Memories never fade, they are hard-wired in our minds

There are few things I like talking about more than about reducing stress through the narrative discourse using the first person viewpoint, first, because of the results second, because, once a client has done it, it is almost like starting to write on a clean slate. I would say that doing this work is "a return to life". It is a wonderful way to clean up the past and reach levels of joy and fulfilment never reached before. 

What makes humans suffer? On a spiritual level, it is said that we choose our parents and circumstances, but in real life, who does? Everyday, children are beaten; many experience neglect and forms of violence.

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL 
The light at the end of the tunnel is always available to the individual willing to travel through it-what shows up is about the past, about unresolved issues and events and emotions.

                              The light at the end of the tunnel is available

To revise for changes in your life
When you revise decisions taken before the age of six;

When you hurt and you share your pain;
When you face up to situations, even those of the past;

When you aim to make changes in your life, etc.

The influence of the past on your brain functions

The influence of the past on brain functions proves that it is bestowed with memory. As proof, when an individual encounters an event which triggers an emotional response, when circumstances provide a similar situation, an image forms in his mind to stimulate a "fightor flight" reaction. Chances are that if the previous event is not resolved, the emotional response will be the same as the initial one. (read on to the "intimidation" story down below)

Perception is an interpretation

Between the image provided by the mind now and what happened at the beginning, the difference is never total because our perception is an interpretation, an acknowledgement that sets up our memory, especially with regard to our affectivity.

To uncover decisions taken as a child

When there are traumatic memories, the "emotional life story" is used to synthesize the sequences in an event. Because of its narrative content, the material becomes more bearable and then the tools of tunnel therapy are employed to uncover any decision, any long lasting affects, any unresolved issues and emotions.

Our habits and our memories influence our choices

We all know that any emotional charge will prevent anyone to be objective. It is normal to see through our habits and our memories. The only reason a memory comes back is because there is an emotional charge; even body zones will give sensations when the individual is confronted to images from the past.

A flashback

A while back, a client with a history of foster placements, had a particular experience. A development contractor built a wall overlooking her backyard and she had a severe breakdown that brought her into therapy. At the beginning, she had a lot of trouble identifying what she felt and she experienced confusion and distress. Her body was stuck into a reaction and multiple flashbacks of being tied to a chair and locked into a dark garage as a punishment emerged.

In spite of, or maybe because she had a university education, she had problems with the inner turmoil she daily pushed back, trying to forget the past rather than facing up to it head on. Her body was showing signs of incredible stress-related discomforts: back aches, headaches to full-fledged migraines and crohn's disease. Most images related to past events form in youth. In the case of my client, they were forgotten but they reappeared as they were just fixed temporarily out of reach, until needed.

It is impossible to control flashbacks

The real problem lies with the uncontrollable flashbacks. A young man had learned in the school yard that when "intimidated", it was better to let it happen than to tell, because the director and the teachers all said he was attracting such treatment. It was only once he became an adult and left college that life became safe again, but after several suicide attempts, he still had flashbacks of those trying times.

There is talk of a pill that would eliminate memories

Contrary to popular belief, it would not be useful not to be able to access these memories because then, we would be likely to encounter the same situations and not remembering, we would have to relive it without an inkling of what to do to avoid it or to fix it. That would clearly be counterproductive. There are many aspects learned in an event.

Can you imagine, if after learning to open a door, you needed to relearn it everytime? It is the same with the content of trauma. One needs to be aware of the lesson learned to deal with future events. It is the emotional content that needs to be neutralized.

Learn "safe bounderies"

When the "reminiscences" linked to memories are a possibility to learn "safe boundaries", we can say the individual is guided by his good instincts. In his case, there never were safe boundaries. This faculty, so helpful to adapt to new situations similar to ones in his youth, were severely lacking in this young person. Revising this part of his life was a real trial for him but he wanted to develop a strong core and he did.

Our instinctive, emotional life is complicated by our emotional needs 

In the animal kingdom, nature is marvelously adequate. If the surrenal glands are removed on a rat, it will lead to modification of the blood's mineral balance. And when you present pure water and salted water to the rat, he will choose the salted water, thereby avoiding death. It knows nothing of endocrinology, but his blood will sensitize his hypothalamus so that, instinctively, it will make the choice of salted water as opposed to pure water.

Our instinctive, emotional life is complicated by our emotional needs and what we choose: because we have freedom of will, from birthing practices to choosing life partners, we often make a choice based on complex needs that have nothing to do with what is good for us. That is reason enough to do a therapy to CLEAN up our acts and choose better without waiting until we are old and wise enough to choose differently.

WISDOM IS HARD TO COME BY FOR ANYONE THAT HAS A PAST FILLED WITH PAIN AND BAD MEMORIES.

Message from Lorraine Loranger

Our fast-moving modern lives prevent us from following our natural rhythm. Based on hyperactivity, competition, and will, we hold in contempt our fatigue and stress. As we go beyond, producing efforts upon efforts, we buck up, we hang on, we persist and end up...exhausted.

Let us say that I have a philosophy for doing the work I do and the way I do it. Accounts of significant events in the life of the narrator have a plot, which is less often chronological and more often arranged according to a principle determined by the nature of the help the person needs. It is non-conventional: narration in the sense that it is used here deals with time, description, as well as context. 

Thank you for your continuous support making sure education touches all your contacts.