Maslow Stories
Jordan’s Story
Jordan was referred to Maslow Therapies by her insurance company after she was involved in a severe road traffic collision. A large DAF truck pulled out in front of Jordan’s vehicle on the motorway and she and the other passengers (i.e., co-worker and client) sustained extensive physical injuries which required hospital admittance. Unfortunately, the adolescent client who was riding in the passenger seat experienced quite severe injuries to the extent that they required a mobility stick to assist when walking. Following this incident, Jordan left with marked anxiety about driving on her own, intrusive images, as well as sleep disturbances due to the intense flashbacks and nightmares regarding the accident. Worst of all, Jordan could not shake the shame and guilt associated with the accident in general, and believed that it was all her fault.
Jordan was diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and referred for 12 sessions of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Regular planned sessions enabled Jordan to open up about her experience in a way that she had previously found difficult to do. It turned out that there were two central themes standing in the way of Jordan’s recovery:
1) From such a young age, Jordan had always blamed herself for everything that had ever went wrong (i.e., “it is all my fault, it is always my fault”)
2) Jordan always believed that she was always right and that there could not possibly be another way
Using evidence based-techniques and strategies specifically designed to treat the symptoms of PTSD (as per NICE Guidelines), our sessions helped Jordan discover for herself that actually she might be wrong this time in that the accident might not have been her fault. In doing so, this helped Jordan reduce the nightmares and anxiety that she was experiencing as she was not so plagued with guilt about the road traffic collision. The sessions also permitted Jordan to start taking initial steps towards driving independently (and with others), which she managed to fully accomplish by the end of the sessions.
“I found my initial sessions extremely daunting at first as I had never done any form of therapy prior to this. My therapist helped me feel really relaxed in the first session by really getting to know and understand me, and what I was experiencing. I was also informed every step of the way at what our therapy would entail. Although I was initially afraid of doing the reliving work, as the last thing I wanted to do was replay the traffic collision that had brought me to therapy in the first place, I trusted my therapist that this would help me long term – he didn’t disappoint! Having relived the incident again, I was then given a copy to listen to at least once a day to help me process what I had actually been through. The more sessions we had, the more I became aware that I had a tendency to blame myself for everything, especially the road traffic collision; even though it wasn’t my fault. It was exactly this thought process that was actually serving to keep me stuck in this traumatic world. After this realisation, I started to become more of my normal self again and became more confident. I even started to recognise other of life’s arenas where I had this tendency to blame myself and managed to make positive changes. One of my proudest achievements was getting back behind the wheel again fully and driving on the motorway with other passengers as I sworn I would never drive again. Thank you so much for helping me help myself.”
— Jordan
Michelle’s Story
Michelle referred herself to Maslow Therapies as she was experiencing high levels of anxiety associated with being a first-time parent which was ultimately interfering with her enjoyment and ability to perform her parental responsibilities. Specifically, Michelle initially described having obsessive thoughts that she could not get out of her head about harming her baby and felt compelled to perform certain routines repeatedly (i.e., washing her hands, getting rid of sharp objects within the family home) in an attempt to reduce her anxiety levels.
We agreed to meet regularly to help Michelle work on accepting some of her anxious thoughts, rather than trying to spend most of her time struggling with them. Michelle was able to learn for herself that her attempts to suppress her thoughts did not work at all – in fact, Michelle acknowledged that attempting to resist such thoughts only made the situation worse in that they took up more of her time and energy. Michelle was also experiencing many features of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) subsequent to an incident that she experienced as a teenager.
Michelle undertook 12 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help address her difficulties. Although the CBT sessions proved challenging, Michelle viewed this challenge positively and reported that following the therapy she was more accepting of her thoughts and feelings, understood more clearly who she was, and identified the kind of life she wanted to live.
“Initially, the last thing I wanted to do was to go to therapy to admit that I was having the thoughts that I was having as I felt so ashamed and full of guilt. My therapist helped me feel relaxed and helped normalise the thoughts that I was having which made me feel much better. The more therapy sessions I attended and the more we talked through my difficulties; the more we were able to put the pieces together and make connections between things that had happened to me previously. I learned to acknowledge and accept these experiences which acted as a catalyst to help me begin to move forward. It became apparent that it was no wonder my thoughts and fears were what they were after all that I had been through. Therapy enabled me to explore these things in a safe and non-judgemental space which allowed me to think about my values and the direction I would like my life to steer into. I am still extremely grateful for my therapist who was kind, warm, and genuine and for his support throughout my therapeutic journey. I now enjoy being a mum and have learned to trust myself and not my thoughts.”
— Michelle