Outsmart Yourself

"Even a fairly minor painful experience can result in psychological trauma." ~ Karl Lehman, MD

I was at a workshop today entitled Outsmarting Yourself: Catching your past invading the present and what to do about it which is also the name of a book by the presenter, Karl Lehman. The premise is that the brain has strategies that navigate the world, sometimes successfully, but other times not so much. Lehman combines the brain science with a prayer method known as the Immanuel Approach. We were able to see a live demonstration of the prayer session, which was interesting.

In a nutshell, the theory was that all of us are wounded in childhood and if we can return to the memory with Jesus, we can be healed and move forward. If we do not, then as adults, we experience triggers that stop us from being relational and whole. Lehman had an interesting comment about church and trauma for children since they do not have the maturity to understand some of the language used in church. He told a funny (though sobering) story of wondering how to “pluck his eye out” when he heard that expression quoted from Scripture. For many years, his image of God was not a benevolent one.

In the demo, the woman talked about her feelings of inadequacies in her birth family that now over spilled into her own family. By the end of her session, clearly Jesus had renewed her from showing her that he loved her, even if she played off key—in fact he delighted in her. Lehman had stated earlier in the presentation that God does not focus on our particular malfunctions.

Our inner work is the most important work we will ever do. Outsmart yourself and see where you need healing and then find the courage to figure out how. I have never regretted the times I did.

Peace,

Suzanne