In The Beginning....

n approximately 2006 I had memories, while in hypnotherapy, that took me back to my pre-natal existence. Because my body knew intimately the wounds, the reactions, the beliefs of a traumatic prenatal experience, I was able to connect gently to those wounds, to those very moments when my body 'turned away' from the stress and anxiety, the fear happening to my mother. ( See my previous blog "Survival Tools That Don't Work" )

Based on the work I was able to do through Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy - which I facilitate and teach - I was able to heal and transform those traumatic experiences into manageable memories. To re-do, or re-set my bodily reactions and thoughts in order to make significant changes in my life.

So now, as a therapist, I ask of clients: what happened to you in the beginning? Tell me the story of what was happening to your Mom/Dad/Partners before you were born? What do you know, or hunch, or what have you heard about this period of time? I am curious to know how your Mom might have taken care of herself, how the family felt about your birth? And what about your actual birth: again, what is the story? I also ask about possible intergenerational transmission of grief, betrayal, anxiety, stress, addictions? 

And although I ask about early childhood experiences, recently I have become interested again in the ACES body of work. ACES stands for the adverse childhood experiences study, undertaken originally in the 1970's. At that time professionals were beginning to wonder about the connection between adult illness/diseases/emotional issues and early childhood trauma. Hence, ACES. To read more go to: acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/

So here is another facet of 'In The Beginning'. If clients take the quiz and find out their score, the next step is to use Heart-Centered Hypnotherapy to heal and transform those wounded and vulnerable places. To draw on the resilience that has kept them alive, the resilience that has helped them steer a course and then turn for help to self-correct that course.

It is important for the client to know and experience, gently and carefully, what was true in the beginning. To know that they did nothing wrong, that they are not wrong or bad, but rather that whatever their experiences, they did their very best - in a child's experience - to survive. It is important for clients to put into 'context' what they intuit or experience in their bodies. To gently and carefully re-parent that little one with allies standing by, healthy and loving resources. To help them acknowledge their resilience, courage, strength and will to live! To give voice and emotion to those places that hurt and felt wounded. And to transform the experiences, slowly and carefully. 

So...in the beginning is, to me, only that: a beginning. What is important is what is the 'rest of the story'.

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