Client Journey: Jane
Why did you come for the EFT / intuitive healing session originally?
When we started our sessions I was working in a patient facing role on a rehab ward for the elderly as I wanted to do something meaningful. However, the impact of ward life and the patient contact affected me very quickly. I would walk around the ward bewildered, like a rabbit caught in the headlights in fear of its life. After a few months I was signed off with stress and anxiety. I had never experienced this level of anxiety before and I got really depressed. I already had a long history of depression and decades of being in and out of therapy but I’d been in a good place before I started this job. Now I was back there feeling completely and utterly lost. Nothing made sense to me anymore.
I felt like something was deeply wrong with me. I felt I didn’t fit in this world. I’d struggled most of my life and perhaps that’s how it would always be… Around Christmas time I started to think about all the efforts I’d made in my life to help myself. It just didn’t add up that I would be suffering like this. It was incredibly painful. I felt like I was on a pin head. Stuck and Lost. I just didn’t know what to do.
We knew each other but not that well so I didn't know about your work. When you heard my struggles you gently said that I sound highly sensitive and that’s potentially why I’ve had this reaction. You also talked to me about the effects of trauma on the nervous system. You suggested I read a book called The Highly Sensitive Person and there in black and white I read about me! I knew then that working with you was imperative.
What were the most powerful aspects of the sessions for you?
When we first worked together you used EFT to start clearing my past traumas and I couldn’t get over how the movie technique worked. One minute I’m seeing a traumatic experience on an imagined screen and 5-10 minutes later after tapping through the trauma the image on the screen has literally changed to something pleasant or it’s blurry or faded away. The intensity of the memory is no longer there, the heightened emotion has gone. Absolutely incredible and wonderful! Also, because I am new to working with intuitive healing I couldn’t believe how accurately you connected with events in my past and sensed my age and the people involved. You sensed how I felt even if I couldn’t remember myself, which is such powerful healing work.
How did you find the sessions with me?
I felt safe, held, heard, valued and cared for. You wanted me to get well and so you focused on your work to get me there. I don’t know what I would have done if our paths hadn't crossed when they did. I have spent a lot of my life questioning why I’m here and if I’m honest not wanting to be here. That’s changed now.
I am realising that the part of me that has caused me so much suffering is actually a gift to the world and in time I will learn how to present it. Knowing this inspires me and gives me something to hold on to when I have difficult moments or days. I’m on this journey and you’re a part of it, which is really very special and I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.
What was it like to work with me?
When I’ve shared traumatic experiences with you sometimes it was like you were there with me. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve felt someone understands exactly where I’ve been and why I’ve struggled so much. I could see you connect with my pain and feel it too.. I felt so seen… this instantly led to me trusting you.
I also like how direct you are… I could be talking away about something and you are picking up something else and you’re not afraid to interrupt me and say what you need to. This builds confidence in you and your work but also more than that… you remind me of the Dakinis in Buddhism and how they don’t mess about and cut to the truth. You are full of love and compassion and kindness.
In between sessions if you’ve thought of something that might help me you’ve emailed me to tell me. I feel so valued by your support and acts of kindness. You’re also funny, which I love!
Any surprises doing the work?
It’s ALL a surprise! You have introduced me to a whole new world… the world of the highly sensitive person, the world of intuitive healing, the world of light beings and past lives. I just seemed to have opened up to it all. There is so much beauty and wonder in your work. There is another way of experiencing the world that I didn’t know about.
I’ve trusted you, trusted your intuition and trusted my guides. My life to date left me feeling like I had nowhere to go anymore… I felt my back against a wall and so there was no choice but to go in this direction. It’s like I’m being pushed down this pathway. I don’t know if this makes sense.
How has it helped, how have you changed?
Returning to myself
Oh my goodness, everything is changing! I’m realising that your work is returning me to my young self before the weight of this and past life experiences took hold. It’s like being given a second chance. I have the opportunity now to be all the things I was meant to be. I can play in the sea, paint, be brave, be adventurous, love life and love people. I’m being set free. I can’t even find the words to wholly express my experience or the gratitude I feel towards you. What you’re doing is phenomenal. It's life changing. Friends and acquaintances who have seen me since have commentated that I look completely different, like I am a new person. They can see it in my being without knowing I have been in this process with you.
Reframing as a Highly sensitive (HSP)
I’ve always known that I’m sensitive and perhaps a bit more than most people but I didn’t know how sensitive I am. I didn’t know being highly sensitive was a thing and that meant I experienced things differently to most people, which also meant I needed to manage and approach things differently. This knowledge alone has changed my self-perception.
Whenever I have struggled emotionally and mentally I would berate and criticise myself. Now I can look back and understand that perhaps I wasn’t always depressed, I was actually overwhelmed by a situation or person because of my sensitivity. From here on I can use my sensitivity to guide me and help me set helpful boundaries. Learning I’m an HSP is enabling me to reframe my experiences and open up to a new way of living in the world. I see my sensitivity as a gift and I need to be tender and loving towards this part of myself.
Blog learning
I have learnt so much from our sessions and your blogs. I take notes in our sessions and when I read your blogs. All the suggestions you’ve offered me I’ve tried. I‘m fascinated and eager to learn all there is to know about your work. I’ve also heeded your words and listened to my body and sometimes done nothing. Very gradually over the course of the last 9 months there has been change.
True self compassion as a HSP
As a Buddhist we have a meditation practice called loving kindness and in the first stage we hold ourselves with loving kindness. Practitioners talk about the importance of self-compassion a lot. So over the years I’ve been consistently embarking on compassionate-type roles and then wondering why I burn out or have severe reactions, as I did in my recent job.
But now for the first time in my life I feel genuine warmth towards myself and I know it will continue to grow. I can sit with myself, smile, feel happy and excited about the future. None of this was possible before because I was weighed down by the past. My meditation practice has never really changed over the years but now I know why. It was because I needed help to clear past trauma and understand the sensitive part of me more deeply.
Intuition
I’ve never explored my intuition before but now I’m really open to learning more and everyday I try to connect with my guides (work in progress). By learning to listen to my guides and intuition I believe I will understand what my deeper needs are and how I need to look after myself. In doing so I can create a more aligned future.
For example, on two occasions recently when I’ve been struggling I heard a voice telling me to paint. But I am not a ‘painter’. Both times I got out my paints and messed about with them. Then I felt my nervous system begin to settle. I am now on a watercolour course to learn how to use them and during each class my heart space feels more open.
Connecting to nature
My connection to nature and the outdoors has changed since working with you. I can sense the energising effect it has on me and if I don’t get out into nature I start to feel unsettled in myself. I’m learning that nature is where I need to be to rejuvenate, as well as experience joy.
I’m doing new things like going for a swim in the sea on my own, cooking outdoors and camping on my own. Each time I can feel joy in my heart. This is something I need to keep doing… it actually feels like nature is calling me. Who knows where it’ll lead.
What would you tell someone curious about having sessions with me?
Just try it! If you can be open to the experience, you can be set free. I’m confident everyone would benefit from having sessions even if it’s to clear past trauma. If you want to develop your intuition or are curious about channelling or angels or anything other worldly then this is a safe space to explore all this.
Since starting this journey I’ve met people who have experiences of connecting with guides but don’t feel confident about developing it so I tell them about you. I tell them about your blogs, which are really accessible, informative and encouraging. It’s truly exciting to be on this journey and I just want to share that with others.
Talk therapy Reflection
Also this therapy is very different to the talking therapies I've experienced over the last 30 years. I thought I was at peace with my past and unaffected by it but what I wasn't aware of is how trauma affects the nervous system. The energetic effect of these experiences have been unknowingly informing my relationship with the world.
The truth is I've been living from a fear state most of my life but I've been able to hide it incredibly well. I can get a sense of this when I look back at old photos and remember how I actually felt... it's like being in a permanently startled state. EFT and intuitive healing has altered my experiences by softening or clearing them so I can start reconnecting with the world from a safer place.
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