Counseling While In Pain

A true mark of an athlete is playing with pain. Well, my athletic days are long gone, though time to time I do have to work with pain. Pain can be a good thing. At least that is what Dr. Bernie Segal said at my graduation from The University of Santa Monica so many years ago. According to Dr. Segal, pain is what motivates us to change and be better. In fact, he wished pain upon us all. Thanks a lot dude! Your wish has come true numerous times and the last horrah was when my tooth was extracted on monday. So a day later, I staggered into work thinking that everybody can see the knife still hanging out from the place my wisdom tooth once occupied. And of course Dr. Segal was right - I had a string of incredible sessions.

Interviewing clients when I am not one hundred percent makes me more empathic. Well aware of my own suffering - which is usually momentary - I interview people who have to tolerate not only physical difficulties, but emotional ones on a daily basis. Some have to endure psychosis! For years!

I am reminded of one client I interviewed when I first started working at the Urgent Care almost eight years ago. This person told me they were never treated, was in their mid forties, and for well over twenty years had been tormented by voices and visions at bed time. At times this person actually felt people grabbing her! It made me wonder if schizophrenia is simply a sensitivity to the Beyond? Who really knows? Maybe they can see through the thin vale between our reality and the paranormal? Still for twenty years being tormented, it must have been something way out of their paranormal existence to bring them into seeing me!

Pain is a part of everyday life unfortunately - or fortunately depending on Dr. Segal's outlook. It is the amount of pain that is the real issue. In my youth, my friends and I had a saying - "A little pain never hurt anybody." Yuck yuck. It was probably something drummed into our heads while playing little league baseball. Trust me, now that is a sport filled with pain. I used to get hit by pitches, have balls bank off of my shins, sprain fingers, slice my knees up sliding. In fact I still have raspberry scars on my hips from sliding in Semi-Pro ball. Me of all people, who hates pain sure choose the wrong sport to pursue. Thank God I didn't fall in love with Football like my best friend Mike. He has now had seven knee surgeries because of that foolishness.

Pain is not going to go away. How we confront it shows our character. Some fear it and some embrace it. I tend to do both, given the circumstance. One thing for sure. I am going to floss and take plenty of vitamins from now on to avoid going through that pain again!