THE ACADEMY IS CELEBRATING ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY

A Metaphor on Pain and Suffering

Don Alexander, M.S., BCETS, FAAETS

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Once upon a time there was a youth who dreamed dreams of adventure and goodness. He came from average people who worked hard and made sacrifices for their families. They came from people who were farmers, who were primarily hill people, who had a strong belief in what was fair and just and a stubborn propensity for standing up for those beliefs. They had always made sacrifices, whether it be for their families or the country in which they lived.

The youth was a sensitive and perceptive son, who loved to sit and watch the hawks soaring in the sky, smell the fresh cut hay and listen to the hounds running on cold nights.

One day, as was his habit, he stopped on the way to school to sit on the roots of a large Oak tree and watch and listen. Down the road came two men. One reflected the light of the sun like a knight errant. The other, who seemed to be almost in rags had a dark, moody and sad affect. Both strode with the air of purpose and had a sense of adventure about them, although the dark one was scarred and walked with a limp.

They stopped before the youth, who was immediately awed by the bright and shining one who began to tell him stories of great adventure, sacrifice and honor. On and on he talked and the youth became a part of the stories and when the stranger left, he was full of wonderment and could not wait to make his life like this bright and shining stranger. There was a slight hint of a shadow regarding the dark and silent one but this was quickly pushed aside by the memory of indestructibility of the bright one.

The youth grew into a young man still dreaming of challenges and adventure. When war came to his country he quickly went to become a soldier, ready to fulfill his destiny.

On the field of war he saw courage and sacrifice but also cruelty and callousness, sometimes present in the same individual. Remembering the feeling of confidence and control of the bright and shining stranger of his youth he strove to maintain this feeling for himself. And when he was struck down on that chaotic field, in his terror and agony, he changed forever. Then began an ordeal of struggling against the pain of so much lost. The pain and suffering within the body of the youth became a tyrant. He returned to the country of his youth and all was changed. Even the old Oak tree was gone. But the one of dark visage was still there, his scars and appearance too foreboding to even acknowledge.

The youth frantically searched and sought for the bright one and the return of his dreams but he searched in vain.

In pain and confusion he walked the roads of his youth and one day he came upon the dark one who blocked his path. He rushed forward and a violent struggle began between them. From all around others came to intercede and help but the two struggled on and on until finally the youth, fatigued by his pain, fell down. The other stood over him and the youth recognized something very familiar about him. The dark one, who seemed to now reflect the light of the sun, said, "I came to you as a youth and spoke with you, but you only heard what you could hear. You now have the mark of pain and suffering of your experience and you must tell others for they too must face what is really real. They may not hear you but you must convince them to listen differently."

The metaphor reflects a common theme in our culture; the heroic archetype that represents a value system based on what is perceived as "right" and doing what is "right." When the "what is right" is violated and the body and soul is traumatized the person reacts with fear and rage and the body and soul suffers a deep sense of loss of control. The youth experiences this loss of control, not only because of his trauma but also because of what he thought was right now seems like an illusion. The cement that bonded him to his culture and its sense of order crumbles into nothingness. He frantically tries to recapture it as it was but eventually is confronted with the reality that he can not. The dark one reminds him and issues a call to him regarding his responsibility to his humanness to share his story because all will sooner or later face this crisis.

The personal narrative is extremely important to the victim of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the finding of one's voice and articulating their story. Even if in the beginning the story is chaotic, the validation allows for the rebuilding of the illusions of control and that in a real deep sense they are not illusions at all.

Published by the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress - 2020

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TRAUMATIC STRESS SPECIALITIES

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• CERTIFICATION IN BEREAVEMENT TRAUMA (C.B.T.)
• CERTIFICATION IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (C.D.V.)
• CERTIFICATION IN MOTOR VEHICLE TRAUMA (C.M.V.T.)
• CERTIFICATION IN SEXUAL ABUSE (C.S.A.)
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• CERTIFICATION IN RAPE TRAUMA (C.R.T.)
• CERTIFICATION IN PAIN MANAGEMENT (C.P.M.)
• CERTIFICATION IN STRESS MANAGEMENT (C.S.M.)
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• CERTIFIED CRISIS CHAPLAIN (C.C.C.)
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• CERTIFICATION IN CRISIS INTERVENTION (C.C.I.)
• CERTIFICATION IN WAR TRAUMA (C.W.T.)

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