I recently wrote about a client who made great strides in learning how to handle stress after just one session (She’s Getting It!). Life wasn’t suddenly a bed roses – that’s generally not how it works – but she was able to stop a potential panic attack in its tracks while at her stressful job by practicing A Clean Mind. As I wrote in that post, I was pretty happy about this. Actually, I was freaking elated. After all, this is exactly why I’m doing what I’m doing – because peace can be learned. She had clearly started to learn it.
Fast forward about a month, and she called and left a voicemail to say that she would like to cancel her next session. This would’ve been her third. What was the reason? She said that she felt she was doing pretty well and didn’t think she needed to come in at this time. She said that she very much appreciated our work and would definitely come back if necessary, but it might not be for a while.
What great news! I loved what I heard. Working myself out of a job is what I’m all about. I called her back as soon as I heard her message and left her one saying how happy I was to hear this, well done, keep practicing A Clean Mind, and I’m here if and when she needs me. I think I also said something like if at anytime she wants to come back, it’s no big deal – we just do the same thing as before. She comes in and we review what went down in the time since the last session. What did she do well? What could use improvement? And this is always done without even a shred of judgment, criticism, or harshness. There is no concept of failure. It’s school – that’s all. The grades are given by how peaceful you are with the world. Does it take more and more to stress you out or make you upset? If so, you’re passing with flying colors. A+. Everyone is on their own time frame, too.
I really love my job, and I’m so proud of my clients. They’re kicking some serious ass…
NOTE: All of these client stories are told with no identifying information and of course with permission from the clients. My only interest in sharing these stories is to help more and more people find peace, and these clients are interested in the same thing. There is no pressure on the clients to allow their story to be told. Finally, note that these stories are always told at a certain point in time.
When they are told, it is unknown how the future will unfold. Feelings are powerful, thoughts are powerful, and the past is powerful. New and old issues might emerge after progress is made. If that happens, though, we know how to deal with it. In these cases, I’ll write up the rest of the story if and when appropriate. As said before, it’s all about helping more and more people find peace.