The Curious Case of Diana and Her Uncle Charlie's WW II PTSD By Rubin Battino, MS
The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newletter Case Report , VOL. 42, NO. 3
The Curious Case of Diana and Her Uncle Charlie's WW II PTSD
By Rubin Battino, MS
Diana is 75 years old and has had lifelong terrors from the stories her Uncle Charlie told her of his being a prisoner in WW II. Over her lifetime she has fre- quently experienced terror, which has grown stronger. Diana has consulted many helping professionals over the years. My challenge when I recently saw her was how to help her to get over these terrors. I could have asked about the nature of her terrors—but they are hers. All I needed to know was that she had them. She did not need to recount and relive them again.
I began by telling Diana about my volunteer work with individuals with life- challenging diseases. I told her that I believe in miracles and that I always have hope. I also told her that I have witnessed a number of miracles, such as people “graduating” from hospice. I mentioned Carol, who was a religious Catholic. Carol had shown her support group what she had written about her treatments, and how she felt about them. The group held a ceremony in which Carol read her statement, burned the paper, then collected the ashes in a bag that Carol threw in the trash. Carol told her oncologist that she would not have any more treatments. Then she left hospice and lived another 17 years
Having set the stage, I suggested that Diana first write about what she wanted to permanently remove from her memories and life. Then, she was to get a group of friends and family together and read to them what she wrote. She was then to dispose of what she had written, go on with her life, free of Uncle Charlie’s terror, since it was his terror and not hers, and because he was long gone. This ceremony made sense to Diana, and she said she was going to do it.
I asked Diana if she felt over the years that there was a voice or an evil spirit or demon, even an ogre within her that had gotten her to hear Uncle Charlie re- peat his horrific story. As in Narrative Therapy, where we give a name to the con- trolling spirit, we decided this one would be called “Sub Con” or “S.C.” I told Diana I was going to do an “exorcism” of S.C. She told me that her exorcizing power would be a “Universal Healing Spirit.”
I hypnotized Diana by asking her to close her eyes and pay attention to her breathing. Diana had experienced this with me before. Then I suggested that she go into her mind into to her own special healing and protective place. Over the next 20 minutes I slowly introduced her Universal Healing Spirit, saying, “And now, somehow, you become aware of this healer being near you and getting gen- tly closer.” The Healing Spirit got closer, gently entered her body, found wherever S.C. was within her, removed S.C. from her body, took it outside, threw it up into the sky. S.C. was hurled at the speed of light into the sun where it disintegrated and vanished forever in the sun’s heat. From that time forward, Diana would be forever free of S.C. I told her that this experience was now an indestructible and integral part of her mind/body, and that she could relive it if she ever needed. Details of how the powerful and knowledgeable Universal Healing Spirit did all of this were woven in. At the end I thanked her for her attention, trust, and confidence.
Diana looked happy and peaceful when she opened her eyes. I offered a small smooth stone from my collection as a remembrance. She smiled, asked for a hug, then she left.
I was surprised that we had been together for only 45 minutes. The two things I had suggested were what Diana wanted and needed to be rid of her lifelong ter- rors. Many clients readily accept the idea of an exorcism to rid them of controlling spirits. They have tried to get help from therapists who use evidence-based ap- proaches, but exorcism is ceremonial, exotic, unusual, , and surprisingly unex- pected. And the unexpected can open doors.
I recently contacted Diana to ask how she was and to get her permission to write this column. She had carried out the ceremony and felt it was significant in ridding her of her lifelong terrors. She told me that there are still some moments of terror, but she easily gets over them by paying attention to her breathing.
Commentary
By Eric Greenleaf PhD
Rubin Battino was trained in science and he taught science. So, it is no sur- prise that his evocative and unexpected words to patients have the gentle air of obvious facts. He combines Erickson’s loving empathy and surprisingly pow- erful interactions, using medieval methods to exorcise the terror of a modern horror.
Utilizing literate means to therapeutic ends, Battino helps his patient by using trance and strategic brief approaches. In a charming and rapid interac- tion, the patient is able to leave behind her uncle’s PTSD.