Article: Healing the child within – Case studies on addressing the impact of childhood trauma – Trivedi G. & R. et al. – Is.34

Healing the child within – Case studies on addressing the impact of childhood trauma

Gunjan Y Trivedi*, Riri G Trivedi, Vipasha Naik, Ruhi Pabari, Hemalatha Ramani, Meenakshi Nair, Kokilashree Vickneswaran, Neha Pandya

*Corresponding author: [email protected]

 Society for Energy & Emotions, Wellness Space,
Ahmedabad, India.

Abstract: These case studies evolved between the Indian summers of 2022 and 2024 and were part of the project – “Effectiveness of Healing the child within” techniques for well-being.  The case studies involved additional assessments of childhood trauma inventory (using Adverse Childhood Experience – 16 questions) and PTSD assessment.  The approach, consistent with the project objectives (improving well-being & sleep quality, lowering depression & anxiety), explored qualitative insights by several therapists, along with quantitative assessments.  Several therapists across 4 locations (India-three locations and Japan) contributed to these case studies using the “healing the child within” process. Each case study represents a major presenting problem followed by therapeutic journey that included qualitative and quantitative assessments, and outcome as highlighted by different therapist using same structure (Release Reframe Toolkit – Release from the body, Reframe in the mind). The focus was on key issues during childhood (current life) using the ACE16 questionnaire framework. The findings provide valuable perspective on the effectiveness of “Healing the child within” methodology for addressing the footprint of trauma in urban India population.

Keywords:

Childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), inner child (IC) integration therapy, depression, anxiety, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

 

Abbreviations:

IC (Inner Child), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), The SEE Protocol (The protocol for self-hypnosis developed by the Society for Energy & Emotions-SEE, Wellness Space), GAD-Generalized Anxiety Disorder, MDI-Major Depression Inventory, ISI-Insomnia Severity Index, WHO-5-Who Wellbeing Index), PTSD-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

 

Case Study 1: Parental Trauma

Background: Avni is a teenage student and entrepreneur who lives with her sister.

Presenting problem: She joined the consultation with severe anxiety and depression and poor overall well-being. She also reported to have hallucinations, anxiety attacks, sleep paralysis, and suicidal attempts.

History

Avni grew up in a violent family environment with no emotional support. Her father was an alcohol addict (Alcoholic family member), and there were frequent episodes of physical abuse and domestic violence against her mother. In one of the instances, her father hit her mother so hard that she needed medical intervention often, while under the influence of alcohol, her father had previously been physically violent towards her mother (Witnessing domestic violence). To make matters worse her father struggled with depression (father’s mental health). In the circumstances, her mother also struggled with her mental health (mother’s mental health).

Consequently, Avni’s mother was unable to focus on Avni’s emotional needs. As a result, Avni was completely neglected as a child and felt abandoned. (Emotional neglect). She shared, “I was parenting them”(Parentification). She felt obligated to look after her parents as they were emotionally incapable of taking care of even themselves and forgot about Avni.

In early years of childhood, Avni faced sexual abuse when she was inappropriately touched by a stranger (Sexual Abuse). She also reported that when she was five years old, her parents started having sex in front of her.

During her teenage years, she faced discrimination because of her skin complexion. She was name-called and bullied by her friends. She shared “I feel so scared to trust anyone. I just hate people.” (Bullying & Isolation).

She was in an abusive relationship when she was in 10th grade and started smoking to be accepted by her boyfriend. “I always wanted a safe space”. She associates her current relationship with her safe space but feels emotionally dependent on her boyfriend and experiences a strong fear of abandonment.

She shares a great bond with her pet and experiences a sense of guilt as well as separation anxiety whenever she must travel somewhere without her pet dog. “I am such a mean person. I am so selfish”. She also shares a good relationship with her sister but fears losing her as well. (Abandonment issues)

She also reported having social anxiety and she would sweat and get anxious in front of people.

Impact

“I feel like my parents made the biggest mistake by giving birth to me. I want to kill myself”. She feels extremely angry yet helpless about her parents and stated, “I sometimes feel like I want to murder the whole family!” She has made several suicidal attempts to date and engages in self-harm.

As a result of all of this, the major issues experienced by Avni are anxiety, fear of abandonment, neglect, loneliness and Parentification. As a result, she struggles with issues of anger, low self-esteem, perfectionism, and helplessness.

 

The journey through interventions

Initially, Avni was taught emotional freedom techniques, which in moments of anxiety she could use as an emotional first aid. Avni was also screened for suicidal behaviour, after which she was recommended a visit with a psychiatrist. Then, through diagnostic guided imagery, her future best self was identified, which helped set the goals of therapy. The inner child technique was used to work on the guilt and fears that she frequently experienced due to father’s violent behaviour towards her mother. In the Inner Child session, she regressed into womb memories of fear and hurt due to father’s violence. A bubble visualisation was used to anchor safety Inner child work on the specific fear of abandonment.

As the client preferred only offline sessions, we were able to have 2-3 sessions per month, whenever she was in the city. The therapist was also connected with her through chats and audio messages, ensuring that she was practising the tools and having no suicidal tendencies. Being a very logical client, she always wanted to talk and release in the sessions as she felt she never had anyone to listen to her. So, in these sessions a safe space was created for sharing and using verbal/emotional bridges. The therapist helped her to recognise the IC who was having these emotions/thoughts. Several interventions were done including inner child work, EFT, etc as part of the therapy. As a result of these sessions, she became more self-aware in her daily life, improving her self-talk and using the tools to make herself feel safe.

Some guided imagery techniques were also used for working on the labels she had used for herself. By using these techniques, Avni showed progress. Twelve sessions over six months showed significant improvement in Avni’s scores, as highlighted in the table below.

The indicators of mental health over the six-month period that Avni was in therapy, that is – Well-being, Anxiety, Depression & Insomnia have all shown significant improvement.

Table 1: Mental Health Parameters Case 1)

Sessions WHO-5 wellbeing index (>=52 desired) GAD (anxiety, <=9 desired) MDI (depressive mood, <=19 desired) ISI (sleep quality, <=9 desired)
Initial 12 20 49 17
After 4 sessions 40 12 27 12
After 8 sessions 44 6 21 8
After 12 sessions 64 7 11 9

 

Keywords: Physical Abuse, Emotional Neglect, Sexual Abuse, Bullying, Loneliness, Separation Anxiety, Inner Child Work, Anxiety, Depression, Suicidal Attempt, Sleep Paralysis, Self-Harm, Parentification, social anxiety

 

Case Study 2: Infidelity

Background: Pallavi is a healthcare professional who is in her early 30s. She lives with her husband and children. She and her husband live in two different cities.

Presenting Problem: Upon joining the consultation, Pallavi was found to have severe sleep disturbances and poor overall well-being. Her chief complaint was that she feels stuck, and she is not able to get over her husband’s infidelity. At the same time, she wishes to work on their marriage. She also has episodes of violent behaviour towards her children, and she wanted to work on that as well.

History

Pallavi is the eldest of four siblings. She shared that her mother had a tough delivery during her birth. During childhood, her mother was very critical, had high expectations of her and had a perfectionistic nature. She felt neglected by her mother and shared, “my mother never had time for me.” (Emotional Neglect) Her father was very strict and angry and everybody in the family was scared of him. He would hit her sometimes (Physical Abuse). She was very fearful of him. Once, her father saw her in the company of some unsavoury company. Her fear of her father’s reaction to this led her to having a seizure. She probably got involved with some rebellious boys to rebel against the strict culture at home. She witnessed frequent fights between her parents at home (Parental Conflicts). Pallavi shared that her relationship with her father became quite friendly after she turned 18, but she still holds anger towards her mother for not having any time for her or any emotional bond while growing up.

In her early teens, Pallavi moved to a new school where she found it very difficult to adjust to the new and competitive culture. Her father was living away from them due to work, and Pallavi found out that he had an extramarital affair. At the age of twenty-one, she got into college but felt very guilty as her parents had to pay a donation to get her a seat. During those years, she was in a serious relationship and wanted to get married to a boy, but the boy’s mother did not approve of it. As a result, she went through a painful breakup and started drinking. “This cannot be! We were supposed to get married.” “He will always be my first husband. Whoever I will marry will be my second husband.” “I don’t feel beautiful. I have never felt beautiful.” Boys would reject her for marriage because she was not fair enough.

In her early 30s, she married a boy she had known since high school. Very soon after their marriage, her husband was found to be in a sexual relationship with his ex. He gaslighted her by denying this for many years.

Impact

These events were quite traumatic for Pallavi, and she was diagnosed with adjustment disorder. She took medications for the disorder. Despite being emotionally disturbed by her husband’s infidelity, and having witnessed her own father’s infidelity, Pallavi wanted to work on her marriage. Having a perfectionist and critical mother, and a father who hit her sometimes, she never felt good enough. This led to her developing low self-esteem which has carried on into adulthood. She is verbally abusive towards her children and hits them sometimes, as she experienced the same as a child. The most debilitating emotion faced by Pallavi was neglect and loneliness, which led to a recurrent feeling of constant “helplessness”. Pallavi also experienced an inferiority complex. The emotions associated with the same were despair, anger and sadness.

The journey through interventions

Pallavi’s sessions started with emotions of helplessness and despair that she had regarding her first relationship to address this we did Relationship Drama with her ex-boyfriend and a voice dialogue with her parents. In the session she was encouraged to release all unprocessed body charge, unexpressed emotions and all anger and helplessness that she was holding on to, due to that relationship. She was encouraged to voice out all the unexpressed expressions towards her ex-boyfriend and parents. At first, work was done to release this energy from Pallavi’s body with respect to her parents and then reframe the same with more positive emotions.

The next few sessions we did parts work on her angry part and hurt part. The angry part was protecting the part that was hurt and vulnerable. The adult self was used to understand and heal the angry part with words ‘I will always be there for you’. There was some regression work done to understand how the angry part was created and what events had caused it to grow and get reinforced. All those events were addressed using Inner Child work. The angry part and the hurt part were healed by the adult self. A kind part was identified, and she decided she needed to nurture and grow that part of her personality. She also got insights into how she can now handle her power struggles with husband and mother. We also used Relationship Drama technique to heal her block with her mother and to help her complete her grief process with her grandmother who she lost as a child. Grief work with grandmother was done by using Inner Child method

Her trauma events were identified and then the emotions associated with the same were used as a bridge to do Inner Child healing. Inner Child Healing work was mainly done on the inferiority complex, lack of self-confidence, especially related to her complexion, and anger towards her parents, hurt and rejection from her mother. Inner child work was also done on her deep-rooted contempt towards people and a need to always excel or come first in everything. She regressed into childhood experiences of being sent to school by her father to give exams, with a high fever, the constant nagging and taunting by parents if she didn’t do well in school etc. We also worked on her Inner child part that was fiercely competitive (coping structure created out of the belief that “I am not good enough”, “I have to make my parents proud”, “Coming 2nd in class is NOT an option”). The competitiveness was to escape from toxic shame and dissatisfaction that was created by her emotionally abusive and critical mother and father. She reframed the entire timeline with ‘I am enough’ feeling that would help her be relaxed and calm.

During the therapy sessions she was taught EFT, SEE protocol for self-hypnosis and LPM (Life Priority Matrix) for her to practise self-care between therapy sessions. We used Empty chair work to help her understand her husband’s perspective in their relationship and to identify the blockage that they both were stuck in.

After fourteen therapy sessions, Pallavi started showing progress which was evident through her scores which are highlighted in the table below.  Overall, the interventions for Pallavi included (a) Inner Child Integration Technique, (b) Relationship Drama, (c) Hypnotherapy related techniques, (d) Parts integration, (e) Coaching – especially for comparison that led to inferiority complex (and low self-esteem). (f) Empty chair and Perceptual Positioning

Table 2 – Mental Health Parameters (Case 2)

Sessions WHO-5 wellbeing index (>=52 desired) GAD (anxiety, <=9 desired) MDI (depressive mood, <=19 desired) ISI (sleep quality, <=9 desired)
Initial Scores 48 12 20 9
After 4 sessions 36 12 15 23
After 8 sessions 48 11 23 18
After 14 sessions 72 5 5 8

For Pallavi, all the indicators of mental health parameters that are- Well-being, Anxiety, Depression & Insomnia have shown significant improvement over her 14 sessions.

Keywords: Emotional Neglect, Physical Abuse, Parental Conflicts, Inferiority Complex, Inner Child Healing.

 

Case Study 3: Parental Trauma

Background: Sushmita is an entrepreneur in her mid ’30s.  She is single and lives alone.

Presenting Problem: Sushmita was found to have poor overall well-being, moderate anxiety, severe depression and moderate insomnia scores. She also had a high childhood adversity score and high trauma scores because of some key traumatic events like sexual abuse, mother’s mental illness, and father’s mood swings. Sushmita also has a history of suicide attempts. Weight issues, low self- esteem and low self- confidence and people’s judgements were her main concerns for seeking help.

History As a child, Sushmita was a topper in school. Her mother suffered from severe mental health issues (details excluded) because of which she was emotionally absent and incapable of taking care of Sushmita. (Mother’s mental illness) Sushmita was emotionally neglected during her childhood as her father had a transferable job. As a result, he lived away from home. Hence, she was mostly on her own and had to take on responsibilities from a young age. (Emotional Neglect) She has two younger siblings, one of them held resentment towards Sushmita for being over-protective and aggressive towards her.

Sushmita’s father was bisexual.  Her parents were trying to have a boy child. In Sushmita’s words, “My father never accepted my feminine side”. Sushmita shares that her father was violent at home towards her mother (Witnessing domestic violence) and physically abusive towards her sister and her (Physical Abuse & Violent family environment). However, he gave both his daughters the freedom to be themselves.

Sushmita’s mother was a former winner of a beauty pageant, and her father too was a good-looking man. But she felt inferior about her looks. She shares, “But I was dark and ugly”.

When Sushmita was four years old, she was raped by her grandfather (Sexual Abuse). With sadness and guilt in her voice, she shared that she also used to molest children when she was between the ages of 8-14 (Flashing and inappropriate touching).

In her early teenage years, she kept unsavoury company and started bunking classes. Eventually, her grades at school started to fall. Once, a teacher commented about her social status, which left her feeling insulted.

She has been through a toxic and abusive relationship where she used to lie and cheat, which led to break up. In her 20s, she had abortions.

Impact: Overall, Sushmita grew up with low confidence.

  • During adolescent years, she started developing body image issues.
  • In her mid-teen years, she made a suicide attempt and currently gets suicidal thoughts very frequently.
  • Has been on psychiatric medications from her teenage to 24 years of age.
  • She was also diagnosed with PCOD in her late twenties.
  • Struggles with emotional eating, especially too much sugar.
  • Was addicted to porn and smoking.
  • Has made many irrational decisions and has a fear of losing control of life.
  • Is afraid of trusting people.
  • Was physically and verbally abusive towards family members.
  • Had frequent nightmares.

The journey through interventions

We started her sessions with Diagnostic Guided Imagery using hypnotherapy where she was encouraged to see her healed future self – her most empowered self. This imagery is what we also ask the clients to use in their SEE self-hypnosis protocol. From the second session onwards, we did Inner Child integration work starting with fear and helplessness and healed several childhood events related to these emotions. Imagery of releasing it all in black balloons was used along with anchoring. The next few sessions were all Inner Child work including rape by grandfather and her emotions of feeling angry and controlled. In all the sessions body charge was released using body work and disempowering inner child decision was identified and resolved with the adult wisdom.

She felt these sessions were ground-breaking for her and after 4 sessions her scores on all parameters improved – well-being improved to 52 and anxiety, depression and insomnia scores also reduced. The Inner Child sessions also worked on her physical abuse incidents and episodes where she had abused others as a young girl. We continued working on toxic shame, anger and sadness coming from childhood experiences with her mother.

After eight sessions Sushmita’s scores continued to remain stable on all parameters.  More Inner Child work was done on her guilt for molesting other children. Inner Child work was also continued for her suicide attempt episode, for her trust issues and belief systems around shame, confidence and self-esteem. The journey of Inner Child work for her was full of new realisations, awareness about some dysfunctional beliefs and coping structures she had created (such as numbing/zoning out whenever in shock and fear) she had created and healing those.  These emotions were an integral part of her childhood in incidents such as being closed in a water tank by schizophrenic mom, accompanying mother to a mental hospital as and in adulthood such as multiple brutal beating by ex-BF multiple times.

After inner child and trauma work, she was also taught EFT technique for self-management of her emotions and Life Priority Matrix exercise was also done for her to get clarity on areas of her life where she needs to focus.

Parts work exercise was done between protector part vs carefree part, lazy vs driven part and people pleasing vs calm / balanced parts and price-payoffs for each part was understood. The conflict was resolved using guided imagery where she visually balanced both parts to reach a more functional state. Parts work process turned out to be very helpful for her weight issue and smoking addiction.  Relationship dialogue was used to resolve unexpressed emotions and blocked anger towards ex-boyfriend and father.

In every session there was tie back and future pacing done, with anchoring so that Sushmita was left feeling positive. In a few sessions we had to contain the unhealed inner child part in safe space only to visit later and heal it – when it became too heavy or overwhelming for the client

The last three sessions were mainly counselling and coaching. Sushmita reported dramatic change in fitness levels and emotional eating was gone. She was doing EFT regularly. Smoking was also reduced, and procrastination was almost gone. She reported following during her last session:

“Much calmer and listen to the message being conveyed”

“Becoming pragmatic Become more resilient, got a path, got a goal,”

“Doing more meditation- peaceful and calm”

“Able to understand father’s perspective, good relationship”

“My therapist has had a significant impact on my life, both in terms of the way I think about and approach my problems, and in terms of my overall sense of well-being.

One of the things that stands out is her ability to help me view and analyse life in a more constructive way. This is an important skill for anyone to have, as it can help one develop a more positive outlook and find solutions to problems more easily. She has been able to teach me this skill through a combination of practical advice, thoughtful questions, and insightful observations.

Another key quality of hers is her empathy. It allows her to truly understand and connect with me, thus creating a safe and supportive environment for me to explore my thoughts and feelings without any judgment or fear.

She is also very pragmatic, which is an important trait as it can help ensure that therapy is effective and goal oriented. She focuses on practical steps I can take to improve my life, ensuring that I make tangible progress toward my goals.

Overall, my therapist has been a pivotal figure in helping me get my priorities in order. By teaching me how to view and analyse life more effectively, by being empathetic and pragmatic in her approach, she has helped me grow and develop in several different ways. It’s great to have had such a positive experience with my therapist, and I would recommend her to anyone who wishes to embark on a journey of self-improvement with her.”

Inner child healing processes and parts work were used to work on the feelings of anger, shame, helplessness, fear, low confidence, low self-esteem, self-doubt, lack of judgement, fear of failure and body image issues. Inner child processes were mainly done on index trauma events (sexual abuse, witnessing her mother in a mental hospital and taking responsibility of the house and siblings at a young age).

Keywords: Trauma, Childhood Adversity, Sexual Abuse, Weight Issues, Low self-esteem, Low self-confidence, Suicide Attempt, Emotional Neglect, Body Image Issues, Physical Abuse, Emotional Eating, Inner Child Healing, Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia.

 

Table 3 – Mental Health Parameters (case 3)

Session WHO-5 wellbeing index (>=52 desired) GAD (anxiety, <=9 desired) MDI (depressive mood, <=19 desired) ISI (sleep quality, <=9 desired)
Initial 36 14 41 18
After 4 sessions 52 5 18 12
After 8 sessions 52 6 24 10
After 12 sessions 60 8 21 11
After 16 sessions 48 9 16 4
After 20 sessions 52 7 21 2
After 24 sessions 40 7 15 8
After 28 sessions 44 7 17 4
After 32 sessions 68 5 7 4

She continued for >30 intensive therapy sessions, and her overall well-being showed major improvement. Her anxiety, depression and insomnia scores also reduced significantly, and her trauma diagnosis was negative.

Case Study 4: Childhood trauma

Background: Sahil is in his late 30’s and lives with his wife and his young daughter.

Presenting Problem: Upon joining the consultation, he was found to have poor well-being, moderate anxiety and depression scores, and subthreshold insomnia. He had a history of suicide attempt and high childhood adversity.

History: Growing up, Sahil had a physically as well as emotionally unstable childhood. His father had a transferable job, so they kept moving across India till Sahil was around 16 years old. Then they moved to a foreign country.

Sahil grew up in a violent family environment where he saw frequent fights between his parents (Parental Conflicts) and witnessed his mother being hit by his father (Witnessing domestic violence). His father used to gamble at casinos and was an alcoholic (Problem drinker in family). He shared that he had heard of an incident where his father tried to kill himself with an old gun when Sahil was very young.

He faced physical and verbal abuse from both his parents. He described his father as very rough and strict. Sharing a few incidents about this, he said that once his father slapped him at the airport in front of everyone, and in another instance, he slapped him in front of his friends (Physical Abuse). He was also constantly criticised and belittled (Emotional Abuse). From as far back as Sahil can remember, he has been an obedient child, to please his parents.

Moreover, he felt that his younger brother was always given more attention, and Sahil was constantly compared with him. He felt highly emotionally neglected throughout his entire childhood till now. He also felt that he was never a priority and only his brother was important to his parents. “I felt unwanted. No one was there to take care of me”, shared Sahil (Emotional Neglect). He was also bullied by his younger brother (Bullying) and made to feel lonely and rejected by the peer group as well (Isolation). Presently, he is not on talking terms with his younger brother.

At the age of 8 or 9, Sahil attempted to kill himself by swallowing insecticide.

He moved abroad to pursue studies at the age of 19. That was a period of struggle for him as his father lost his job and he was left on his own to survive without any money or support from home. He had to prioritise earning money for the family over his own education and finance his brother’s education (Financial Constraints). He felt completely stuck and exhausted during these years. During this time, he also went through his first heartbreak, which left him feeling helpless and angry.

After several years he moved back to India. At this time, he found out that his father was not his biological father.  Not knowing about his biological parents was a major shock for him. (Details are modified to protect the identity)

Sahil got married in his early thirties against his parent’s wishes. His parents do not share a cordial relationship with his wife. Sahil shares a good relationship with his wife but sometimes it becomes strained. He has erectile dysfunction and that also affects his relationship with his wife. Once, he cut his wrist after an argument with his wife (self-harm).

In his mid-thirties, Sahil felt extremely hurt and rejected by his mother and brother. They stated that they wanted to live separately, and their actions conveyed that they didn’t want to keep contact with him. Once when Sahil decided to confront them, his mother did not open the gate of the house even though he kept waiting outside for a few hours. This was extremely painful for him.

Sahil’s father died when Sahil was in his late 30s. Unfortunately, soon after father’s death, his mother passed away.

Impact: Sahil started drinking alcohol after the death of his parents. He has active suicidal thoughts, makes emotionally driven irrational decisions, and sometimes throws and breaks things in anger. He also has had nightmares in the past and woke up in the middle of the night. After initial sessions that addressed the trauma, he also presented with functional impairment. In his words, “I used to be scared and stopped doing anything. I became very alert and would procrastinate over everything”. The trauma assessment indicated the presence of complex trauma, that usually includes severe functional impairment or disturbance in self-organisation.

The journey through interventions:

The therapist took Sahil through Inner Child healing processes, relationship drama and grief work to heal the various unresolved negative emotions and beliefs he had as a result of so many traumatic experiences in his life. The Inner Child work was done mainly on the aspects of not feeling loved, feeling lonely, fear of father, and fear of making decisions. After nine therapy sessions, his overall well-being improved tremendously, with his anxiety, depression and insomnia scores going quite low.

His sessions started with learning self-regulation techniques – EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and SEE protocol for self-hypnosis. The first therapy session was a Relationship Dialogue with his late mother. He had lots of regrets “Why didn’t I speak to her?”, Anger “Why didn’t she take care of herself?” and sadness about the way she passed away. He also carried a lot of hurt, pain and rejection from her behaviour towards him while she was alive. A light trance was induced using Progressive Muscle Relaxation and he was asked to visualise a safe space where he could have a dialogue with his mother. He was encouraged to speak to her and vent out all his unexpressed anger, sadness and betrayed feelings. He punched on the pillow releasing all the suppressed anger that he had held in his body for so long. He also experienced betrayal by her which he experienced in his stomach. He was encouraged to release all his negative emotions from the mind and body using imagery and body work followed by anchoring a neutral calm energy using blue light imagery. This was followed by future pacing anchoring a calm neutral feeling each time he would think of his late mother, see her picture or mention her in his conversations.

The next session onwards we started working on Inner Child Integration work – we worked on two childhood incidents involving self-doubt, being judged and not feeling loved. In the subsequent sessions we continued with Age Regression and Inner Child work for his childhood incidents related to loneliness, anger and sadness. Between the therapy sessions, Guided Visualization for Confidence anchoring was also used. We also did Relationship Dialogue for Grief work with his father who he was not very close to, as a child, and was carrying a lot of anger and fear over him. The negative emotions were released, and a peaceful feeling was anchored using guided imagery and bodywork. We continued working on his Inner Child incidents related to Neglect, Fear and physical abuse that were affecting his self-esteem and it included voiced dialogue of the young Sahil with the father. We continued with more Inner Child integration therapy work on Fear of Father that affected his decision-making, and it also affected his relationship with his wife. The therapy concluded with a counselling session once the client reported he was doing well and did not feel the need to continue his sessions anymore.

Table 4: Mental Health Parameters (case 4)

Session WHO-5 wellbeing index (>=52 desired) GAD (anxiety, <=9 desired) MDI (depressive mood, <=19 desired) ISI (sleep quality, <=9 desired)
Initial 28 11 27 14
After 4 sessions 64 6 12 7
After 9 sessions 56 6 11 8

 

For Sahil, all the indicators of mental health parameters that is- Well-being, Anxiety, Depression & Insomnia showed significant improvement after nine sessions.

Keywords: Suicide Attempt, Childhood Adversity, Violent Family Environment, Parental Conflicts, Emotional Neglect, Self-Harm, Bullying, Loneliness, Physical Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Inner Child Healing, Suicidal Thoughts, Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, sexual dysfunction.

 

Case Study 5: Sexual Abuse

 

Background: Rinky is a single woman in her early 30’s, who is an IT professional. She joined the consultation with poor wellbeing, severe anxiety, severe depression and moderate insomnia.

Presenting Problems: Her reasons for taking therapy were low confidence, running away from challenges and confrontations, inability to form deep lasting friendships, trust issues in relationships, feeling confused and burnt out professionally, fear of intimacy, fear of failure, compulsive need to outshine and outperform

History: Rinky’s childhood & family life were extremely traumatic. She was raised by very critical parents who frequently hit her. She also witnessed violence & fights between her parents. She was a very good student & always tried to keep her parents happy. Despite that, she was compared to others & criticised for not doing better. Rinky has a younger brother who she is very protective about. But she often felt neglected during childhood as she felt that her brother was loved more than her.

At the age of 16, Rinky’s family shifted to a new city. It was a difficult move as she experienced culture shock & lost her old friends. She also felt inferior at her new school due to the complex academics. Moreover, she had stopped dancing as her father did not want her to continue.

In her early twenties, she was in an abusive relationship involving frequent verbal fights. She shared, “I kept going back to him. He reminded me of my dad.”  At 25 years of age, she moved to a different city for work. Here, one of her colleagues sexually abused her. This event had a major impact on her; she was diagnosed with PTSD after this incident.

Soon after, she got to know about her brother’s suicide attempt, which has made her even more protective towards him. A few months later, her father had a brain stroke & was under coma for 2 months. These events were quite disturbing for her & PTSD assessment was done for this as well.

Impact: Having been a witness to frequent fights and violence, she has developed a phobia of loud noises, and her heartbeat increases when she hears someone talking loudly or fighting. Also, she developed body image issues and low esteem about herself. Rinky also developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms due to the event of sexual abuse.

The journey through interventions:

The therapist took Rinky through various intervention processes including Inner Child work, relationship drama, parts work and counselling. Inner child work was done to release anger and sadness. It was also done to release the trauma of sexual abuse and beliefs related to the same. Her phobia of sound was dealt with by using Inner Child work. Relationship drama was done to release pent up emotions with respect to her mother and father.

We started her sessions with Diagnostic Guided Imagery which involved going into a light hypnotic state, visualising her future self and determining what needs to happen for her to reach her future self. This was helpful in ascertaining her therapy goals. Inner Child Work was done on her 5–6-year-old self to release the anger & sadness she was holding on to; those emotions were replaced with the feelings of courage & confidence. In the next session, she was taught a self-regulation technique called Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) which she could practise on her own and would help her manage her emotions outside the therapy sessions. As her parents had been a major source of her trauma, we asked her to release all the suppressed emotions related to them using Relationship Drama. This technique was done in two separate sessions, one with the father & one with the mother. More deep sessions were done using Inner Child Work for the sexual abuse event which had caused PTSD. Inner Child Work was also done for the hypersensitivity she had developed for noises as a result of a chaotic childhood. For the inferiority that she had developed as a result of her experiences, she also underwent a session which included Parts Work to work on her insecure part. Towards the end of her course of therapy, she was also taught a self-hypnosis protocol developed by the Society of Energy & Emotions, which involved self-regulation as well as future visualisation.

After undergoing therapy sessions, her well-being, insomnia, anxiety & depression scores improved significantly.

 Table 5 – Case study 5 journey

Session WHO-5 wellbeing index (>=52 desired) GAD (anxiety, <=9 desired) MDI (depressive mood, <=19 desired) ISI (sleep quality, <=9 desired)
Initial 44 16 40 19
After 4 sessions 44 16 39 23
After 8 sessions 56 5 16 5

 

For Rinky, all the indicators of mental health parameters that are- Well-being, Anxiety, Depression & Insomnia have shown significant improvement after 8 sessions.

Keywords: Violent Family Environment, Sexual Abuse, Relationship Issues, Phobia, Low Confidence, Low Self-Esteem, Body Image Issues, Inner Child Healing, Anxiety

 

Case Study 6: Marital Trauma

Background: Leela is a middle-aged College lecturer who lives with her husband.

Presenting problem: She joined the consultation with severe anxiety (GAD=7) and severe depression (MDI=31) and severe sleep issues (ISI=11). She was extremely traumatised as she came to know that her husband was cheating on her with their maid.  She reported hypertension, hand tremors and panic attacks caused due to her stress. Her Adverse Childhood experiences were assessed as high (8).

History: Leela was given away in adoption by her birth parents when she was just six months old. She was adopted by her maternal uncle as he had just lost his daughter. Her maternal aunt was not consulted for the decision, and she was not fully convinced with the adoption. Though her maternal uncle was very supportive and loving, Leela feels her aunt accepted her only after many years. Her relatives would often comment that Leela’s parents gave her away because they could not afford to keep her. That made her very angry. Leela deeply feels sad that her mother gave her away so easily (Emotional Neglect) and always had the feeling that she was not wanted (Rejection/Loneliness)

Leela’s birth parents were financially poor and had many other children. Leela got a lot of toys and dresses from her adoptive parents and that made her birth siblings jealous of her. She often got beat by her brother (Physical Abuse) and he accused her of being stubborn (Emotional Abuse). Her birth father would often insult her and put her down too (Emotional Abuse).

Her birth father abused her sexually a few times when she was 14 and that left a deep scar in Leela (Sexual Abuse). She was also sexually abused by another person a couple of times.

She often had the fear of being left alone, more so after her adoptive parents had a son and the attention she got reduced. The day her grandparent passed away Leela really had the fear that there would be no one to take care of her. Her adoptive father loved her a lot and supported her a lot and still does, but she did sense this fear. Her adoptive dad had extramarital affairs and so did her grandfather. She remembers that her aunt and others kept silent about it.

After her adoptive parent’s son got married, she and her sister-in law (SIL) did not get along well. Leela’s things from the cupboard would be taken away by her SIL. At one-point SIL said either Leela or I should stay in this house. So Leela was sent back to her birth parents, and this broke her heart. This reinforced the belief that she was unwanted.

Then she fell in love with a guy and got married to him even though her adoptive dad warned her not to do it. From day 1 the marriage was full of pain and stress. Her husband gambles, steals money and jewellery from her, borrows money from her relatives. He used to hit her until one day her hand got fractured. Her in-laws did not treat her well either. Her mother-in-law starved her during her pregnancy (Physical Abuse). At one stage after their marriage her husband dragged her out of the house and asked her to leave (Physical and Emotional Abuse).

Later she joined work. Handling her irresponsible husband, her job, single parenting became stressful and as a result her children suffered a lot, especially her daughter who had been the victim of her anger outbursts. She feels guilty about it.

Few years back her husband had a medical situation and told her he can’t perform sexually; she suggested that both take celibate vows, but he refused. After this incident she started noticing husband being close with their maid but did not take it seriously as she blindly trusted him. Later, with help of technology the husband and the maid were caught red handed. This just shattered her beyond imagination. She went into severe depression and started having panic attacks and she came to us seeking therapy

Impact:

“I feel like I am unwanted.” Strong sense of betrayal, severe anxiety and depression and sleep issues.  She reported hypertension, hand tremors and panic attacks caused due to her stress. She was quite talented and had various interests but could not do anything now because of the emotional turmoil inside.

The journey through interventions:

Initially, through diagnostic guided imagery, her future best self was identified, which helped set the goals of therapy and help her see the possibility of using her full potential in a constructive way. Then Leela was taught emotional freedom techniques, which in moments of panic attacks or emotional turmoil, she could use as an emotional first aid. Next, we used the Relationship Drama technique for her to express the unexpressed and suppressed emotions with respect to her relationship with her husband. This helped her become open to the rest of the inner work. Then, the inner child technique was used to work on the Anger and Betrayal that she often experienced. In the Inner Child session, she regressed to her memory as a 6-month-old being given away by her mother. That inner child wanted to be held in the arms of her mother lovingly and treated with affection. The Client could reparent and provide the inner child the safety and love. That helped her greatly heal her anger and betrayal.

Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories (RTM) was used to help her release the trauma from the incidents where she felt her husband had hurt her in their relationship emotionally and physically. Psychosynthesis works between her conflicting parts helped her make a clear decision about what she wants to do with her marital relationship going forward. Then the inner children with respect to anger and sadness of her husband’s extramarital affairs were healed using RTM. A relationship drama exercise with her birth and adoptive parents gave the whole process of her healing a wonderful closure.

We did EFT + Anchoring + Affirmations + Talking lovingly to the IC+ Creative visualisation techniques and life priority matrix exercises for looking forward towards a positive and brighter future. By using these techniques, Leela showed significant progress. The session over 4 months showed significant improvement in Leela’s scores, as highlighted in the table below.

Table 6: Mental Health Parameters (case study 6)

Session & Date WHO 5 GAD MDI Insomnia
Initial 52 17 31 11
4 sessions 52 4 25 5
8 sessions 64 6 8 11
Post 12 sessions 84 1 2 2

 

The indicators of mental health over the 4-month period that Leela was in therapy, that is – Well-being, Anxiety, Depression & Insomnia have all shown significant improvement.

Her assessment of CPTSD before therapy was positive and after the therapy sessions it has been assessed as negative (details excluded from the write-up).

Keywords: Physical Abuse, Emotional Neglect, Sexual Abuse, Loneliness, Separation Anxiety, Inner Child Work, Anxiety, Depression, Panic Attacks

AUTHORS BIOS

Biography- Gunjan Y Trivedi (PhD) [email protected]

Gunjan has pursued wellness for over a decade while pursuing his corporate life with P&G across some of the biggest economies and countries (the US, Japan, Singapore, China & India). Gunjan has a master’s degree in Marketing (MBA) & Computer Engineering (MS) from Michigan State University, USA. Gunjan also has a PhD and his doctoral work developed the Bhramari protocol to increase heart rate variability. He is also a certified PMP (Project Management Professional). At Wellness Space, Gunjan focuses on an evidence-based approach for lifestyle-related health issues, quality of life and trauma (specifically PTSD and Complex PTSD) and teaches Regression Therapy & Life Coaching.

Gunjan is also a Certified NLP Trainer (ANLP India, ECNLP), Advanced Life Coach, a Trainer in Sound Healing (using Himalayan Singing Bowls) and a Certified Yoga Instructor. He conducts workshops in Sound Healing (trained >200 Sound Practitioners and Master Practitioners in multiple countries), NLP, Life Coaching and Emotional well-being. His interests include studies in the area of wellbeing, energy, physiology and emotions. Gunjan also coaches entrepreneurs in the area of strategy, technology, goal setting and emotional wellbeing and integrates his vast global experience in technology, business services, marketing and processes with various healing modalities and technologies.

Biography- Riri G Trivedi [email protected]

Riri G Trivedi is the co-founder of Wellness Space and SEE-Society for Energy and Emotions and teaches Regression Therapy & Life Coaching with a specific focus on Adverse Childhood Experiences (Healing the child within/Inner child) and Hypnotherapy.

She is a Certified Trauma Sensitive Heart-Math© Practitioner and a Certified Inner Child Integration Therapist from the International Association for Integration Therapy and Training, USA. Riri is also an Integrated Clinical Hypnotherapist & was a Trainer from EKAA Foundation, India. She also holds a Diploma in Past Life Regression Therapist from Past Life Regression Academy, UK, and a Certification in Yoga Teachers Training and a Diploma in Yoga Therapy from SVYASA Singapore. She also specialises in Kids & Family Yoga from Global Family Yoga, USA and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Yin Yoga from Sara Manning, UK. She is a Certified Mentor and Coach from Heart Math Institute, USA and a Certified Gestalt and Advanced Gestalt practitioner. She has trained more than 300 Regression Therapists worldwide through her online and offline training. She uses her vast therapy experience to heal and help her clients achieve transformation and balance in their personal and professional lives. She is also a PhD Scholar (Research topic: Adverse Childhood Experiences, Anxiety, Depression and Subjective Well-being of Adult Indians). She has published papers on Childhood trauma and Mental Health. She is a social media influencer with over 1.4 followers across Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Biography- Hemalatha Ramani (PhD) [email protected]

Hemalatha Ramani holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, India. She has taught at the National University of Singapore, Singapore; BK School of Management, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad International School (Economics for the Cambridge, IB curriculums), and Prakash Higher Secondary School (Economics for the CBSE Classes XI, XII). She has served the Samaritans of Singapore, The Women’s World Banking (Ahmedabad); The Indian Institute of management, Ahmedabad and the Behavioural Science Centre (St Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad). She has co-authored a book on Breast Cancer and Lifestyle diseases. She is engaged in researching childhood trauma, suicidal behaviour, and related subjects.

Biography- Meenakshi Nair (PhD) [email protected]

Meenakshi has been based in Japan for more than 25 years and has two decades of experience in corporate MNC R&D. Meenakshi represents Society for Energy & Emotions in Japan and is a trained and experienced volunteer with International Lifeline in Japan.

She is certified in Hypnotherapy, Regression therapy including Inner Child Healing & Past Life Regression, RTM (Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories) for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Psychosynthesis (Conflicting Parts Integration) and Life coaching modalities. She has been working with Wellness Space since April 2021 and has 3 years of therapy experience.

Meenakshi brings a unique global outlook to the world of therapy and coaching. She is a mother of two kids, a young adult and a teenager and loves to express her emotions in the form of Hindi poetry. She has her own YouTube channel for bringing awareness about mental health issues and various life skills.

Biography- Kokilashree Vickneswaran [email protected]

Kokilashree Vickneswaran, based in Sholayur, Kerala is a practising therapist at Wellness space. She is an Engineering graduate who was with Infosys for 9+ years. She firmly believes that Physical health, Emotional/Mental health, and Spiritual health go hand in hand always. Her dream is to take this Holistic approach to as many people as possible irrespective of age or gender.

Kokila is a certified in Hypnotherapy, Inner Child Healing, Client centred therapy like RTM (Reconsolidation of Traumatic Memories) for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Fears, Phobia and Psychosynthesis by Society for Energy and Emotions (SEE) and International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM), UK. She is a RYT certified Yoga teacher from Yoga Vahini in the tradition of Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, a Reiki Master, an Akashic record reader and an Aura reader.

Kokila enjoys holding space for the Client to discover and awaken their own healer within and thereby empowering them. She lives with her husband and 2 teenage boys in their farm where they practise organic farming/permaculture, sustainable living, and biodiversity conservation to the best of their abilities.

Biography- Vipasha Naik [email protected]

Vipasha is our enthusiastic intern and trainee. She has completed a Diploma in Liberal Studies and a B.A Hons. in Psychology & Human Resource Management from Pandit Deendayal Energy University, Gandhinagar, and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Holistic Counseling from the Australian School of Holistic Counseling alongside working with us at Wellness Space.

She has been trained in NLP, EFT and Garbh Sanskar. Her mission is to work towards ending intergenerational trauma. Hence, she has been learning different holistic trauma-informed modalities. Apart from her passion for psychology and healing, she loves travelling and taking solo trips, trying new cuisines, and singing.

Biography– Ruhi Pabari [email protected]

Ruhi Pabari based in Mumbai, India, has more than 10 years of experience in the corporate sector, with expertise in macro-economic research and financial markets. She has studied Economics and has cleared all the levels of CFA, USA.

While she started her journey in mental awareness and wellness work in 2022, She has also been practicing tarot card reading for more than a decade now. She is a certified Regression Therapist and Life Coach by Wellness Space, India and International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine (IPHM), UK. She is also a certified member of IMDHA (International Medical & Dental Hypnotherapy Association, United States) and Professional Member of EARTh Association.

She has expertise in different modalities including hypnotherapy, inner child work, past life regression, client centred modalities and life coaching. She enjoys working with teens and adults in a wide range of ages. She has a variety of experience working with clients with anxiety, depression, disruptive behaviour, relationship challenges, self-esteem and trauma.

Ruhi sees the client as the true “expert” in their own life and she sees herself as a guide and process facilitator along the way. She is appreciated by clients for being authentic and genuine in the therapy process.

Biography- Neha Pandya [email protected]

Neha Pandya is a Counselling Psychologist Working with Wellness Space.

Neha completed her bachelor’s in psychology from St. Xavier’s College Ahmedabad. She pursued her master’s in clinical psychology from The Department of Psychology, Gujarat University.

Having worked as a counselor at Mental health Counselling and Suicide prevention Helpline, Neha is well acquainted with Crisis intervention counselling, Grounding Techniques and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. She has addressed more than 200 clients. She has been working with Wellness Space since Sept. 2022.

With this background, she assists the clients to understand the importance of wellness, help them know how the current issues can have their roots in past trauma and thus start the journey of healing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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