How the Wounds of the Past Hold You Back And How to Heal Them in 5 Easy Steps By Cathy Chapman, Ph.D., LCSW 2009 Cathy Chapman, Ph.D 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 1
Cathy Chapman, Ph.D., LCSW has facilitated spiritual healing since 1976. Her ability to integrate psycho-therapy, spiritual coaching, healing prayer and energy based healing has facilitated healing in many. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with advanced degrees in Psychology, Theology and Mind-Body Psychology. In addition to spiritual healing, she also uses The BodyTalk System and PSYCH-K in her healing work with clients. The Soul Healing Prayer was given to her while working with a client during an energy healing session. The simple 5-step prayer is not only simple to learn, but also simple to teach. Once you experience the power of this prayer, you can share it with family, friends and clients. Legal Stuff: Spiritual healing is a powerful form of healing. It is not a substitute for medical care. People who use the Soul Healing Prayer can experience physical, mental and emotional healing. Under no circumstances should you discontinue medication or medical treatment without consulting your health care professional. The abrupt discontinuation of medication for emotional or physical disorders can result in severe consequences including death. If you believe your medication needs have changed, make an immediate appointment with your doctor or health care professional. 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 2
How Wounds of the Past Hold You Back... By Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. The Bad News: Everybody Hurts If you are old enough to read this, then you have a past with wounds that hurt. There is no way to escape infancy without acquiring pain. Even in the best of families, with perfect families wouldn t that be wonderful you hurt the first time you felt abandoned, or didn t get to eat when you wanted, or the diaper was wet too long. Most people come from homes in which there are parents who do what they can to be the best of parents, taking care of their child(ren) in every way they can. Just like everyone else, you have experienced more times than you can remember when you were misunderstood, not given the attention you wanted and needed, hurt, rejected, abandoned, betrayed and the list goes on. You may, also, be someone who came from a home that can only be described as a horror story. There are wounds resulting from abandonment, rejection, addiction, emotional, mental, physical or sexual abuse. Whatever happened in your life, you have wounds that are raw and bleeding. Others have calluses that dull, not only the pain, but all feelings of joy and happiness. Still other wounds have so much scar tissue over them you have tucked them somewhere deep where no one can find them... until something happens that reaches deep within and lances it with a sharp burning knife. That is just the way life is. A Metaphor for What Happens When You Are Wounded Imagine this beautiful bright whole being. That s you before you were ever hurt. Then something happened. You couldn t believe it happened. Your life was rocked. You didn t know what to do with the pain. You just knew it hurt. 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 3
Here is the metaphor... You took that pain and sent it away. The problem was, you not only sent the pain away, you sent away that part of yourself the pain was attached to. You were no longer whole. I call it soul loss. You sent part of your soul away so you couldn t feel the pain. You didn t mean to lose part of your soul, part of yourself. You only desperately wanted the pain to gone. And When You Send Part of Your Soul Away... The more of yourself you send away, the less of yourself you have to navigate the everyday challenges of life. Let me state that more forcefully: You have less of You. When not all of you is present you may experience one or more of the following: Depression Anxiety Hopelessness Lack of energy Fear Physical Pain Emotional Pain Emotional Numbness Relationship Problems Lack of Self-Worth Anger Spiritual Disconnection Chronic Illness Lowered Immune System And More The more of your energy, the more of your soul, that is present, the more easily you are able to manage life. You can live in Joy! In addition, the more of your soul you have with you, the more easily your body can heal. 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 4
The Good News: You Can Heal And How to Heal Them in 5 Easy Steps You ve been living with certain behavior patterns and thought processes all your life. You may have worked with a psycho-therapist, psychiatrist or energy worker to assist you in changing your limiting behavior patterns and beliefs. Will this simple 5-Step process heal you? All I can tell you is that I use the Soul Healing Prayer at least several times a week and, usually, daily. When I first received it, I used it many times a day, if not hourly. I have taught many people this simple 5-Step Soul Healing Prayer. Those who use it consistently report amazing changes. Some use the word miracle. The Process of the Soul Healing Prayer The metaphor Earlier I used the metaphor of you sending parts of yourself away so you wouldn t feel the pain. The Soul Healing Prayer brings back those pieces you sent away. Don t worry, the pain doesn t came with the pieces. Part of the Soul Healing process is to clean repair and heal those pieces. Who brings back the pieces? When I was given the prayer, I was told to call in the Soul Healing Angels. Some people are not comfortable with angels. You may use whatever name you use for your Higher Power. People have called upon Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Buddah, Allah, names of angels and more. Some have used the names Universal Energy or Higher Self. It doesn t matter who you call as long as you are connected to loving spiritual energy. 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 5
Have an event or issue in mind Before you begin the Soul Healing Prayer, have an event, feeling or behavior pattern in mind. Be as specific as possible. The 5-Step Soul Healing Prayer Step 1: Call in the Soul Healing Angels or use the name of your Higher Power. Step 2: Ask that all pieces of yourself you lost when or related to be found and brought back to you. Step 3: Ask that all pieces be cleaned, repaired and healed. Step 4: Ask that all pieces be fully integrated within you. Step 5: Give thanks. Step 1: Call in the Soul Healing Angels or use the name of your Higher Power. There is no magic formula for this step. I say, Soul Healing Angels, please come. Use whatever words are comfortable for you. Step 2: Ask that all pieces of yourself you lost when or related to be found and brought back to you. This is where you ask that all the pieces of yourself you lost be found and brought back to you. If you do not know the specific incident, you may ask that all pieces related to be brought back to you. For instance, physical pain has an emotional component to it. You could ask that all pieces of yourself that are missing related to the pain you're feeling, be brought back to you. There may be a feeling that has vexed you all your life. Maybe you are uncomfortable being with lots of people. You can ask that all pieces of yourself 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 6
that are missing and are related to you being uncomfortable in crowds, be brought back to you. What about those behavior patterns that wreck havoc. This could be eating, drinking, running away from responsibility, not finishing what you started Just ask that all missing pieces related to this behavior pattern be brought back to you. Step 3: Ask that all pieces be cleaned, repaired and healed. Here is where all the feelings associated with the event are removed. The pain is released. You don t need to know what is released, although you may. The feelings could be anything: anger, fear, sadness, shame, guilt, anxiety and more. Step 4: Ask that all pieces be fully integrated within you. You are asking that you be made whole and complete. Step 5: Give thanks. Gratitude is the final step. Are there side effects to the Soul Healing Prayer? You wouldn't think that healing would have any side effects, would you? Consider when you go to the doctor. You may have a reaction to a particular drug, or experience pain from an invasive procedure shots to surgery. There can by emotional side effects to physical healing. If you couldn't work due to an extended illness, are now well, you may have fears regarding getting involved into the job market. New health will, also, mean you have to be responsible for things you couldn't do before house, cooking, child care, relationship responsibilities, job. These may take some getting used to. 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 7
If there were things you couldn't do and were delighted to have an excuse to avoid them, now your excuse is gone. You either have to come up with a new reason, or be honest and say you just don't want to go. Physical reactions to Soul Healing The most common physical reaction is tiredness. You use a great deal of energy when healing. Even though the healing may only take a few minutes, you're using energy. If you experience tiredness after Soul Healing, I suggest you use the prayer before you go to sleep. That way you have all evening to recoup. Emotional reactions to Soul Healing Soul Healing usually brings a sense of peace and lightness. People have shared how life became so much easier. Others have experienced issues they thought long buried brought to the surface. Feelings of grief, anger and sadness come up. You'd be surprised about how much emotional energy it takes to hold down those sad and angry feelings. There are times, after Soul Healing, feelings from similar unresolved experiences come to the surface. For instance, using Soul Healing from the loss of a loved one, may bring up unresolved grief from other losses. If additional pain comes up, you know these are feelings you pushed down from another loss. Although the experience is painful, when you use Soul Healing on each of these related issues, feelings of relief, happiness and joy will be yours. 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 8
When to use the Soul Healing Prayer You may use the prayer for anything at anytime. Once you learn the steps so you don t need to refer to the card, you will be able to use the prayer almost any time. I suggest that you use the prayer before going to sleep. Pick three incidents, related or not, and use the prayer. When you have been using Soul Healing regularly, there may be times you feel a resistance to using the Soul Healing Prayer. There is nothing wrong when this happens. Your inner knowing is telling you to allow yourself time to integrate. Waite a day and then use the prayer. Soul Healing for "Complex" Events Many wounds are "simple." By that I mean it is straight forward without an overlay of other emotions and events. Then there are your "complex" events. These are often the most wounding and life altering. To heal from these at the deepest level, you will need to break the all encompassing event into sub-events. Following are three models of how to do this. Healing from Divorce If you've been divorced, there are so many events leading up to, surrounding and after the signatures on the legal papers. The deepest healing involves addressing each of these events as needed. Below are events you might want to consider: When you first realized your marriage was in trouble The most wounding events in the marriage Events for which you felt guilt or shame usually revolves around children Arguments over child custody Arguments over division of assets 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 9
The final legal reality Any events following the divorce itself Healing for the Loss of a Loved One Each death has its own constellation of feelings. Some deaths are a relief. The pain and intense grief happened earlier. Other deaths are sudden. When you hear about them, you feel kicked in the gut and can't breathe. Still other deaths are filled with anger, guilt, or shame. Following are some events to use for Soul healing: Events leading up to the death When you received word of the death Events surrounding the funeral: planning, wake, funeral, burial Any events for which you feel guilt or shame Things people may have said or done which hurt you The time you realized the death was real Healing from Sexual Abuse Whether there was one incident or a series of incidents, sexual abuse wounds are multilayered. There are wounds on the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels. Some of the events to use for Soul Healing: The abuse itself When you originally sensed a problem Events following the abuse: telling someone or not, not being believed, police intervention, trial, any events in aftermath Comments by others Feeling betrayed by God, others Times the abuse issues surfaced in relationship 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 10
Other Multi-layered Incidents Whatever the incident, behavior patterns, or constellation of feelings, you can facilitate healing. Use the Soul Healing Prayer on individual incidents of the over-riding event or events leading to the feelings. When using the Soul Healing Prayer, simply bring the event to mind. There is no need to immerse yourself in the feelings. Yes, feelings may come up, especially with traumatic events. Simply observe them. Conclusion The Soul Healing Prayer is an amazingly powerful little prayer you can use anytime, anywhere. Once you learn the prayer, 5 easy steps, you will easily use the prayer whenever you think of it. The more often you use the prayer, the deeper your healing will be. After a while, you'll think, "I need to do the Soul Healing Prayer on that." You will begin to feel or sense the changing in the energy that occurs with soul healing. To begin, select 3 incidents a day to ask for healing. It doesn't matter what incidents or when they occurred. Just select what comes to mind or an incident related to an issue you're working on. As you heal, your mood will lighten, you'll be happier and you'll experience the Joy that is yours. Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. LCSW, C.Ht., CBP cathychapmanphd@gmail.com www.groupdistancehealing.com 2009 by Cathy Chapman, Ph.D. Page 11