Ghosts From Your Past Following You?
I remember when ghosts (past traumatic experiences), followed me, but now I live in hope and happiness
by Katie Winn-Gooch
A few weeks ago, as I was finishing up an EMDR session with a client, she grabbed my hand and whispered,
“I’m sorry you have to share this with me.”
We had just finished a particularly difficult session, with lots of the sordid details. We often try to push these details away, hoping they will never return. The problem is, they always do, one way or another.
A few days later, on a triple date with dear friends, someone mentioned how difficult it is, the work I do. How they would never want to sit there, in the middle of it, while someone works on healing from immense pain, fear, and angst.
Shortly after that comment, we went into a suspenseful and rather frightening movie. One of my friends, an old roommate, and a colleague knew how much I enjoyed scary movies in the past. (I will clarify, scary and suspenseful are very different than evil, sad or unfinished, in my book).
She joked about how I don’t get scared easily. She knows me well enough to know I’ve had one nightmare in my life, patterned after a Twilight Zone episode I’d seen earlier in the day when I was 8 years old.
And while I have had unsettling dreams in the past, even one recently where I was mauled by a bear, the response is almost always more of annoyance, rather than anxiety or fear.
Even with the bear, I kept thinking, I don’t have time for this, I have somewhere I need to be.
Trauma Therapy is My Calling
It was while I was sitting in this movie that I realized, this is exactly what makes me fit for doing therapy. The ability to move through things, confidently knowing there is an end; so, I don’t have to fear.
It can be difficult to watch, to listen to others as they struggle, as flashes from a traumatic past pop up and then sometimes almost immediately disappear.
I don’t like knowing my clients are hurting but I can be calm knowing that this process, EMDR, will help them heal.
I’ve seen it so many times now, that I can confidently know that there is a way to help them, to ease their angst, is what allows me to sit with them.
It is also what allows me to remember that what they are bringing up is in the past, they are safe now and it is my job to do all I can to help them recognize and perceive the difference between now and then.
It can be hard because I do care. I do not enjoy watching them hurt; however, I know there is something we can do about it. Hope is an amazing thing!
Past Ghosts Following You?
If you have ghosts from your past that follow you. It could be through nightmares, triggers or other symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety and more. These are not normal and you should not accept them as such.
At the very least, there are ways to reduce your symptoms, to get back to normal, or for some, to find out what normal is.
Love yourself enough to find a guide who can take you there. You deserve to be free, happy and to feel constant hope. At least that’s how I feel.
I do remember a time where other ghosts, ones that don’t show up on TV, followed me around but now I live my life in hope and happiness. It is possible for you to do the same.
You are worth it.