Case of a First Responder
Andy was having a normal day at his job as an EMT. He and his partner, the driver, had picked up a woman in need of their services, and after doing what they could for her in the ambulance, started toward a medical facility. She was secured. Andy was not. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the ambulance began to spin and then rolled over, sending Andy flying with it. Someone had run a stop sign and hit the rear end of the ambulance. Andy and the driver suffered numerous physical injuries. The patient was not so lucky. She died.
But Andy’s physical injuries were the least of his worries. He started having severe nightmares and could not sleep. Small things would bring him to tears. He was irritable. And he felt afraid all the time. He could not pass the intersection where the accident happened. He found himself making long detours around it. He did not want to go back to the fire station where he had worked. The thought of getting into an ambulance again was absolutely overwhelming. His physical injuries were healing, but his emotional ones seemed to be getting worse. He was afraid he would not be able to go back to a job he had loved.
Two months after the accident, Andy came in for Gentle Reprocessing™. A neighbor had tried it and thought it might help him. He was skeptical. He had been seeing a psychotherapist and did not see much improvement. Although, it was nice to have someone to talk to. It was decided that he would continue with his present therapist as support, while he tried this new approach to therapy. After taking a thorough history, the new therapist started working with Andy to release the strong feelings, especially of terror, that he had about The Accident. The therapist explained, once these emotions were gone, his brain would be able to process what happened to him and the event would not bother him anymore. Andy and the therapist identified numerous targets, such as passing the intersection where The Accident took place, and then, using guided imagery, releasing each emotion, one at a time. This process was used for all the targets they had identified.
After three sessions, Andy started to look and feel better. He walked into the therapy office standing straighter and with brighter eyes. He reported the crying had all but stopped. As more targets were processed, he was sleeping better, without nightmares. He was able to pass by the accident site without being triggered. Eventually, he found he could be comfortable entering an ambulance. After 2 1/1 months of Gentle Reprocessing, Andy is looking forward to getting back to work.
Case of a Vietnam Veteran
Bill was in his late 50s and had served in Vietnam in combat situations. He had been heavily into drugs and alcohol when he returned but had been clean and sober for about three years when he sought psychotherapy. He was very active in Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. He came to therapy suffering from such severe nightmares that he would keep himself up for several nights in a row until he was so exhausted he would fall into a dreamless sleep. He was constantly plagued by flashbacks from the war and childhood, which contained abandonment issues and sexual abuse. He was easily startled, hitting the dirt if a helicopter passed overhead or a car backfired. He was also very angry, getting into fights if someone looked at him in a way he didn’t like. He reported feeling very guilty about the people he had to kill and reacted strongly to anyone who looked Asian.
After taking a thorough history, Bill was treated with Internal Gentle Reprocessing to help him let go of the old emotions that were connected to traumas in his past. Both his childhood memories and his war memories were treated. He responded well to this process. Within about six months, he reported he was no longer having nightmares. The flashbacks and startle reflex had also disappeared. He was no longer hyper-vigiliant. His guilt was gone. He did not react to Asian faces anymore. But, what surprised him the most was he no longer felt angry all the time. Situations that would normally have ended in a fight, did not escalate. He felt much calmer.
Case of Extreme Anxiety
Joe was in his mid-twenties when he sought therapy. He reported being anxious for as long as he could remember, but the anxiety had now taken over his life. He had managed to make it through college and make some good friends before the anxiety became too overwhelming. When he came into therapy, he was spending all of his time in his dark bedroom at his mother’s house, drinking, using drugs, and surfing the web to ward off the anxiety. The only time he went out was to go to a low-paying, low-stress job. He had lost weight due to not wanting to eat and was not sleeping well, with frequent nightmares. He was on some anti-anxiety medications, but they did not seem to be helping him much.
A thorough history unveiled some minor traumas, but nothing that seemed to be the cause of his high level of anxiety. Internal Gentle Reprocessing was used to release these traumas and Joe reported feeling somewhat better, but not great. It was noted in history that his mother was extremely anxious and overprotective. The client was asked to ask his mother if she was nervous during his pregnancy. Joe was the oldest child. She reported she was anxious, so Gentle Reprocessing with inner child work was used to help Joe release the anxiety he took on from his mother before he was born. Following this session, Joe improved rapidly.
The anxiety all but disappeared. He took a trip by himself to an Asian country to visit a friend. He cleaned up his room. He stopped using drugs and alcohol and spending so much time on the computer. He no longer needed the anti-anxiety drugs. He reported feeling good about himself and more confident. He was sleeping and eating better. He applied for a job in his field and got it. Joe was in therapy for four months. A year later, Joe reported that he had moved out of his mother’s house and was living across the country. He had gone back to school to get his master’s in his field of study. He continues to report that the anxiety is gone.
Case of an Attacked Nurse
Sara was a petite woman in her mid-forties who was attacked from behind, at her job as a nurse, one night. She had no prior history of therapy and had been a productive member of society up until this event. She did have a history of severe emotional, physical and sexual abuse, which she had dealt with alone. Following the attack, she became increasingly withdrawn, depressed, and unable to function normally. She became unable to leave the house alone or be in public places alone. She could not sleep due to frequent nightmares. She had regular panic attacks and general anxiety. She had symptoms of severe depression and social anxiety. She cried constantly. Sara was on numerous medications for her symptoms.
Sara had been seeing a therapist for talk therapy three times a week for six months. Both Sara and the talk therapist did not see much progress during this time and the therapist suggested she try Gentle Reprocessing. After taking a thorough history, a list was made of each traumatic event Sara could remember in her life. Over sixteen sessions these events were released with Internal Gentle Reprocessing. Sara continued to see her primary therapist during these sessions. After four months, most of the symptoms were gone or nearly gone. She was able to leave the house alone and no longer had trouble being alone in public. She was sleeping well with no nightmares. The panic attacks appeared to be gone. There were no signs of depression or anxiety. She had stopped crying. She was well on her way to being drug-free. And she no longer was seeing her primary therapist. Sara, three years later is now working full-time as a nurse again and enjoying her life.
Case of Sexual Abuse by a Babysitter
Josh was a five-year-old when his mother brought him into therapy. She reported that his behavior was out of control. He would get into physical fights with her and his friends. He swore constantly, refused to sleep in his bedroom, had nightmares, drew pictures of the family dying in a fire, and was generally angry all the time. When his mother first brought him into therapy, he refused to enter the therapy office. By the next visit, he was willing to enter the office but insisted his mother stay with him. During the third visit, the mother reported that she found out he had been sexually abused by a babysitter who had threatened to burn his house down and everyone in it if he told anyone. Josh was then treated with External Gentle Reprocessing to help him release his fear and anger. Following that treatment, the mother reported he no longer fought with everyone, he was sleeping better, he had stopped drawing fire pictures and the swearing had stopped. He did not seem angry anymore. She had her little boy back. Shortly after the mother reported this progress, she felt he no longer needed therapy.
Case as Reported by a Client
My name is Laurie and I recently attended one year of therapy with Ginger at her office in Brockton, MA who happened to be trained in Gentle Reprocessing. I had not heard of Gentle Reprocessing prior to seeing Ginger, but had sought therapy several different times in my life (talk-based therapies) but with little positive effect. There are no words to describe how the past year has impacted my life, which I attribute to both Ginger and Gentle Reprocessing.
My story may be typical in that I was raised in an alcoholic home (father), was the victim of abuse from an uncle and the janitor while in 2nd grade, and was an “adult” from an extremely young age. My mother couldn’t afford college, so I went on active duty in the Army in order to get the college fund at 17 and was unaware that I was being sent to a combat engineer battalion that was part of the Army’s plan to initiate women into combat units. Needless to say, the environment was extremely harsh in every way imaginable! At 21, I put myself through college, graduated with honors, and assisted my siblings as well. I was the positive, healthy, example who was “responsible” for taking care of myself and the family. I’ve had amazing jobs; traveled all over the world; found the most amazing partner, and gave birth to a healthy set of twins on my 40th birthday. I considered myself relatively happy, successful in what is important to me in life, and very lucky.
Why then was part of me so wounded? The techniques I had always used to survive as a child was not working well for me as an adult. If there was a way I could have “fixed” my issues, I would have found a way. I assessed my life carefully, came up with interventions to work on, did my research on adult children, the fallout of abuse, PTSD, etc… I am 46 years old and have been trying to help myself from childhood. I knew I was deeply flawed, desperately needed new tools in my tool kit and persistently sought ways to help myself on my own and through therapy. I could not find a way to help myself in the way I needed help. I was physically/spiritually/mentally exhausted.
Then came Ginger! We used Gentle Reprocessing and I started to shift. I am so grateful my path crossed with this intelligent therapist and this intelligent technique.
NOTE: Images included on this page are to represent emotions and the transition to the relief experienced through Gentle Reprocessing. They are not pictures of the persons referenced in the case examples. They are models.
