Finding God in Trauma

One exercise I have been developing for helping abuse victims heal from trauma is developing a conversation with diety. I give the assignment for the client to write out what a conversation would look like. We then process how that conversation would feel. We then use this conversation as a way to anchor an alternative feeling to the abuse as a way to de-sensitize and help the client visualize another reality to the abuse.

This is an example one of my clients gave me permission to use:

I imagined that I had a conversation with the Father. He told me things would be hard down here. I nodded and said “I am Strong.” He told me that things would happen to me that I wouldn’t choose and that He wouldn’t choose for me, but that He wouldn’t intervene because of His plan. I told Him I trusted His plan and repeated, “I am Strong.” And “You can depend on me, Father.” He said the things I would see, He would be there for and He would send others. I told him I would watch for them and I would believe in Him. He said, “Others will want you to give up, they will teach you to hate me, that I am the source of your pain. You will want to believe them. The choice will be yours, but I believe in you. I believe you can live through it and heal through it.” I was confident and said, “I will be strong. You can trust me.” He said, “Others will cause you pain but I will place angels and sentinels to be by you.” I told him that I would watch for them. He told me that I would question His plan and His existence. I promised that I wouldn’t and He cried. He said, “Down there, earth there are people hurting my children. I see them and I hear their pleas. I need one, one to hold them, comfort them, and understand the abuse they’ve seen. You will hurt, but I will heal you. You will cry and I will send one to wipe your tears. You will heal, and then heal my other children. You will give them what I have given you."

I personally believe that healing from abuse happens in many stages and based on the client, spirituality can be one way to help the individual find peace.

Striving for Balance

My mind has been turned to the importance of having balance in life. It seems that during the past year, I have yearned to have balance in my life.  There have been a short few days, when I have felt totally balanced; it was an amazing feeling. Unfortunately, the balance scale is mostly off and I feel like I'm living in chaos. The state of balance is where the mind, body and spirit work together in concert and give the optimum performance. When thinking of balance I can't resist thinking about the old Chinese philosophies of Yin Yang, Dharma, and Qi (chee).Yin and Yang symbolizes that everything has an opposite. There is no light without darkness, there is no good without bad.  When the opposites in our life are balanced, then we will feel peace. Dharma is personal responsibility combined with one’s social, familial, or professional duty—all with the concept of equilibrium or balance in mind. When thinking about what is most important in our life, it is essential to consider our Dharma; our Dharma will lead the way to have balance.  In a healthy body, Qi (energy) is balanced and flows without any impedance. It is my goal to have perfect balance in my life, when family, work, health, and spirituality meet in the middle and chaos no longer fills my mind.  In my perfect world, balance looks like this: 8 hours of rest each night, feeling refreshed in the morning.  Thirty minutes of exercise that includes cardio, aerobic, and mindfulness activities. Adequate time with my children and spouse each day. A hard days work without feeling exhausted and having a sense of accomplishment. Connection with God through prayer and scripture study.  Service to my fellowmen that doesn't take away from other tasks.  A clean home, nutritious food during meal time, and lots of laughter.  Am I being too demanding to have all of these things in my life at the same time? Is it realistic to have perfect balance in an unbalanced world of greed and ego centrism?  Share your thoughts with us. Have you ever had balance in your life?