Lisa (not her real name) came to us, hoping to improve her relationship with her father. During our first meeting, it became apparent she had work to do first on herself. She had an expectation that the wrong would be set right as her father would have to answer to her accusations. But her emotions became volatile in that session as feelings of grief, anxiety, abandonment, and rejection poured out of her. Her father’s responses seemed apathetic, which wounded her further.
She shared her struggles with suicidal thoughts and depression. She had been in the US Army but was medically discharged due to a diagnosis of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). One assumes a former military member has PTSD because of combat exposure; however, this was not the case.
Lisa had been brutally violated sexually in the past, and this trauma left her sad, depressed, fearful, and suicidal at times. That violation and injury to her soul might be enough to derail anyone, but the roots of trauma are often planted in childhood through fear, anxiety, and pain.
This explains why some are predisposed to PTSD while others having the same experience do not. Why does this happen? Henry Wright, founder of Be In Health (a ministry the studies the connections between pathways of disease and mental and spiritual well-being) recognizes that the enemy’s devices to introduce fear often at a younger age is the cause. The enemy can work through generational curses of fear and other open doors to capitalize on a traumatic event to lock someone into a prison of fear or predispose them to trauma’s effects.
PTSD Medications Were Not the Answer
Lisa had experienced a radical conversion from unbeliever open to drug use and homosexuality to awakening to Jesus as her Lord as Savior. However, Lisa still grappled with the pain and trauma from her past and knew she needed help to gain total victory. Medication and conventional therapy were prescribed with very little relief at best. Lisa deteriorated further sharing that:
“I was suicidal, even stating, at least 14-30 times a day, I just want to kill myself, or I wish I were dead”.
I knew that we needed to deal with that childhood pain, apart from the effort to improve the relationship with her father. There were significant unmet needs, wounding, and instability in her childhood because of a broken family and toxic home environment.
During some of our sessions, Lisa would present as very withdrawn and downcast. Her mouth was like an open grave speaking words of hopelessness, despair, and victimization over herself. She had become withdrawn from people, as she could not trust them with her emotions.
I began establishing a groundwork to help her grow in the knowledge of spiritual warfare and deliverance, relating it to her personal pain and circumstances. I started laying the groundwork for understanding how to renew her mind and pull down the strongholds of thinking that constantly plagued her. Like many, she had some understanding, but our approach is to bring practical insights to about their identity in Christ and their inheritance as a child of God in their life.
After a few sessions, I felt compelled to encourage her to come to “Released to Soar” Deliverance Seminar since she lives in Florida, and the time for our next event was approaching. I sensed that having members of our team minister to her with their gifts of compassion, intercession, and mercy would prove therapeutic.
I met with her the day before the seminar our to ease her anxiety about sharing with strangers. I wanted her to feel comfortable and reassured that the event would be a safe place for her to heal. When she arrived to meet before the conference, she barely spoke, had her head down, and seemed to lack hope that anything good would come of her time with us. I was able to encourage her to attend on the first night and then the second night. Saturday’s deliverance event was terrific as usual, and as I checked in with her afterward, I witnessed the change in her countenance.
I saw peace and joy on her face! She had a beautiful smile, and I could see hope in her eyes. I hugged her and encouraged her to guard her freedom, keep renewing her mind, and start moving toward God’s destiny for her life.
She wrote to us recently saying, “I used to believe that I was just a depressed person. After struggling with sadness since I was a child. I don’t feel that way anymore”. She added, “I’ve been through years of therapy as well, but this deliverance seminar has helped me 100-fold more”.
It is an honor and privilege at Above & Beyond Christian Counseling to partner with God helping others find freedom – whom the Son sets free is free indeed!
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