Summary: In this episode, I speak with Anna Pinkerton, renowned psychotherapist, author and speaker with over 25 years’ experience helping people recover from chronic stress, trauma, PTSD, burnout and breakdown. Anna works worldwide with business leaders, senior executives, professionals and people in the public eye. Anna differs from other therapists, where she works closely with clients to provide tailored therapy solutions built around individual need. This means clients get the supportive care they need to help them recover more quickly. To learn more about Anna’s incredible work, do visit her website here. Learn more about Anna’s recent book 'Smile Again' here. KEY TAKEAWAYS Background I ‘m in my 26th year of practice and very early on became interested in the long-life effects of trauma. I started to specialise in trauma and recognised that lots of people are ‘walking wounded’ as they don’t even realise they are suffering. I began to look at how I could make a difference. My work has evolved to studying what’s getting in the way of recovery and what speeds it up. PTSD I often see someone who has been poorly for a couple of decades. There are multiple symptoms and if they have persisted over a long period of time then it is likely they have been suffering from PTSD for all of that time. There are 2 ways of becoming traumatised The stacking of multiple traumatic events A single significant trauma Getting in the way of Recovery People form an opinion of themselves, they internalise it and make a decision that the fault is theirs. With a core belief such as ‘I am bad,’ the psych turns itself against itself creating inner brutality of thought, inner brutality of action or both. Once you educate people about what they have been through and what they are not, then they can ask themselves if I’m not those things who am I? this begins the process of transforming that inner brutality into something useful. Companionability is the medicine for the psych if you want a lifelong recovery you have to have the companionability in place for the self. Companionability, Consideration, Care Companionability – if you have a companionable relationship with yourself it means you can’t fall out with yourself or let yourself down. Consideration of experience, and yourself – once you have a companionable relationship you can then consider who you are Care – how do you care about what you find in the consideration stage. How do you care about who you are and who you want to be? Range of Emotions There are 10 emotions we should be experiencing but mostly we emerge from childhood with just two or three. The range of emotions can be limited as a result of PTSD with people not experiencing highs and lows just a moderate range Someone can be overwhelmed with shame and guilt, but these are the defences to the emotion of grief. Dive into it then you’ve got the chance to dissipate it and move through it. Smile Again This book is the culmination of 25 years of practice. I share with people the elements of recovery that I use every day with my clients. BEST MOMENTS ‘Feedback for the brain when you move is that things are ok’ ‘You can never cry the same tear twice’ ‘If you have them, feel them you can move through them’ ‘You come out with only half a toolkit’ ‘People can lose everything in an instant, the power is to prevent the break’ ‘We are all at the mercy of our neurology’ ‘It’s helping them get to know themselves in a companionable way’ VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Smile-Again-Anna-Pinkerton/dp/1326166638 https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/enduring-health/id1442268572?mt=2 ABOUT THE HOST Dr Shan Hussain is an author, general practitioner, health coach, wellness advisor and ambassador to the World Health Innovation Summit. As Founder of The Health Studio and a medical doctor of 18 years, he has a special interest in health promotion and disease prevention. He works with individuals and organisations to help naturally improve health in a sustainable, holistic manner. Dr Hussain has developed several coaching and mentorship programmes designed to help reverse the symptoms of many stress-related health problems. His best-selling book, 'The Big Prescription' serves as a guide for readers to learn about evidence-based holistic health practices that create the foundation of his work. CONTACT METHOD Connect with Dr Shan Hussain through his website at https://thehealthstudio.net/ If you would like to support our Podcast, please visit our Patreon page https://www.patreon.com/enduringhealth GUEST CONTACT METHOD https://annapinkerton.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-pinkerton-kindness-incorporated%E2%84%A2-39414647/?originalSubdomain=uk https://twitter.com/AnnaPinkertonKI/status/1044513885880025089 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/enduringhealth See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
