Let me clarify a few things here before we get started.
First off, this is all my "opinion" and and based on that, I want to share some "advice" here.
There are two things you need to understand about opinions and advice.
1)
Opinions are like assholes, EVERYONE has one.
And
2)
Advice is worth exactly what you pay for it, and any advice I am giving you here is free.
Let that sink in before you continue.
As a therapist, just like with a doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist or any other professional, the reason people come to us seeking help is, they see us as a "Subject matter expert" and thus, they trust us. Face it, they would not be talking to us about their problem, were it not for the fact they believe us to be a subject matter expert and can therefore help them. No?
That places a VERY heavy burden of responsibility on us!
When we say something, they take it as gospel. So, when we tell them things like, "You need to go through your traumatic experience, until it loses it's power." They believe that going through it again and again is the way to fix the problems they came to us for.
Just like when A doctor tells a cancer patient "this pill will make you feel better", they believe it.
I give you the placebo effect as exhibit one, to clarify the effects of their belief in the doctor as the expert.
I deal with the most powerful mechanism of change in the human experience, the human mind.
My chosen way of doing that is through direct communication with that part of the mind which is responsible for all changes in our lives. Stopping a bad habit, getting rid of negative reactions, increasing their motivation, helping them find happiness, the list is as long as the totality of the human experience. The mind controls the body, therefore, this is where I go when someone asks for help.
Now then, I am going to concentrate here, on this page, on just one issue. You would call it "PTSD" or "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," because it has to have a common label. But you can extrapolate this out to cover any issue being worked on, by any of the professionals listed above. The principal always applies!
I call it PTSI, or Post Traumatic Stress Injury.
Because the common label of "disorder" is damaging to the person seeking help for the issue.
Why would I say such an outrageous thing?
Lets start with the label. Post "Traumatic Stress 'DISORDER.'" What is a "Disorder?"
Mirriam Webster defines it like this:
disorder verb
dis·or·der | \ (ˌ)dis-ˈȯr-dər , (ˌ)diz-\
disordered; disordering; disorders
Definition of disorder (Entry 1 of 2)
transitive verb
1 : to disturb the order of
2 : to disturb the regular or normal functions of
disorder noun
Definition of disorder (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : lack of order
clothes in disorder
2 : breach of the peace or public order
troubled times marked by social disorders
3 : an abnormal physical or mental condition
a liver disorder
a personality disorder
Let us consider for a moment, Entry 2 number 3.
Number 3 :
an abnormal physical or mental condition a liver disorder a personality disorder."
As my doctor at the V.A. PTSD treatment center in Seattle Washington told me years ago:
"PTSD is just a natural reaction, to unnatural circumstances."
In which case, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD is in fact NOT a "disorder!"
However, when the person suffering from this malady hears the subject matter expert refer to it as such, it has some effects.
First, it labels them as abnormal. Then, it strips away hope. It then makes them feel that something is wrong with THEM!
If the issue is a natural reaction, then how can it be abnormal? We just hung a millstone around their neck!
The answer is, it cannot be and is not abnormal. If it is abnormal, then why has it been around under different names for the entire time mankind has walked the earth? "Soldiers heart," "Shell shock," "Combat fatigue" are some of the names that have been used through history to describe the exact same issue. Now we have given it the really slick acronym of "PTSD."
When we tell the client they have a "disorder," we automatically lock them into a no win situation. We have told them, they are NOT normal! And to humans, that's devastating!
But, if we tell them they have an "injury?" Well, injuries heal right? Maybe not perfectly, but they do heal. there is hope. They recognize they have some rehab coming, but there IS hope for them.