Staying Strong in a Traumatized Economy

Staying Strong in a Traumatized Economy Part I.

Scott lost his job as an engineer with Digital Equipment Corporation in one of the many rounds of layoffs leading to Digital’s demise. The recruiter he went to said he wasn’t placing former digital employees because they were so traumatized they acted like losers at job interviews. Even worse, Digital laid him off 3 weeks before Christmas, a time when companies weren’t focused on hiring.

Scott came for treatment just one week after he was laid off. We performed the HBLU™ Success Protocol by clearing his job loss trauma and phobias of failure and then creating a positive vision of the job he wanted next. Lastly, we showed Scott a technique for being fully “on” during job interviews, a technique he found amazingly helpful. It took just two sessions, and Scott had a new job by February!

To perform your best, just before the job interview:
A. Use the Cook’s Balance to release nervous energy and ground and center yourself. (This process can be done sitting or standing.) 1. Cross one leg over the other. 2. With palms facing outward cross hands at the wrists and interlock fingers. Pull your clasped hands upward and rotate outward so that your pinkie’s are towards the chest, the thumbs face outward. Hold this position until you feel your energy settle down into your body and you feel grounded. 3. Unfold yourself. 4. Stand with feet about 2 feet apart. Touch fingertips together with relaxed and rounded fingers (making a little tent shape) and hold your joined hands level with your heart until you feel centered.

B. Do the Meridian Flush to energize yourself and be more focused. Cup one hand over the over at the bottom of your torso. Make a scooping motion up the center of your body to your lower lip (as if you’re splashing yourself with refreshing water). Repeat 2-4 times.

When you’re looking for a job, it’s important to manage your emotional state, particularly your fears. That way you can keep a positive attitude, stay motivated, and access your ability to be creative and resourceful, a necessity for surviving in hard times. Add the HBLU™ Success Protocol to the standard procedures for getting a job, i.e. writing a good resume, networking, and searching the job ads, and you’ll find a job more quickly and with less anxiety.

For personalized help with the entire HBLU™ Success protocol, call us at 781-444-6940 to book an appointment.

Staying Strong in a Traumatized Economy Part II. Treating Irritability Copyright 2009, Judith A. Swack, Ph.D.

Janice and Frank (This scene really happened.)

Janice (to husband Frank, the person in charge of carpooling): “Does Cathy (their daughter) have a debate tournament scheduled for this weekend?”
Frank: “no.”
Janice: “Is Cathy scheduled for any activities this weekend?”
Frank: “yes.”
Janice (puzzled because swim season was over, and the only other activity that Cathy was involved in was debate): “So what is Cathy doing this weekend?”
Frank: “Debate.”
Janice (surprised): “You just said she wasn’t doing debate”
Frank: “Well, I thought you were talking about whether she had a home meet or an away meet.”
Janice (certain that there is something wrong with Frank): “You’re being argumentative.”
Frank: “No, I’m not.”

Normally, Frank is laid back and easy-to get along with. Thinking back, Janice realized, he’d been argumentative, edgy, irritable, at times almost hostile, for the last three months. The timing of this behavior coincided with the start of layoffs at his company. Naturally Frank’s manager assured everyone that there would be no layoffs in their department. Naturally, the company laid off people in Frank’s department in the first round of layoffs, including the only person in the company who knew how to perform a vital product test. Each month thereafter, the company continued to lay off more people.

Exploring the reasons for Frank’s uncharacteristic behavior, they realized (obvious in retrospect) that everybody in the company was anxious about losing their job and afraid that the company was falling apart. Even if Frank himself wasn’t laid off, it’s still traumatic to lose friends and coworkers during layoffs, and Frank was feeling his own and everybody else’s anxiety. Both Janice and Frank knew the Natural Bio-Destressing (NBD) technique for clearing traumatic shock, but they hadn’t thought to use it because the shock he experienced was too subtle to recognize consciously! Now that they realized what was happening, Janice suggested that Frank do the NBD technique every time he heard the word layoff. Frank agreed, and has returned to being his good-natured self.

Simone and Roberta
During an HBLU™ session, Simone complained of feeling shaky and tearful. The previous day, her boss, Roberta had snapped at her. “But didn’t your laboratory just lose its research grant funding for next year in the Bernie Madoff scandal, and aren’t you now applying for Federal grant funding to replace it?” I asked. “And do you think you both might be feeling a lot of pressure and experiencing anxiety and stress?” Simone agreed that I had a good point there. We did one round of Natural Bio-Destressing on the shock of being snapped at. Simone realized that both she and Roberta knew how to do Natural Bio-Destressing, but neither of them had thought to use it because they hadn’t recognized the subtle symptoms of trauma. Later that day, Roberta came to apologize for snapping at Simone. Simone suggested that they use a code word as a special signal to remind each other to do Natural Bio-Destressing when they noticed signs of stress in each other. In her next coaching session, Roberta reported to me that the plan was working well and she and Simone were both feeling and working together much better.

So, if shock can be so subtle, how do you know when to use Natural Bio-Destressing? I recommend that during stressful times you do it in the morning when you wake up as you think about what you dread might happen that day (i.e. more bad news at your company), and at night before bedtime looking back over anything upsetting that happened that day. Use NBD when you feel irritable, short-tempered, or impatient. Use NBD just in case! During stressful economic times, it’s important to manage your emotional state, particularly your fears. That way you can keep a positive attitude, stay motivated, access your ability to be creative and resourceful, and preserve your relationships, all necessities for surviving in hard times.

Dr. Swack and her associates work with people in person or by phone. Healing from the Body Level Up™, Inc. is located in Needham, MA. Call 781-444-6940 to book an appointment, order a free information package, and order audio and videotapes. Visit our website and register for our exciting new Teleseminar offerings!

Staying Strong in a Traumatized Economy Part III. Treating Sleeplessness Copyright 2009, Judith A. Swack, Ph.D.

Janine, a hardworking software engineer in her fifties, had avoided looking at her retirement and investment account statements because she knew the numbers would be down and she didn’t want to upset herself. She figured she still had her job, she wasn’t planning to retire anytime soon, she couldn’t figure out any place else to put her money, and if she did transfer her money now, she wouldn’t recoup her losses when the market bounced back. (Surely the market would recover in about 20 years when she would need the money.) Tax time rolled around, and Janine had to look at her financial statements. Inexplicably, she woke up at 3 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. Janine called me. We discovered that Janine had expected the value of her accounts to be down by half, but was shocked to discover they were down by two-thirds. In that instant, her unconscious mind imagined her getting old with no income and living in misery at a dingy welfare retirement home. One round of the Natural Bio-Destressing technique cleared her phobic reaction and corrected her sleeplessness.

Larry, CEO of a multi-million dollar business training and executive coaching company, had to lay 20% of his employees off due to the drop in revenues this year. He tried not to think about the effect this would have on those employees who had, in fact, done their jobs well. He tried not to think about the negative effect this would have on the remaining staff’s morale. He tried not to think about how he was going to have to take a cut in pay because his salary was tied to the company’s income. He tried not to admit he felt like he’d failed everyone who depended on him for not bringing in the business. He refused to believe that he couldn’t single-handedly shield his company from the effects of the country’s massive economic downturn. But, the day of the layoffs, Larry stopped sleeping. At Larry’s next HBLU™ business coaching session, we treated him for all the traumatic loss he was experiencing, and that night he returned to sleeping comfortably. And as is usual when we heal patterns in the unconscious mind and body, Larry came up with some innovative ideas for moving the company forward and returned to work excited and motivated.

Ronald, a retired businessman living off of investments and a little bit of social security income, stopped sleeping. He had to cut way back on his and his wife’s spending because their income had dropped so substantially. But that wasn’t all that bothered him. He had invested in his son’s now failing business. Moreover, his son had just bought a home last year and was financially over-extended. His daughter had just been laid off from her job. Ronald, accustomed to being the successful businessman-father was now unable to help his children. He woke up in the night worrying about them. During Ronald’s HBLU™ session, we carefully listed and treated everything he was worried about. Ronald felt like he’d be able to sleep well after this and promised to use the Natural Bio-Destressing technique if he woke up again in the middle of the night.

Janine, Larry, and Ronald already knew how to do the Natural Bio-Destressing (NBD) technique for clearing traumatic shock, before they came to these specific HBLU™ sessions, but they hadn’t thought to use it because the shock they experienced was too subtle to recognize consciously! So, if shock can be so subtle, how do you know when to use Natural Bio-Destressing? I recommend that during stressful times you do it in the morning when you wake up as you think about what you dread might happen that day (i.e. more bad news at your company), and at night before bedtime looking back over anything upsetting that happened that day. Use NBD when you have trouble sleeping. Use NBD just in case! During stressful economic times, it’s important to manage your emotional state, particularly your fears. That way you can keep a positive attitude, stay motivated, access your ability to be creative and resourceful, and preserve your relationships, all necessities for surviving in hard times.

Dr. Swack and her associates work with people in person or by phone. Healing from the Body Level Up, Inc. is located in Needham, MA. Call 781-444-6940 to book an appointment, order a free information package, and order audio and videotapes.

Staying Strong in a Traumatized Economy Part IV. Maintaining Your Integrity Copyright 2009, Judith A. Swack, Ph.D.

Linda, a therapist specializing in marriage and family counseling, saw a drop in her client load for the first time in years. Normally when she got calls from people looking for addiction counseling she referred them to a colleague who specialized in that area. Now, she found herself considering widening her practice to treat patients who weren’t her specialty. Somehow, that didn’t feel right, and she continued to refer clients to those practitioners she felt would best serve them. During her HBLU™ session we found that the sight of empty calendar spaces triggered the fear that she would lose her practice and be worthless. One round of the Natural Bio-Destressing technique (NBD) cleared her phobic reaction and eliminated her ethical dilemma. She realized that even though she was afraid, the best way to maintain her sense of self-worth and integrity was to continue to rely on her best professional judgement.

Cheryl, a school psychologist at a school for severely emotionally disturbed and violent children, reported feeling unusually exhausted. Although Cheryl normally tries to please everybody, she’s accustomed to handling the predictable conflicts between parents, teachers, and children in the design of an individualized behavior management and teaching plan. This time, though, the negative effects of the national and state economic downturn on school funding, and the drop in value of her retirement and other investments made her more stressed and vulnerable to other’s opinions of her. She was disturbed by disagreement from some of the staff and parents about her behavioral management plans for a couple of the students, and felt unsupported by the administration. At her HBLU™ session we discovered that the fatigue was caused by the fear that she would get fired for doing what she was supposed to After clearing this phobia with one round of NBD, she realized, “If I do what I know is right, the results of that action are only going to lead to more rightness. If I did get fired because the system is flawed, then I shouldn’t be there. I won’t give my energy away to fear. I can’t control the future. I can only continue to do what’s right. Doing what is right professionally is more likely to protect my job than trying not to get people angry.”

Samuel, an engineer at a high tech software company, reported feeling anxious about attending his next staff meeting. His company had laid off several people in his department, but they still needed to deliver the latest version of the software on time. The manager of his department asked the remaining staff to volunteer to do the extra work. Samuel agreed to add an extra part of the project to his schedule, worked through several weekends, putting a strain on his body and his marriage. In the end, Samuel was late in delivering his own part of the project. Samuel was afraid that by overextending himself, the quality of his own work would suffer and harm his reputation. At his HBLU™ business coaching session, we prepared Samuel for his department meeting by treating his fear (with 1 round of NBD) that if he said no to his manager he’d get fired and be worthless. He realized that it was better to stop volunteering and focus on the quality of his work than it was to people please.

Linda, Cheryl, and Samuel already knew how to do the Natural Bio-Destressing (NBD) technique for clearing traumatic shock before they came to these specific HBLU™ sessions, but they hadn’t thought to use it because the shock they experienced was too subtle to recognize consciously! So, if shock can be so subtle, how do you know when to use NBD? I recommend that during stressful times you do it in the morning when you wake up as you think about what you dread might happen that day (i.e. more bad news at your company), and at night before bedtime looking back over anything upsetting that happened that day. Use NBD when you feel anxious, exhausted, or stressed. Use NBD just in case! During stressful economic times, it’s important to manage your emotional state, particularly your fears. That way you can keep a positive attitude, stay motivated, access your ability to be creative and resourceful, and preserve your relationships, all necessities for surviving in hard times.

Do Natural Bio-Destressing. For written instructions, see self-help-bio-destressing order the DVD at video-audio-books.

Dr. Swack and her associates work with people in person or by phone. Healing from the Body Level Up™, Inc. is located in Needham, MA. Call 781-444-6940 to book an appointment, order a free information package, and order audio and videotapes.