This programme changed our lives for the better in so many ways. Dana is so PROUD of herself that she is responding instead of reacting to things that used to run her life. YOU ARE HEROES!!!!
Yes, even this morning, she said things like, “I’m still just so proud of myself.” I was delighted that she wanted to write to you about her success, and I will pass along your reply. She will LOVE it. Thank you!
The week before we received our Turnaround kit, this girl was refusing most foods, losing weight, and demanding elaborate bedtime rituals that lasted hours. I was ready to commit both of us to a mental institution, and I’m not even kidding. I was desperate.
Now, two months later, she is a changed child. Her creativity, joy, and resilience are shining through. She is physically vital, mentally stable, and well on her way to fully embracing life instead of fearfully avoiding it.
I think the most helpful thing about this program is the way it empowers kids to take responsibility for their own experience, and empowers PARENTS to actually SUPPORT their kids by reiterating the messages from the Turnaround kit. This depersonalizes it enough that I have a positive role to play, instead of my kid just wallowing in her misery and tuning me out.
When she calls me in a panic I can say, “Go ahead and do your 4-4-4 breathing,” or “If you want me to come and get you from the fair, I can do that, but understand that if you face this fear— if you can feel the discomfort and remind yourself that you’re actually in a fun place and not a dangerous place— you can have fun. If you give into your fear now, it just becomes harder to face it later. I know you can do it, Honey. Dr David and Dr Chris know you can do it too.”
And she LISTENS to me! And she FACES the fear! We read through the vomiting paragraphs you sent, and it was such an amazing illustration of how freaked out you can feel reading it the first time (“I can’t even finish this paragraph. I feel too scared! My fear is at a 10″), do some breathing and collect yourself and read it again (“This time I finished it. I still feel scared, but it’s about a 5 now”) to desensitization (“Huh, now that I read it through the fourth time I don’t really feel anything at all. It’s kind of boring actually”). I remind her of this experience every time she thinks that the flooding she’s feeling is too much to bear. “Remember those paragraphs, Honey? How boring they got, because you read them again and again? This is the same thing now.” What I eagerly anticipate is her emancipation from the prison of emetophobia! And you gave us the keys! Bless you!!!!!
Sometimes the Universe delivers. I think, “Why didn’t I find this sooner?” Well, because sometimes you have to REALLY suffer before you’re ready to change. My daughter knew she had worn me out, and she was feeling new levels of self-loathing and desperation. It was going down fast. When I offered this program to her, she jumped at it, and loves listening along. She’s hungry, truly hungry for healing. So I guess I can forgive myself for not finding it sooner. All part of the sacred journey, I guess.
Thank you all for your work. Know that there is a family in Victoria, BC that appreciates all you have created here, the drawings, the voices, the stories, the music, the precious wisdom packaged up in a way that kids can hear easily and assimilate.