Is the way you think about emotional wellness antiquated?

To be a part of such a huge and tangible difference to a person’s emotional wellness and parenting journey is no small thing. Witnessing these kinds of transformation is magical, life changing and humbling all in one go. I am very lucky to have received feedback from most of the parents that I have worked with over the years. Not because I have asked for it, but because folk have felt compelled to share how good, how relieved, how free they feel, usually after just 1 or 2 sessions.

When I first started working in this way with people I was surprised with how effective the process was, and for a while I was able to feel a sense of puffed up pride in my therapeutic abilities. However, in honesty, the longer I worked using this process, I knew it was the process that was transformational, not me. 

I also began to understand that trauma symptoms precede more serious mental health issues and that, with the symptoms lifted, the other issues invariably were resolved quickly too. 

Sure enough, as I started sharing what I knew about trauma symptoms, how they occur and how they are healed naturally, with other birth professionals they began to share their amazing experiences too.

Now I believe much of what we previously thought about emotional health and wellness is very antiquated. The word ‘trauma’ for many is traumatising and conjures up images of horror untold. However I believe that the majority of birth trauma symptoms are akin to an injury that can be treated relatively easy. Please don’t think that because I say symptoms are easily treated that the person isn’t suffering terribly – they are – and this is why treatment needs to be more widely available from people who already understand the nuances of the perinatal life stage.

My friend, colleague and one of the first people to train with TBR 3 Step Rewind Rachel Weber, sums this up beautifully: 

‘In every profession there are levels of expertise. The way everyone stays safe is knowing their own scope of practice, their limitations, when to refer and what everyone else does so that they know who to refer to. It seems to me that if you include this in your training, especially when/if to refer, everyone stays safe. For example, in the medical profession, you have a tiered structure of workplace first aiders, pharmacists, health care assistants, nurses, paramedics, junior doctors, consultants and professors. No-one would suggest that someone should only ever be treated by a consultant. That would be a waste of resources. Similarly anyone who wants to can get trained in first aid can, and members of the public are being trained to use a defibrillator now. No-one is suggesting they shouldn’t because they are not doctors.’ 

The idea that it should only be psychotherapeutically trained professionals to support those suffering with trauma symptoms is thankfully becoming outdated. Thankfully there is a quiet revolution of people trained in how to lift the symptoms of trauma which left untreated can cause havoc in a person’s life.

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