Hi

I went to the cousellor's yesterday and she tried an imagery technique on me. I dont normally believe in things like this but I'll give anything a go. Whilst it didnt sort me out (still so far to go) it really did make me feel a bit better about myself. I felt so relieved afterwards. Havent felt that relieved in goodness knows how long.

She told me to imagine my trauma as a stain, a sticky stain on my body. So I imagined it as black tar. She talked through what happened during the trauma and told me to think about each thing that happened. This was very upsetting to say the least.

Then she told me to imagine myself peeling the tar stain out of my body and roll it up into a ball. I was still very doubtful that this would help and just thought "Well, I'll play along". Then I had to put it on a bonfire and light the fire. The tar then melted and eventually melted and burnt until all that was left was ashes. That took a long time and I just thought "This is never going to work or burn so we'll just move on". I burried the ashes deep in the ground, in the centre of the earth.

Then she asked me to imagine that I was feeling better, more light hearted (I struggled with this bit and thought "Like its that easy") and that I was running through a beautiful meadow with the birds singing and the sunshine bright on my face.

She said to look at myself and see what a lighter and better person I was now - again this didnt work. So I imagined an angel and that the angel came and sat on me and became part of me. That really did help. It actually felt like I did have some good in me. I'm not saying that I think I'm an angel or anything, far from it, just that i can see a bit more of the goodness inside of me. Up untill now I have only seen badness in me.

Whilst I know that this sounds like complete mumbo jumbo it did help. Keep an open mind and you can be very surprised. I was and I'm going to try it again and again and again. The more I try it the better my self image should get.

Imagery does work, it is just another method and an individual one at that. Like all methods, some work better than others, it is trial and error to find what works for you. Well done.

I'm glad you found something that worked for you! Being willing to try new techniques and approaches can help us make great strides.

I did some different kind of imagery work with my counsellor after pooh-poohing it for weeks. It turned out to make me feel much more in control and safe in the present, enough so that I could deal with other aspects of the trauma that had been too much for me to address before.

I'm pleased that taking this risk turned out so well for you!

I did something similar with my therapist. It was very hard and yet at the same time so healing. We did healing my inner child of one of my flashbacks. At the end of the session I was in tears. They were tears of shedding the old crap, and bringing in the love for that small child.

I am so glad that it worked for you too. It really is an awesome experience to go through.

Well done. I think imagery work helps me a lot. Like you say, you need to play along though. If you are closed off to these kind of ideas then you'll never know if they can help or not. Well done for going with it.

REM treatment is good to - desensitises you to the triggers and trauma. If imagery worked, you may want to see if there is someone nearby that can provide NLP or REM treatment, giving you a short recording to go through each day to help solve the problem.

This is fantastic news. your beginning to open up to possibilities shows tremendous progress as well, it shows you have developed positive determination. You're on track, that is wonderful!

Mightsurvive... tha's terrific. Tnx for sharing the imagery technique, i'm going to try it. You're making a difference!