CASE STUDY - SPIRITUAL ABUSE

Spiritual Abused - By The Irresponsible Application Of Religious Teachings

Kimberly a social worker has to deal with an adult having difficulties in her life. Being born into a Chinese family of traditional values, the senior family members would consult a fortune teller and feng shui master about the fortunes of a new-born. This reading is commonly referred to as “Ba-Zhi” or “Eight Words” reading. Sadly, it details that she would have clash with her mother, either her mother would die early or the family wealth will be lost due to her. This leads to her become an outcast amongst her family and relatives. So much that everything she does or involves her would be interpreted negatively and be punished for it. Not only was she not given a portion of the family inheritance upon the passing of the father, she was scapegoated to be cause of her father’s death. From young, she didn’t experience the love and trust from the family.

Kimberly was brained-washed by a fellow religious worker of some thirty years of practice in the religion. Being new to the religion, she was manipulated to give money to the religious leadership telling her that this would bring good karma to her. If she refused to give money, it would bring bad karma to her and her children. By not giving money, she will be labelled as a betrayer of the “God”. In the case of a young girl having to undergo chemotherapy treatment after removing a tumor from her brain, she was questioned quite extensively and her charity was dismissed as useless to this girl is deemed to be dying. The money going towards her treatment is just a big waste. The poor girl’s life seems to be of little or no value at all as compared to the religious leadership, this is how the concept of karma is being interpreted and practiced!

In conclusion, this is just a case of karma and compassion was totally twisted to apply the fear factors causing Kimberly unstable emotionally. This caused her to become traumatized and becoming increasingly depressed. By the time she came to me, she was bordering on paranoia and hallucination that she would be punished by an unseen higher being for not doing as she was told. Worst, her instability and mistrust of others caused her to lose her job. A person subjected to spiritual abuse is one of the most difficult to heal.

EXPRESSION OF LOVE - A NEW LIFE FORCE

EXPRESSION OF LOVE - HER LIFE SUCCESSFULLY TRANSFORMED WITHIN 4 HOURS

Having not heard from my 40-year-old patient for a long time. In our last session together, she had been divorced from the former marriage with bi-polar depression. She suffered from many previous miscarriages leaving the doctors to advise her that her chances to conceived again is going to be very slim or near impossible. 

I got a recent update from her this year that she is now happily married to her present husband and her most important fear of not being able to conceived again can now be put to rest. She has given birth to a healthy baby!!! This is a happy ending for her as she has relearned to reconstruct her new life, not only just a new family dynamics. She has learned a very precious lesson of forgiveness especially towards herself and start loving her self again instead of self-sabotage. This has enabled her to heal not only her mind but her body as well, giving her body a renewed strength to conceived again! Congratulations to her and best wishes to the family, opening all of them to a new episode in their journey together- New lives!

Pet Therapy

                                                               CINCIN

                                                        SPOTTY, SMARTY AND CUTIE

Healing, Recovery and Love

All over the world Researchers are finding that pets truly have the power to heal their owners, especially the elderly, depressed, children with special needs. The most serious disease of all is loneliness and unable to express their feelings.

Recently the pets have been recognized to relax and calm. They take the human mind off loneliness, grief, pain and protection. They encourage exercising and broadening one’s acquaintance circle. Animals have a calming effect on humans and benefit mental well-being, especially with children and the elderly. Recently the experts have been relying on pet therapy as a valuable aid in reaching out to the elderly, infirm and ill/abused children.

Small dogs are good because they can be lifted easily and fit on the smallest laps. These therapy dogs have a calm, gentle personality and are people-oriented. They must love attention and petting and not be shy. They provide an invaluable service to those who are lonely, abandoned or ill, indeed, anyone who needs the miraculous healing that can arise from a hug and a gentle touch.

Children, especially those who are abused, neglected or special child, are able to communicate and build relation with animals. A pet offers a safe place for a child with emotional problems. They give unconditional love, providing a security blanket.

A dog can be the bond that glues a family together when upheaval, such as moving, death or divorce, occurs. Often, an animal can reach a child beyond an adult’s touch. They have also found pets lower blood pressure and stress levels, give the patient a reason to interact, offer a chance to exercise and a sense of security and/or intimacy, allow communication, and offer continuity in life.

Therapy sessions are an incredible connection between a dog and a child who had not spoken for months out of depression. Most kids can relate to animals, so seeing and touching the pets brings them a sense of normalcy.

 The innocence of animals and their ability to love makes animals special. Human beings want to be a part of their world, to connect with them in a mysterious and powerful way that will strengthen and nurture both humans and animals.

Case study – Elena, a 10 year old special need child.

Elena is a special need child with learning disorder. She has a phobia with dogs. She used to be very blunt, aggressive and antisocial. She could not even stand the barking of a dog.  Elena was presented for pet therapy for 4-5 sessions conducted once a week.

During her first session it was noticed that Elena was very rough and abusive towards the dog called Cincin. She threw Cincin as she was afraid.  She found it difficult to follow rules, she was uncaring and hyperactive. Later as she learnt how to handle Cincin during her following sessions, she enjoyed petting Cincin and was eager for Cincin’s attention.

At the end of the therapy the following changes were noticed:-

·         She liked sitting on the floor with Cincin

·         she followed rules

·         muscle relaxation was noted

·         she became more caring

·         her aggressive behavior improved

·         Her attention span increased.

She no longer had dog phobia. She enjoyed being with Cincin during her sessions. She even missed her when she was not around during her session. She became very expressive, compassionate, caring, loving and kind towards Cincin by the end of the therapy.

Physically Divorce vs. Mentally Divorce

This is a 40 years old woman, who was married to her first husband, and they were together for 10 years but divorced now. She has been suffering from bipolar depression due to the divorce & miscarriage. She is been married to her second husband for 5 years. During her 5 years of marriage life, she encountered miscarriage 5 times. As a woman, she has gone through the greatest pain in this repeatable miscarriage. As a result of that, she has phobia to get pregnant again. After her divorce, the brokenness/failure of her first marriage has been carried forward to her present marriage life. Besides that, she has been suffering from the pain of miscarriage, which totally burnt her in daily life. She has a very stressful life and affected her career. 

In the event, even though she has been officially divorced by signing on a divorce legal paper with the first husband after 5 years, she is still stuck in her first marriage, as she is not mentally divorce her first husband. She can’t let go the pain that she has endured, and still attach with the anger and regret of the first marriage. She still has the anger and hatred towards her first husband, which has a negative impact on the present husband/marriage. She has become very suspicious, paranoid and insecure towards her present marriage and is under the impression that only by having a child would help to strengthen her present marriage. She has become very superstitious and has started idol worship in order to have a successful pregnancy. The failure of her first marriage has indeed corrupted her whole life, and her health condition was deteriorated as well due to the stress she is facing. She must let go the mental attachment with her first husband and understand the different family dynamics she has with her present husband.

TREATMENT PLAN FOR CLIENT

My treatment plan will work on her based on: -

• Family Therapy
• Family Reconstruction
• Forgiveness

Family Therapy

- Family therapy is based on the belief that family is a unique social system with its own structure & patterns of communication.

- The family therapists who use the family system model in CARING for people always consider the whole family. During therapy session, the family’s strengths are used to help their problem.

Family Reconstruction

- Family Reconstruction is one of the power tools that are used to connect in new ways with our own families.

- One of the major tools is to make changes in a dysfunctional family system. New eyes see old situations in a new framework, especially in relation to our ‘SELF’ level.

- Family reconstruction helps the body, mind & emotion move beyond stress, survival & coping to a more positive way of expressing and experiencing life.

 

Forgiveness

- Forgiveness is an internal process, which is letting go of the intense emotional attachment to the past incidents.

- Forgiveness is a feeling of wellness, freedom and acceptance.

In conclusion, a divorce is not only an action that requires a signature on the legal paper, but you must ensure that you are physically and mentally well prepared before going through a divorce. If we can’t detach from our past failure, it will become a psychological scar for our entire life. It is important to heal and work on the scar, and learn from our past mistakes. From there, we must learn how to transfer the negative energy into positive energy, and add on to our life experience.  Otherwise, it might be a nightmare for lifetime. The impact will carry on to the future marriage or love life.

                                     ~ Expression of Love ~

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. In epilepsy, the normal pattern of neuronal activity becomes disturbed, causing strange sensations, emotions, and behavior, or sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness.

Symptoms

The symptoms of epilepsy vary. They depend on how much of the brain is affected, and where the affected area is located. Some of the main symptoms are as follows:-

• repeated seizures
• cognitive slowing
• the muscles in your arms, legs and face may become stiff
• Nausea
• Emotional symptoms, such as unexplained fear or rage
• Repetitive movements of the hand

Case Study


Learning Disorder caused by Epilepsy

A 10 years old girl has been suffering from Epilepsy since her childhood. Her sickness will attack her in a cycle every 7 days, which normally happened early in the morning.

This attack will normally lead to dizziness and muscle spasms on the following day, which affected her cognitive and lead to learning disorder. In the long run her sickness has led her to be a bad tempered, irritable and restless child. She resists people touching her, as she always has the pain in her after being attacked by Epilepsy.

Her academic performance in school was being affected by epilepsy as well. She is weak in her Mathematics subject, and her language development was affected as well. She is not able to construct a proper sentence or to compose a composition in English. She is unable to take instruction at home and in school, and does not know how to take care of herself, although she is 10 years old. She has the eager to learn, but there has been a blockage to her eagerness of learning due to the uncertain attack of epilepsy.

Therefore, child with special needs has to go through the special education and self care system in order for them to have a better learning environment, as they need extra attention, care and patience from the teachers and parents during their learning and growth process.