We are so lucky that we have been allowed to publish this story, Thank you.
From emotional chaos, to mental strength in less than 2 months.
Yes – the headline sounds almost too good to be true, but it actually happened to me.
I want to share my story of success because I want to inspire or motivate others who may
have been (or is) in the same situation as me.
My story:
I have been going through a divorce with a woman, whom I have loved and been in love with for 23 years.
After the divorce, I got a new girlfriend. Unfortunately this didn’t last either.
We loved each other, but unfortunately it turned out that we didn’t share the same dreams.
I was very miserable and sad, and struggling to find the best version of myself.
I felt I had lost my confidence and parts of my self-esteem.
I had completed a psychological course of treatment where I had had 2 x 10 sessions with 2 different psychologists and still didn’t feel like I had moved in the right direction.
I was still sad and had difficulties seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, despite the fact that I knew, that I had all the prerequisites for having the perfect life.
I have 2 lovely and well-functioning children, a lovely family, a good job and a great network around me.
It had frustrated me for a long time, because I knew that I was a privileged man, but I couldn’t see it for myself. I spent a lot of energy on things I didn’t know anything about, and my thoughts often carried me away leaving me with a bad feeling inside.
Completely by chance one day, I read a post on Stig Sølvhøj’s Facebook page about a concept called “MINDstrain”. There was a small article about another person who had also had some challenges
and in a short time, that person had achieved great success with Stig.
Afterwards, I thought to myself, ‘why not give it a try?’ Maybe it could help me too…
I contacted Stig and then it happened – On July 31, 2018, I had booked my first therapy session with Stig.
I was a little skeptical at first because before the meeting, Stig and I had talked on the phone, and he claimed that,
I would only need to see him 3 to 5 times, and then I would be, quoting Stig, “good to go.”
Of course, I became curious about what Stig and his MINDstrain concept could actually do, where two other psychologists had not been successful with for me.
Stig’s first comment was “So, how is it to be you?”
A question that I initially had a hard time answering, as I was, to put it mildly, just in chaos in my head.
I shared my issue regarding my thoughts and feelings not always aligning, after which Stig said
“ok – why don’t you just stop doing that?”
I had not expected that question and had a thought similar to the scene in the movie
”Blinkende lygter” where Thorkild had to blow eggs.
Buuut, now I’m a polite person and replied ‘if I could stop it, then I wouldn’t be sitting here’
We got right into it where Stig asked me some questions, showed some theory and I did some active thinking exercises that gave me some AHA moments.
I was very surprised that I could already feel a difference after that hour.
I got a homework assignment for our next meeting, where I had to confirm daily that I had done my homework by sending him a text message.
The same thing repeated itself for the following 2-3 times with good conversations and homework assignments.
I could really feel a difference already after the second session, as I felt more calm and much more composed in my way of thinking. Every time I had a thought that didn’t make me feel good, I was able to accept that it was there and then quickly parked it in my inner “armchair”.
My surroundings also started to say that they could feel that I had become happier, and several said, “How nice it is to feel that the old Peter is back.”
Furthermore, I could also feel that I had gained more energy at work, started to exercise a lot and just began to enjoy being myself.
Can you provide more context about what made your fourth therapy session feel strange or unusual? That would help me understand and provide a more accurate translation. I was sitting in the chair and Stig was looking at me and said “what can I do for you today”, it was actually a bit irritating question, because I couldn’t think of anything. Fine, he said, what are your own values, if you had to make a top 3 list? BANG! Another AHA experience. I was actually surprised myself that I couldn’t answer it right away and was also a little scared that I wasn’t familiar with my own values.
That became my new homework assignment for the next meeting.
I went home and reflected a lot on my own values, and I must honestly say that it was definitely not easy. But like the previous times, I did my homework and could happily share them with Stig the next time we met.
The 5th therapy session ended with me telling Stig that I no longer needed any more therapy visits because I felt, to use Stig’s own words, “good to go”.
A great success story that I hope can inspire others…and why is that?
It works, that’s why! –
A HUGE thanks to Stig!
