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Waken Your Spirit - Trauma and Spirit Recovery Counseling
Anna
She was 29, living in Idaho. When she contacted me she had just returned from a visit to an allopathic (conventional) oncologist. He had just given her a death sentence of one year and a diagnosis of stage four cervical cancer. She also reported that her boyfriend of several years (for whom she wore an intrauterine device - IUD) was in the military and had just been transferred to eastern Europe and she was not invited. He was leaving within a few days. She indcated that she had experienced sexual abuse by a male stranger in her parents home (when she was a child) and only escaped with the assistance of her older brother who was gay and struggling with his own issues. Her parents now lived in the same city but were separated and not communicative. She had just lost her job in real estate due to her absences for medical reasons and had moved out of her own apartment and into a shared unit with a woman friend. She had no funds and was utterly exhausted and deeply frightened. She spent our first hour online talking, crying, confused, and essentially needed crisis intervention.
We spent several sessions sorting everything out and prioitizing her thoughts and possible actions. Ofcourse her cancer diagnosis was highest on the list. We discussed the possibilty of alternative healing methods for cancer treatment. Ultimately, she chose the radiation and chemotherapy. Then she moved in with her mother. She asked for financial assistance from other family and friends and worked through treatments as prescribed. During this period of several months she worked on developing a spiritual approach to her life and now including her death. She offered support and love to other women with cervical cancer and healing relationships within her family. These were her choices. She died one year to the day after her diagnosis and her appearance was radiant at the time of her peaceful passing.
Gary
Gary was 62 when he contacted me. I was aware that his beloved wife of 45 years was dying with cancer which was incurable following chemotherapy. When we first spoke, after she died, he seemed calm but within a few minutes it was clear his loss was immense and he was beside himself with grief. He said he felt suicidal, totally without purpose, completely alone and with no idea how he would go on. She had cooked for him all those years and he thought he would starve without her. His adult children were suffering and arguments were breaking out among them all and seemed to be without resolution. He was able to cry for the first time. I cried with him and waited. Gary is intelligent and educated. He decided to read books on grief and loss , and to get more sleep and meditation time. He began to consider that grief is a time of possible rest and restructuring. He decided to focus more on nutrition and how he would care for himself. These efforts helped release his pain. We spoke weekly for a short period while he began to recover. A spiritual person all his life, he questioned how he would continue on alone without his loved one/partner.
Then he had an amazing experience. He received messages from his deceased wife. (This is not uncommon in most religious/spiritual practices after the loss of a loved one.) He wrote everything he heard from her in a journal, along with his own thoughts. Eventually, he felt confident that he would be united with her again after his own passing. He reported other unusual happenings that convinced him that he could communicate with her, although less and less as time passed. Six months later he was working, feeling well, and deeply appreciative of his relationship with his wife and the wonderful life they had experienced together. He also began working on healing the relationships with his adult children and benefits from the peace found there. He says he still feels the loss deeply from time to time but knows how to deal with it, is no longer depressed, and often expresses gratitiude and joy for his life.