Interesting Therapy Tool

[JustKeepTrying]

I am three weeks into my new life of full-time travel and I am loving it.  Every day is an adventure and the people I am meeting are lovely.  I have one more move to make - so I am returning to my hometown so I can move my youngest DS into his first college apartment.  Of course, there will be movers and I physically don't have to do anything but foot the bill.  I can do that because directly after is two weeks of quiet and rest.

But I did get a little depressed.  Lonely.  Anxious.  Normal I know this new situation so I started with a new therapist and it is only online - via an app and texting daily - and very affordable.  But my therapist has suggested that part of my issues with the PTSD and all the trauma is forgiving myself - all the versions of myself that I let down when I married my OCPDxh.  I have sat with my ego/younger self and given them what they need like suggested in the RAIN meditation by Tara Brach.  But writing to my younger self intrigues me.  Of course, any chance to write is a bonus.  I've already started it and I am working my way up chronologically and I have found it very freeing.

I think that sometime this week I will burn the letters.  With some sage and a release meditation.  Make it a ritual.. 

As we are all somehow affected by NPDss I thought this technique/tool would help others.  We talk about giving ourselves grace and compassion.  We talk about moving on.  Butt never the how.  So I hope this helps.

[notrightinthehead]

Seems like a good idea. I too have recently felt sad on my walks, when I have nothing to listen too and take my mind away from myself. I feel sad for all the wrong choices I made and all the "normal" things I missed because of these choices.
When you write to your younger self,  is the message one of full acceptance,  acknowledgement of the suffering, and forgiveness?

[Lookin 2 B Free]

Thanks for sharing that tool, JKT.  And congratulations on your new life.  You sound like you are doing really well with such a major change!

When you write to your younger self, do you also write back from the younger self to your current self?  Or just the one direction?    Either way, it sounds powerful.

Enjoy your time with DS! 

[JustKeepTrying]

Notright - I write to myself and acknowledge all that happened to her; admire her positive traits and pain; and assure her that I will keep her safe and acknowledge her in all ways.  I then did a little ceremony and burned the letters with a meditation of bringing forward the best parts of myself and releasing the pain and bad behaviors.  The releasing of bad behavior is still a struggle - so ingrained after decades - but it has helped in viewing it and looking at it and just being mindful about it.

Lookin - I haven't written back and that is an interesting idea.  Sort of like a conversation between the two.  As a writer I am able to write in a free-flowing manner where I can free flow and in doing so I find there are many things my subconscious wants to say - I try really hard to not self-edit or stop the flow - there are some really startling connections and insights.

Book - I looked at several of the programs and money was a factor in my decision.  Until I settle into this new life, I am keeping my budget small.  7cups is completely anonymous and you do develop relationships - like here - and the therapist is a licensed psychologist who so far has taken a different approach to my background and issues.  It has been an interesting process so far.  There is a website and app and I so far have just been texting and she responds about 3-5 times a week.  There are support groups and other tools that you can access as well.  The site is somewhat confusing in design but appears very comprehensive.