Obsessive/Compulsive Behaviors & Thoughts
I was having an issue with McDonalds drive thru! Any lunch time that found me on the road … and even only mildly hungry … my mind starting locating the McDonalds drive thru locations. No matter the mind talking that I tried (just drive past, you can eat at home!!), inevitably my vehicle whipped into the proper turn lane and into the drive thru I went!! It was just getting more ridiculous as time passed.
So I tried a mapping session with April … and with only one session my obsession with the drive thru went away! Even when I was hungry!!! I could easily convince myself that I had supplies at home and could manage my hunger to get home to eat.
Months have passed and the effects are still in full force. Yes, I do “plan” a swing into the drive thru …. but it is not obsessive/compulsive … it is planned! what a difference … what a relief! ~ A client of April's
Thank you April .. and the MAP tool
~ A client of April's
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Fear of Hights:
A client with a fear of heights sent me this text after her first MAP session (added with permission)...
"Wouldn’t have been happy hanging out here before MAP" ~VB
After her second MAP session she texted this... "After two sessions with April, which I initially did for fear of heights, I've noticed I'm more calm and balanced and my blood pressure has dropped as well." ~ VB
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Working with feelings of overwhelm:
I am very grateful to be working with April and the support the MAP program provides. April is a wonderful teacher and very supportive in processing through all that comes up in our sessions. Currently I am working on setting goals and the emotions of overwhelm that come up and create blocks. This work is truly powerful. I have been able to really work through my overwhelm after three sessions. She is truly helping me own my life and empower my mind and it is a priceless gift!
~Meg B
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Relationship Stress:
I have experienced two MAP sessions with April Franklin.
Both sessions focused on two key relationships that caused me stress, frustration, anxiety and at times guilt. The first relationship was with a cousin and the second with my sister-in-law.
Both sessions raised awareness of my emotions and triggers related to my interactions with these two people. Through my MAP session I was able to identify the triggers and learn a better way to manage my emotions and my coping/response strategies.
It changed how I reacted and responded to each of them and brought about positive outcomes that have resulted in a better relationship going forward.
The best part is that this awareness and new learned strategies have continued long past my two MAP sessions. I am so happy that I continue to have positive interactions that have really freed me from the anxiety and stress I had in the past. I just finished a month long overseas trip with my cousin and it was truly the best time traveling that we have had in the last 4 years. I also had to deal with a difficult situation with my sister-in-law and I was able to respond appropriately without getting into past issues and it resulted in both of us happy with the decision made.
I feel so positive about MAP with April that I plan to have a session dealing with procrastination on a house project that impacts the quality of my life in my home. I also plan to have an MAP session to help me prepare for an upcoming surgical procedure that is causing me fear and anxiety. It is amazing how MAP can be used in so many ways to help someone live their best life!
Thank you April!
~ DH
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Negative emotions triggered by a song:
RN had two different experiences that were triggering her to experience two sets of uncomfortable and unwanted emotions when she would hear a particular song. We did a MAP session, and now when she hears that song, she no longer has the unwanted emotions come up. (Added with permission)
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Help from using self-MAP (MAP-on-the-Go):
I started working with April doing MAP sessions in mid-July. We did fairly regular weekly sessions on a number of issues that were coming up for me. We started addressing sleep issues, but with each session something different would have arisen through the week, so my topic was never really consistent. I gained some insights, and some things shifted, so it was interesting.
Where I really noticed marked in-the-moment changes was with the self-MAP April taught me. Dealing with Breast Cancer, Lymphedema and numbness in my right hand and arm various mental emotional anxieties, worries, and fears could, and do just overtake me at times. A lot of times in the evening I might feel incapacitated by anxious worrying like I was trapped in my body, wanting to jump out of my skin, and literally crying like there was no way out. In whatever presence of mind I managed, I would just cry out the self-MAP trying to encapsulate as best I could what I was experiencing. Many times the crying would halt, and the trapped thoughts would subside almost immediately. If the dark thoughts persisted I’d focus on what else was there, and repeat the self-MAP from that angle until I felt it shift, and my mind and body clear.
Other books I have talk about breathing, focusing on things around me, and doing exercises for the senses to help those intense, incapacitating feelings to ease. It can be helpful, but the self-MAP just releases and shifts me out of that space immediately nearly every time I use it.
~ BG