that would make it almost impossible to move forward with our marriage even if he could get his issues under control. But we want to make this marriage work because we both believe in sacramental marriage and we both love our children completely.
His conversion to Catholicism in recent years has helped some, but faith and prayer alone weren’t going to “fix” things. We both need other tools in our bag in addition to prayer and the sacraments (which we frequent). And we need more insight and information than a priest can give in the confessional, especially since he has to forget everything you said as soon as you leave the room.
While I have no idea what the religious views are of any of our therapists, none of them have said or implied anything against our religious views. Initially I would have liked to use Catholic therapists, but to be honest in the short-term we couldn’t beat the convenience of having our current office literally five minutes down the road. It makes it easier to insure that we are able to go on a regular basis.
Last year, I suffered from post partum depression and anxiety. I also, had the same feelings and uncertainty about the psychological assistance through medical/psychiatric/therapy, etc. However, our amazing priest, thankfully acknowledged his own limitations. He clearly stated, God has given us priests the ability to help with the spiritual, but when it comes to the physical, only a doctor can help with this. I also received the analogy, if I were a diabetic, certainly I would recieve the necessary medication to treat my disease. How much more important is it to treat the brain when it is ailing. Medicatio, group and individual therapy, and regular medical visits were all necessary and helpful for treating my situation. Today, I feel healed from the experience and am very thankful for all the medical assistance that I received. Because despite what I first thought, my experience was not simply a spiritual one. I must also mention, though, that regular spiritual direction was also helpful during this time, to address all my spiritual concerns. Anyways, very happy to hear that you have had a similar experience with making positive distinctions between the medical and spiritual world. I often think of Jesus, using the mud to heal the eyes of the blind man. Though he could have chosen to simply perform the miracle, he instead chose to use natural means, maybe as an example to pass to us?
A good book to read is titled “Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy” by David D. Burns M.D. Along with my own therapist, it’s helped me understand my life and reactions to it much better.
Jennifer,
I feel for all that you have been through recently. Thank you for sharing your trauma in such a public way. I am sure God is using you to help many, many people!!! I am one of them. I have suffered from a very tramatic childhood and different types of abuse. I still have trouble remembering things I would rather forget. But as you share with us what you are able to share, I will try to learn from your experience. No pressure is meant, I just appreciate your openness and honesty in your seeking professional help. Thank you so much for sharing. God Bless you!
After spending 50+ years of my life stuffing down a childhood/young adulthood which was riddled with maternal alcoholism and verbal abuse, I was blessed to stumble across an EMDR practitioner. My therapist was not Catholic, but the negative childhood experiences I “re-visited” with her in therapy were healed and integrated so successfully into my personality that I am now able to practice my faith and live my life in a whole new and wonderful way. I am able to offer my family and my Lord a healthy and whole person. What an incredible relief to unpack baggage I was carrying that I did not even realize was weighing me down for my entire life. EMDR was not an easy process, but the results are worth it. I would encourage anyone thinking of entering therapy to consider an EMDR practitioner. Thank you, Jennifer, for bravely sharing this with us all.
Jennifer, this post really hits home with me. I too, as a Catholic, was suspicious of psychology and psychiatry in general and seemed to believe that life’s problems could all be solved simply by faith, prayer, and the sacraments, when in fact sometimes psychological or psychiatric help is a necessary supplement. This came home to me as I have had to struggle with anxiety and depression recently. At first I didn’t want to think of myself as one of “those people” who needs psychological help, but I realized that this was my pride talking, and that rather than weakness it is a sign of strength when somebody can say “I have an emotional disorder, etc. and need help.” I also realized that for some people, including myself, psychiatric medication may also be a part of the solution. Therefore I encourage any Catholics - don’t be ashamed to seek good help! God gave us natural as well as supernatural resources to live a happy life and He wants us to take advantage of those resources when we need them.
I’ve written about the importance of these issues in my own book, NEVER GIVE UP (Servant, 2010). Thank you for this fine article, and for your own testimony. Brain disorders caused by traumatic experiences and/or hereditary predispositions are very real. We must not be ashamed to seek out medical and therapeutic treatment from worthwhile resources. The human person is a delicate and profound unity of soul and body, who needs to be healed in a variety of ways.
Great insights, Jennifer. I enjoy your blog so much :) I have been in intensive therapy now (3 days a week) since Oct. of 2010, so I can very much relate to this post. It is very difficult work to honestly face my “skeletons” in the closet, so to speak, week after week. I have gained an enormous amount of self knowledge, insight, and healing. The techniques you describe sound very similar to what my treatment is, yet mine is mostly analytic work. I am reading a fabulous book right now called “After the Tears”. It’s a book that helps adult children of alcoholics and those who grew up in dysfunctional homes process their past traumatic experiences.
I write a blog titled “Caregiving with Grace” that explores my Catholic faith journey in caring for my mother, who has early dementia, caused by chemical abuse and vascular disease. I write a lot about being in recovery as an adult child of an alcoholic. Feel free to pass it along, if you know anyone who may benefit from reading it :)
God bless and keep up the great work…you are one of my favorite bloggers!
http://maryjsnustad.wordpress.com/
we’ve been thinking about this a lot lately! I realized that God wants you to take care of your mental and emotional health just as much as the other parts of your life, and sometimes that involves things I never thought I would benefit from, like self-help books and therapy. As Catholics we should be able to find the good in everything, and that includes psychology/psychiatry. Everyone should know that Catholic Charities offers therapy on a sliding scale cost, so hopefully if you have a branch in your area, your budget shouldn’t be an obstacle to getting therapy if you need it. Also, some therapists accept medicaid—I didn’t realize that. I was going to a therapist for postpartum depression and getting it paid for by my medicaid, and she told me that I could bring my husband in for marriage counseling too, but she would still bill it under my name to medicaid. It’s been so helpful so far!
You know who else would agree with you? Fr. Benedict Goeschel. EdD in? Psychology. From Columbia. Yes, he’s a psychologist (but only sees religious).
May God bless you on this journey. I have sought counselling a couple of times in my life and have always found it to be a blessing. Trained, neutral third parties can be great for helping get past psychological road blocks. After finally getting the courage a few years ago to seek help for processing a traumatic event, the EMDR technique my therapist used freed me from the bondage of that event and helped me let it go. It’s still in my past. It’s still sad. But it no longer controls me or defines me. I hope you find the same kind of peace.
Thank you for this insightful article.
Put a time limit (say, maybe, a year) on your therapy experiment. I have been in therapy at several points in my life and never once has it been effective. That’s not to say, of course, that all therapy is ineffective. Rather, after a certain time you should assess your progress and also ask your therapist about his/her treatment plan. Any treatment that works should have an end date. Unfortunately, with therapy, sometimes it goes on indefinitely and that is not good for you, the patient.
I have suffered for almost 50 years with the memories of an assault. I am a disabled veteran and since my mother passed my PTSD had become worse. I have been in treatment now since last September, after one failure about two years before that.
I use a Service Dog that will bring me out of an attack.
I would recommend seeking help and not waiting 50 years. God is the good and will guide you to the proper therapy if you listen to HIM and the small quiet voice of the Holy Spirit.
Also make sure that you discuss the end point. My therapist and I discuss this once a month, I am not ready yet but I believe God will tell me when that time comes
If you find therapy to be the answer to your prayers, then by all means, take it. No one is in the position to judge you on that. For myself, I also did EMDR with a therapist for my heart attack that was really traumatizing. I had a hard time with it, but I’m only speaking for myself. I don’t think anyone has the right to say “you shouldn’t do therapy” based on whether they believe in it or not. I think that God works through therapists as well.
I’m glad that you are going to a Catholic therapist though. (At least I think I read that you are seeing a Catholic one.) My biggest problem with my therapist was, that although she was a really nice lady, she did a lot of new age imagery things on me. Every time we finished the session, she had me lay down and imagine a blue wand (or pink, or yellow. I got to at least choose the color!) floating over me and scanning my body, releasing all the tension from it. Something in me just didn’t feel comfortable with that and I began to wonder, if I really believe an imaginary blue wand can heal me, then where does that put God in my life? I eventually quit going and have been doing better.
That was just my own experience though—the talking actually really did help. I got to say a lot that I normally wouldn’t say to anyone else.
Am praying for you all.
Blessed be God who heals us in Christ!
Jen,
I’ve read your blog for a few years now, and I have to say I’ve been so concerned about you since you witnessed that tragic accident. There are times in life when you really do need a therapist, particularly when traumatic events are involved. I am like you, I don’t think we should sit around and naval gaze about whether our parents did this or that right/wrong, or whether the mean girl in 7th grade ruined the trajectory of our lives. But PTSD is real, and while we all benefit from the sacraments, prayer, and a good spiritual director, you sometimes need someone who is trained in treating PTSD specifically.
Can I also be so bold as to recommend a book that helped me in my recovery from PTSD (dealing with being raped so different than what you witnessed)? My priest recommended a book by Fr. Jacques Philippe called “Interior Freedom.” Truly, truly has helped. I admire his writing so much that I am reading his book “In the School of the Holy Spirit” in the lead up to Pentacost Sunday.
Jen, I just wanted to add my well wishes to the long list. Thanks be to God that you are getting as much help as you can during this trial. As someone else said, you are already helping so many people by your thoughtful examinations of all you’re going through. I am a very recent convert, a former Episcopalian and veteran of several years of cognitive therapy. My Catholic boyfriend (later husband) used to say he thought therapy was a poor substitute for Confession, and I used to scoff at this idea. Now that I’ve had my first Confession I understand much better what he meant. BUT I believe Catholic therapists could be one of the most powerful forces for good in this world. I will pray for your speedy emotional healing. Thank you for all you’ve done for me and your other readers.
It’s good to see that so many people have been helped with EMDR therapy. The book Jennifer mentioned, Getting Past Your Past describes the therapy and gives techniques to do at home. The “wand” mentioned in one of the comments is not part of EMDR. That seems like just something that one therapist is doing and I hope it doesn’t turn people away from what the therapy has to offer. EMDR is very focused, efficient and research supported. A study by Kaiser Permanente found that within 12 sessions 100% of those with a single trauma and 77% of those with multiple trauma no longer had PTSD. Research now shows that general life experiences can give even more symptoms of PTSD than major trauma. So many people are suffering who can be helped. It is wonderful that this blog is opening the door of healing for so many.
EMDR is also used very successfully, in a slightly modified format involving hand held “clickers” instead of flashing lights, to help children with attachment difficulties, PTSD and other problems stemming from adoption… it has worked miracles for our family.
My counselor also uses EMDR and it is amazingly effective! I hope more therapists will look into using this amazing treatment.
It took me 20 years to break down and finally see a counslor for the death of a parent that passed away suddenly when I was a young child. Back then it was hard to find groups/counslors for children (or that is what my mom says). I also think since I was such an introvert my mom just figured I was “doing okay” but in reality I wasn’t.
The hardest part about counseling is that it can’t be fixed in a week with antibiotics. It takes months and sometimes years to process the trauma.
Jen,
First, know that you remain in my prayers. You are having a tough time. You are being lifted up by all of us who care for you as our sister in Christ.
Second, thank you for destigmatizing psychological therapy. Those of us who suffer from various mental challenges know how integral a therapist is as a guide toward mental health. Furter, we who know Christ eventually realize that the Lord is there with us, carrying us when we cannot walk on our own. I know he is with me in my sessions and tge work I do between. He weeps with me, raises my spirits and is my advocate when all seems black.
Christ never leaves us orphans. He performs miracles now by inspiring therapists and researchers to aid sufferers. He inspires/nudges us to seek help when our illness tells us the opposite. He alerts the rest of us that someone needs prayer, and for certain special persons like you, He empowers you to give words to your experience and speak for all of us. Thank you for answering His call.
Mark S.
Thank you for this Jennifer. and thanks also to the many who have left comments here.
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I have been struggling with the idea of going to a counselor/ therapist. Just last week, my conclusion has come to a head. This post is just more confirmation that it’s what I need to do.
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I’ve realized that even though I have dealt with my life struggles to the best of my ability, three years (out of the last six) of unemployment, a big break up with the man I thought I could marry, and the loss of my dad last summer have indeed taken a toll. It took realizing that I’ve gained weight on top of all that to understand the impact.
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Going further back, I never got help for dealing with my sister’s murder 27 years ago.
Then there’s the fact that I’ve had to grieve the loss of my fertility, knowing I will never have a baby or a family as I enter my 40s without a husband. You know, it’s a lot to deal with. Saying goodbye to my fertility was absolutely heart-crushing and has greatly tested my relationship with God.
I have sought spiritual counseling from my priest and that was a total bust.
It’s time to get real help - and a Catholic therapist is an absolute MUST.
Thank your for this encouragement.
Hi Jennifer:
God’s love and healing power is all one can need to be healthy. Yes, indeed. The trick is: God spreads its love and power through any mean HE chooses, right? Why to question Him if He gives you a therapist as a way of helping on this? I have been in therapy as well as two of my children, and one of the valuable things I appreciate the most is: the therapist is not involved in my problems, so they help me with an unbiased point of view. So it’s basically counting on a specialized friend you can go to “in difficult times”.
My only suggestion is to choose a therapist with a point of view the closest to christian as possible. In my personal experience, the “philosophy” behind the therapist’s school does makes a difference. After all, God designed us with all of our components and layers, and if some psychology school ignores any of them (e.g. the spiritual “layer”) then the “remedy” will be as well incomplete. Fortunately, I can see you found a pool of Catholic resources, but I hope this comment can help others on choosing a therapist. As for me, specifically, the closest to a christian point of view I have found is Logotherapy.
I hope this can be useful.
May God bless you.
Very well thought through, Mrs. Fulwiler, thanks for sharing. The pure intent will surely be blessed.I received help after a tragic accident from the book 21st Century Science and Health and thank God each day for the healing.
Someone asked about Stephen Ministry above. I’m in training to be a Stephen Minister and I wouldn’t call it a precursor to therapy. I find the program as written to be a little too anti-therapy in my opinion. For instance one of the training vinegettes included someone who in my opinion needed to be evaluated for clincial depression and/or physical problems that can mimic depression AND a Stephen Minster.
I view a Stephen Minister as a “desingated” listener who has some training in how not to say dumb things to those in turmoil. People are often expected to “get over things” so quickly that people may feel they are wearing out their welcome with their friends and family. Or their family is part of the trauma (like with the death of a family member) so they perhaps can’t be much help. A Stephen Minister is someone who has taken on that “job” so people feel more comfortable reaching out.
Also, the ability of well meaning people to say AWFUL things to people with out meaning to is huge. A coworker lost her husband in a freak lightening strike about a year ago and the things people say to her are unbelievable. Like trying to find a good side to her husband dying when she mentioned that she is enjoying walking the dogs more, which her husband used to do. I think its enough to make people stop talking. Good Stephen Ministers can be a buffer from that.
There is such strong research for the effects of trauma on the brain. I’m glad you found some therapy that’s been helpful for you, and appreciate you posting about how it can be a helpful aid to people’s wellness along with the spiritual life. And hey, I went to college with Jennifer Madere! She’s great.
Jen, I’ve been thinking about you and praying for you ever since I heard the news about the accident. I hope that therapy helps. I finally decided to go to therapy for some issues I was dealing with. Such a great thing! Especially Catholic therapy!
Jenna
callherhappy.com
That was a good post. It is something I can relate to. You are brave to be doing that, and brave to write about it too. Sometimes there is so much pressure to show the “perfect” side of ourselves to the world that we forget the imperfect side is so much of what makes us who we are. God bless you!
Good for you. I think that everyone can benefit from therapy, whether or not they feel that they have outstanding emotional “issues” that they need to work through. Therapy - with the right therapist- can give us the tools we need to live a more productive and healthy life.
I am a Vietnam War combat veteran who had a very difficult time emotionally and spiritually about six months into my tour as a medic. A cradle Catholic I had contemplated the priesthood before leaving college to enlist in the Army. I suffered from PTSD but at the time no one could figure out what was wrong. I lost my positive thoughts about God, felt abandoned and figured if God and others (including my parents) couldn’t help me, then I would just have to grin and bear it. I later became a Marine Officer in a combat arms specialty. I Worked hard and played harder, never realizing I was addicted to adrenaline and chaos. Though all this. I never gave up hope in God, but I pretty much gave up everything resembling Him in my life. To make a long story short I became a therapist. recently I attended a Level I training and through the workshop was able to process some childhood traumas that were similar to my war experience. The results were nothing short of amazing. I got “unstuck” from my negative thinking about God, started to remember and process the situation in a more realistic and relaxed manner. I would recommend EMDR but please go to a reputable therapist trained and supervised in this modality. If it is right for you, I pray your results are as fruitful as mine.
Pax Bonum!
Roger Duke
“ SPIRITUAL LIFE ”
Spiritual life is the only true life
Spiritual life is the only meaningful life
Spiritual life is the only satisfying life
* * *
What is a spiritual life?
A life full of selflessness…. is… spiritual life
A life full of goodness…. is…. Spiritual life
A life full of hard work…. is… spiritual life
A life full of humour…. is…. spiritual life
A life full of compassion…. is….spiritual life
A life full of one-ness…. is….spiritual life
A life full of friendship towards all…. is spiritual life
A life full of meditation…. is…. spiritual life
A life full of soul wisdom…. is…. Spiritual life
* * *
SPIRITUAL LIFE IS THE ONLY TRUE LIFE
SPIRITUAL LIFE IS THE ONLY MEANINGFUL LIFE
SPIRITUAL LIFE IS THE ONLY SATISFYING LIFE
- Brahmarshi Patriji
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