Every night, I have terrible nightmares related to my trauma. Some of them are twisted memories, an...
I have had nightmares about the Holocaust for 30 years.
I was not born Jewish.
I was not hanging out with the Holocaust--watching movies or reading about it
when they began. They did, however start in the month of April--which is
Hitler's birthday.
Prior to my nightmares beginning at age 13,
I was molested & raped from ages 3-10 by a male physician.
3 years after this abuse stopped, my Holocaust nightmares began.
In many of my nightmares--I am being raped by the Third Reich
as a teenager, or--I am watching other children getting raped by them.
I also spend a lot of time standing in line for the gas chamber,
getting tossed into the crematoria, and trying to escape from the camps.
It didn't matter which therapist I went to or what they said:
NOTHING made them stop.
I am currently, 44 years old. I started seeing therapists before I left high school.
As of last fall? My nightmares began to taper off.
I haven't had one in months.
What changed?
I found a therapist that worked.
What was missing from all of my other therapy sessions?
> spirituality >
None of them had the same spiritual outlook on life, as I had.
The Rabbis at CHABAD were kind enough to listen to me when I
emailed them at ASK THE RABBI. They respond to every question.
The Rabbi who responded to me? Is also a licensed therapist who
deals with PTSD patients.
There is a prayer that one can read each night before bed,
and each morning when one rises--it is called the SHEMA prayer:
Hear, O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One.
Recite the following verse in an undertone:
Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.
You shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.
And it will be, if you will diligently obey My commandments which I enjoin upon you this day, to love the L-rd your G-d and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, I will give rain for your land at the proper time, the early rain and the late rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be sated. Take care lest your heart be lured away, and you turn astray and worship alien gods and bow down to them. For then the L-rd's wrath will flare up against you, and He will close the heavens so that there will be no rain and the earth will not yield its produce, and you will swiftly perish from the good land which the L-rd gives you. Therefore, place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul, and bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for a reminder between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, to speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise. And you shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates - so that your days and the days of your children may be prolonged on the land which the L-rd swore to your fathers to give to them for as long as the heavens are above the earth.
The L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to attach a thread of blue on the fringe of each corner. They shall be to you as tzizit, and you shall look upon them and remember all the commandments of the L-rd and fulfill them, and you will not follow after your heart and after your eyes by which you go astray - so that you may remember and fulfill all My commandments and be holy to your G-d. I am the L-rd your G-d who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your G-d; I, the L-rd, am your G-d. True.
It is a spiritual way to prepare your soul for sleep.
It helps aid against negative sleep patterns.
I have not had a single, Holocaust nightmare since my Rabbi introduced
me to the Shema prayer.
I highly recommend if you are not connecting with your therapist?
To consider looking for one who has a similar background in spirituality as you do.
