Aarnav (name changed for confidentiality reasons) came to see us in August upon the recommendation of his psychiatrist. He is 19 yrs old and had gone abroad to study. He started suffering from severe anxiety and panic attacks – he would faint and have to be hospitalised. He returned to India in order to get himself treated. When he came to see us, he was in a bad shape – seemed depressed and negative. He was used to self mutilation – would often cut himself during his anxiety and panic attacks. Family system was dysfunctional – mom being depressive and father being mostly emotionally absent. He seemed quite shut down and had issues with his friendships also. Going abroad seemed glamorous but initial months were full of hardships, loneliness and feeling lost.

His WHO-5 Wellbeing score was 40%
MDI score (Measure of Depression Index) was at 23%
GAD-7 Score (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) was at 9

We started therapy with him using Neuro-Linguistic-Programming or NLP (to work on his fears, phobias), Regression Therapy – Specifically Inner Child therapy work for childhood trauma, Psychodrama and Empty Chair and Gestalt. We also used counseling and coaching techniques. He has been taught certain emotional management techniques and our SEE self hypnosis protocol for self management.

Over 9 sessions his recovery is amazing! He has stopped harming himself and his panic attacks reduced to almost nil in last 2 weeks. His anxiety score also went down and his parents shared that he has started getting into a healthy sleeping -waking routine, started reading books and also getting motivated to start his own work. Seeing all the positive changes in him over 2 months now his other family members have also approached us seeking therapy for their own personal issues!

Sharing his data here.

19 year old’s transformation journey through regression therapy, NLP and so on

The sessions were done by Gunjan Y Trivedi and myself. The bar graph shows reduced in MDI (depression) while line graphs show the improvement in wellbeing and reduction in GAD (Anxiety)

WHO-5: from 40% up to 92% (WHO well-being index)
MDI: from 23% down to 3 % (depression index)
GAD: from 9 down to 1 (Anxiety)

IT IS NOT OVER YET. He is back on track but will need ongoing support for some more time to keep him on track. Therapy is not about taking a few sessions and by magic all the problems dissolve! (in some cases it does, but not in such severe cases). There may be relapses. Hence we need to keep seeing such clients at regular intervals and phase it out till they are completely on their own and normal. He did have a relapse during the 9 sessions but the intensity was much less and he was able to manage it well and get back on track.

Anxiety is on the rise like never before. Most of our new clients show up with high anxiety scores. It is reversible and manageable. When clients take help at a young age, the damage to the body is much less and therapy efficacy is much better – there are fewer past baggages to clean up!

We have also seen a significant correlation between anxiety and childhood trauma. Kids who have been through physical abuse in childhood (also sexual) tend to develop disorders related to anger and anxiety or depression and negativity (both are two polarising extremes).  Hope this story provides a perspective on how regression therapy, NLP for anxiety and panick attacks continues to transform the lives of the individuals…

Ririi G Trivedi