She has had crippling anxiety that escalate quickly into severe panic attacks.

She is nineteen.

We started talking about different types of memory. The BLOCKED kind that is so hidden, there is no active thinking about it.The BEHIND kind that often comes out in another voice, or from another viewing camera, like it didn’t happen to me.  The BARELY ones that just come in flashed, an can often be very upsetting (post traumatic stress). The BOLD memories that set off reactions of great emotions. (see chart for more visuals and explanation)

Alliance Brick Walls of Memory Replay

I asked her what the chart looked like to her. “An intimidating wall with teeth.”

We talked more about it, and I asked her what the walls looked like with her new tools of acceptance (the memory is, it just is, it happened) and breathing (giving the frontal lobe more oxygen to think through the situation, and giving the cingulate more good blood flow to balance the thinking  and the emotional reactivity).

She really surprised me with her response. “I am optimistic that I can re-set my responses.” Then the anxiety wouldn’t escalate. She could see her thinking was changing, her brain was healing in its paths to reactivity.  She could see that she could be a BLESSER, even in processing painful memories.

That is her amygdala re-setting the amount of chemical danger messages it needs to send her, trying to keep her safe.

If you have reactions that escalate, come in and learn more about you and your marvelous re-set future!

Posted in acceptance, amygdala, anxiety, brain, Brain Training, danger, fear, frustration, loss, overwhelmed, panic attack, stress, tension|No Comments »