Thank you. I take a deep breath and feel the relief of once more having more of the fuller me engaged. I think again towards Mama Bear, Thank you.
The last few days have been pretty miserable for me. Even once I managed to get out of the most intense phase of wishing that my grandfather had killed me, I was still largely stuck in a child state that thought that I was in immediate danger. Reaching out to those I generally get the most support from felt dangerous. The thought of feeling loved frightened me. Inside I was convinced that I would always be under my grandfather’s control.
I could just barely recognize that these thoughts were not rational and not reflective of my here and now reality, but try as I might, I simply could not break free of them. I was able to go through the motions of doing what I needed to do with my family, but I wasn’t really here, in 2014, with the two people I love most in the world.
For whatever reason, my insides were convinced that I should cancel my next appointment with Mama Bear and preferably end therapy all together. I could recognize that I was isolating myself in a self destructive way, but it was like I was watching myself acting out and I couldn’t do anything to stop myself.
This morning, Mama Bear e-mailed me to ask how I was doing and I told her a bit. We exchanged a few short e-mails and in her last one, she ended with, “Remember that talking with me for a few minutes is one of your options.” We have talked about how I can call her when I need to and she has encouraged me to call more often, but inside I just don’t feel comfortable with doing so. I may desperately want to. I may know that what would help me more than anything would be to hear her voice and reassure my insides that I am not alone, but at the same time it feels like if I ever rely on her being there, that will guarantee that she won’t be.
However, her invitation started me thinking and after a few hours, I realized that I simply was making no progress on present orienting myself. On the other hand, if I could find the courage to reach out to her and talk to her, there was a chance that I might be able to break out of the trap that I was in.
The few minutes turned into over a half of an hour. At first, I was so confused that I kept on getting caught and having trouble talking. At some point, she asked me something, and another part must have been triggered out because she suddenly couldn’t understand what I was saying. We went through 3 or 4 minutes of her asking me to repeat myself over and over. I tried talking louder, more clearly, directly into the phone, but whatever was coming out of my mouth just wasn’t intelligible to her. I kept on ending up frozen in fear and then, finally, it penetrated that it just might be safe for me to talk to her- nothing bad was happening other than my being triggered. I finally was able to start to connect and with that connection, I could start to notice that nothing terrible was threatening me at that moment. Thank goodness, I was able to start to shift how I was perceiving the world around me.
We talked about how at that point, nothing that I did felt soothing, but I could still go through the motions of soothing actions and at some level they would start to help at some point. It might take quite some time before I actually started to feel safe, but keeping on focusing on the here and now would help me eventually realize that I was not being tortured today, but that was a memory that was decades old.
After we talked, Mama Bear and I connected a few more times today. She texted about needing to shift an appointment at the end of the month and after we settled that, I let her know that I was continuing to feel progressively a bit better. Her response was heart warming for me, “Oh, glad you have a little relief!” The parts of me that had become so terribly frighten of being connected started to relax and remember that Mama Bear and I have an established relationship that is based on genuine caring.
This evening, I was thinking a bit over what happened, and I could feel those young parts wanting to reach out to her and reassure myself that she really was there. My first reaction was to feel silly, because I had already had contact today. My second reaction was to decide to give those parts of me whatever they want, if it might help me work past this disruption. The sooner I can at least re-establish my relationship with Mama Bear as feeling solid and safe, the better for me.
I wrote to her, “I’m just reaching out for a, “yes, I am here.” The younger parts of me that have been so upset over the last few days are considering that it just might be safe to want for people to be there. So I am reaching my hand out for a virtual hand squeeze.”
Her response: “Always, a virtual hand to hold, C. And, Wednesday, a real one.”
What a huge sense of relief! I haven’t had everything that came up over the last several days be magically resolved, but at least I feel as though I have a safe base to work from again. I was able to use that safe base to then share a memory by e-mail that I needed to share. I think that this memory holds the keys to some dynamics that make it difficult for me to feel free from my grandfather. And I am pretty sure that it was underlying a lot of what I suffered through this weekend.
Confronting these profoundly traumatizing memories and the lingering emotional memories that they evoke almost always seems to stress and threaten to break apart my connections with those I need the most. I am just grateful that Mama Bear understands the dynamics so she remains patient and that somewhere in there I have a part that keeps on moving back towards connection, even when the rest of me is fighting it. That connection/ support/ love is going to be what gets me through dealing with the most horrific trauma.
Thank you, Mama Bear for being there and caring so deeply about me.
I’m so glad that you’re feeling some relief and that you have mamma bear. 🙂
Me, too! Today, it’s almost like someone flipped a switch and I am back to functioning like I was a week/week and a half ago. Other than feeling worn down, that is.
That’s great. I can see why you’d feel worn down. It’s very hard work that you’re doing!
I’m so pleased you found this connection again – I can really understand this. Much love and hugs to you xxx
Thank you, Mariann! Dealing with the hard stuff is bad enough, but it’s far worse to deal with it while in self enforced isolation because connection has become far too frightening.
It does seem that connection is what helps heal trauma. That’s what went missing at the time. It’s a hard lesson for me to learn – I want to be able to tough it out on my own.
So glad there is a little light for you again.
It is frustrating, because very often the times when I most need the connection are those times when I am most triggered and am most frightened of connecting. At least I am learning to reach out more quickly when I am in that place and push my way past all of those internal messages that are meant to keep me in isolation.
I hope that you continue to take in more and more connection and whatever else you need in order to continue to heal…
I’m glad you have a safe support system, long may it continue.
I can’t tell you how much this line and fear rings to to me: it feels like if I ever rely on her being there, that will guarantee that she won’t be.
I try and fail. a lot.
Thank you, I am extremely grateful that I have a good support system, even if I have troubles using it.
Until I wrote that line, I wasn’t aware how strongly I feel that way. I intellectually know that Mama Bear has been very consistent for me. She may not be able to be available at that minute, but she always gets back to me fairly quickly. For whatever reason, she is willing and able to make the commitment to be there for me outside of session, as well as in session. But the thought of letting down my guard and relying on her being there feels impossible right now. I need to talk with her about this, because it is also being played out in my marriage and other relationships.
I hope that both of us slowly become more successful…