When a traumatic event occurs, it may have such a severe impact upon the victim that it is easier to hide the event from conscious awareness.
When this happens we say that the event has been repressed. The reason why this happens is that the memories associated with the event are too painful to deal with.
In some cases, the trauma may be due to an act perpetrated by someone close, a loved one for example, and to continue to operate as normal as possible, the victim opts to bury the trauma rather than run the risk of creating more trauma by exposing the perpetrator. This is invariably the case in sexual molestation by a family member or a friend of the family.
The fact that the victim may no longer be able to recall the traumatic event, does not mean that it does not affect their well-being. This is what I mean when I say: “Your biography becomes your biology.” Often ‘things’ happen in our lives that form part of the ‘story’ of our life. These ‘stories’ cause us to make decisions and take action that can be very limiting. So instead of living peaceful, loving, and joyous lives we create lives filled with fear, anxiety, and doubt. This is aggravated by the fact that most people often have no clue what the cause of the negative emotions that grip them is. They are unaware of the fact that it is the negative emotional content that they have repressed that is behind their discomfort and physical pain.
Multiple trips to the physician and a variety of prescription medications bring no relief and eventually the doctor gives up hope and the final diagnosis is handed down: “There is no apparent physical cause for your disease. There is no further treatment I can offer at this time. The only logical conclusion is that your condition is psychosomatic.”
This normally leaves the patient in a state of shock leading to the following questions: “What does this mean? Psychosomatic? Am I imagining my illness? Am I going mad?… Nobody believes me.
On the other hand, the condition could be the result of a malady that is regarded as ‘valid’ by doctors such as cancer, a stomach ulcer, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), etc.
If such is the case pharmaceutical drugs will be prescribed as a sole option of treatment.
Remember the same intelligence that heals a cut or a broken bone, will work ‘in your favour’ to force you to heal emotionally by manifesting some or other dis-ease.
Remember, you are body, mind, and soul. If you neglect one it will be at the cost of the other. Recent scientific studies have revealed that unresolved trauma results in physical illness. Emotional dis-ease can trigger physical dis-ease.
To create wellness, it is necessary to integrate the body, mind, and soul.
There is a very definite and clear link between these three ‘parts’ and overall wellness.
With Cognitive Dissonance Therapy, we take you on a journey through the body to find the emotional source of your discomfort. Once we find this source we can create a state that allows the body and mind to release the trauma, and bring about catharsis which in turn creates the ideal environment for healing to take place.
As is the case with all our modalities, the focus of our treatments is not on the details of what happened to you, but on the emotional consequences of what happened to you. It is about the decisions you made because of the traumatic event. Remember there is no one to blame for these decisions, you merely did the best you could with the knowledge you had at the time. We are only interested in the emotional state that was created at the time and how this impacts certain thought patterns that created limiting beliefs which negatively influence your life and inevitably lead to dis-ease.