Have you heard of Byron Katie ?
After suffering deep depression , she experienced a radical change that left her joyful. Sounds a bit far-fetched or culty – yes I thought so too ..
But she has written it down , in what she calls ‘The Work’.
Anyway after reading ”Katie has helped people do The Work on rape, war in Vietnam and Bosnia, torture, internment in Nazi concentration camps, the death of a child and the prolonged pain of illnesses such as cancer ”, I took an interest , and also a moment of reaffirmation , that she groups my pain/ trauma with people who have endured such terrible, terrible things..
So to summarise ,Katie helps people from around the world to dismantle stressful thoughts, using a line of enquiry that sounds laughable simple when written down .
Just spell out your stressful thoughts, she explains, then ask four questions about each thought in turn .
1.Is it true ?
2.Can you absolutely know it’s true ?
3.How do you react , what happens, when you believe the thought ?
4.Who would you be without the thought ?
It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s extremely diverting. She explains ” Most people spend a large part of their life thinking essentially ‘ this shouldn’t be happening. I shouldn’t have to experience this.God is unjust. Life is unfair’.” She shows them it’s much easier to stop struggling with reality and accept whatever is happening.
Of course the article goes on and on and I am not good at paraphrasing – but maybe , just maybe ,if you are anxious or depressed , it is worth taking a look.