Our Stories
Stories Of Transformation
Stories Of Transformation
Case 7
Anger and stubbornness are usually seen and brushed off as teenage issues. However, in the case of Jaya*, a 17-year-old student, it seemed abnormal since she was not assertive with her parents or her grandparents. Therefore, anger outbursts, stubbornness, and picking fights with family members seemed very unusual. Once she started therapy, she also revealed that she was socially anxious and showed signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As an unassertive teenager, she ended up letting her caretakers help her with every task including things she wanted to do on her own. She felt like she had no sense of personal space or responsibility in the family. Our psychologist helped her with her anger issues, and assertive techniques along with Acceptance and Commitment therapy, a form of therapy that focused on helping her be more consistent with her own values and morals and practice acceptance in her life. She started showing remarkable improvement and was able to get along with her family. She did not have any anger outbursts and did not pick any fights with them. She started undertaking activities on her own which made her experience feelings of happiness and contentment. She started working on her self-esteem by setting her own goals with the help of the psychologist like going to the gym etc. She could finally create her own identity for herself and be assertive, reducing her anger outbursts and stubbornness. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 8
John* a 31-year-old male came to The Mind Research Foundation with complaints of being addicted to porn and compulsively masturbating. It was adversely affecting his sleep which affected his work performance as he was not able to focus on his work. When he learned that this behavior was affecting him on a daily basis, he decided to seek help. Apart from this, he also had issues with impulsivity which led to anger and spending money recklessly. After scheduling a session with our psychologist and explaining the above, the therapy process itself began with psycho-educating John* regarding addiction and how it works. The reward pathway in our brains which was responsible for maintaining addictive behaviors, in his case consumption of porn and masturbatory practices was explained to him. This psychoeducation proved extremely effective in terms of mapping his behavior and helping him understand that whatever was happening wasn’t his fault. To help identify his triggers better, John* was asked to maintain a journal that would help him and the psychologist describe, explain, understand, and predict his behavior. After the first week of recording, better identification of triggers was made. In the following therapy sessions, a technique called urge surfing was taught to John* in which alternative behaviors for the maladaptive coping mechanism were taught. The nature of an urge and auto-pilot was also explained to him in which our minds automatically go into an auto-pilot mode when an urge comes and the person automatically satisfies the urge by engaging in the behavior. John* was taught through mindfulness to accept the urge as just an urge and not something that has to translate into action. The importance of recognizing the urge or craving and accepting the impermanence of it also helped him. The practice of formal mindfulness was encouraged and conducted in sessions as well so he gets a better understanding and practice of the same. An added element for him was to note in his journal what had helped him surf the urge rather than get pulled in by it. Another important aspect for John* was having 2 other anchor points, that is, having 2 people to talk to when the urge was too overwhelming. This also helped him as it acted as a distraction and further delayed the urge which he was then able to fight off successfully. Gradually, as the sessions progressed, his overpowering need to watch porn and masturbate began to lessen and he felt more empowered. He was also able to find ways to deal with his anger in a more healthy and respectful manner and also use the techniques he learned to manage his reckless spending. He learned that there are better ways to deal with things and learned to surf the urges like a pro rather than get consumed by them, through which he was able to function as a better person on a personal as well as a professional level. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 9
Being worried about losing your job is normal. But being worried about your job every day with no unknown root cause is not. This is the story of 38-year-old Lakshmi*. A divorced mother of two teenagers, she has had a successful well-paying career for the past several years in the top management of her organization. Being in the organization for over 6 years, she’s been constantly worried about losing her job and not being able to provide for her children for the past 8 months or so. Ever since the worry set in, she’s found it extremely difficult to brush it off and found herself getting restless, tired, and tense. Pacing when she’s alone, losing track of what she’s saying, rehearsing worst-case scenarios, and losing sleep to the fear of losing her job… are a few of the ways it’s been impacting her. After listening to her valid concerns, our psychologist helped her identify unhealthy patterns in her relationship with work. While exploring this, Lakshmi* also revealed that she has unhealthy relationships in all aspects of her life. She was made aware of her anxiety-driven relationship patterns and behaviors and how they might have had long-term detriments. Once she was psycho-educated on that, she was taught better ways to deal with any fears or insecurities that she encountered. Other techniques like how to build a strong support system, talking to friends about her worries, and knowing who to avoid while she felt anxious were discussed with her. Today, she feels her negative thinking has reduced and in case she encounters a negative thought she feels equipped to deal with it in a healthy manner. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 10
23-year-old Divya* came in with complaints of anger outbursts, and picking fights with family members, her boyfriend, and her colleagues. Her behavior led everyone around her to be terrified of her, making her lonely and socially incompatible. Apart from this, she feels like she’s not good enough at her work, is feeling pressure due to her father’s illness who is a heart patient, isn’t able to connect with her sister, and also witnesses the fights between her parents. On top of all this, her family was pressuring her to get married which didn’t help at all. She ended up slapping her boyfriend for trying to comfort her while she was venting about how unappreciated she left about her work life. This incident made Divya* see that she needed some professional help and reached out to us. Once she started having sessions with our psychologist, she gained the confidence to open up and discuss her career growth, weight gain, frustrations and being entangled in her parents, and so on… After opening up, Divya* started showing remarkable changes within weeks. She learned to prioritize the areas she wanted to address, healthy relaxation techniques, and more. Over a period, she started expressing her anger and needs in a healthy manner, making her less irritable and more calm and composed. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 11
We all go through times when thoughts tend to overwhelm us, but what if these thoughts and images were so intrusive in nature that it manifests into physical symptoms such as trouble falling asleep, an inability to relax, difficulty concentrating, and low self-image with somatic complaints of headache? Well, that’s what 20-year-old Natasha* was going through when she came to us. What seemed to aggravate the situation was the fact that she believed these thoughts were true and lacked proper awareness. Natasha* went through various medical examinations that did not indicate any physical basis for her concerns. Not getting any respite for her condition, she came to The Mind Research Foundation in order to seek some clarity as to what was going on with her. The initial therapy sessions with Natasha* started with forming a mutual bond with her and understanding the nature of her thoughts and how her experiences in her childhood have shaped her as a person. Post this, it was identified that Natasha* had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder Natasha* was initially psycho-educated about the disorders and the importance of medications and therapy to help her manage these. Even though she opposed medications, she was open to therapy and it was initiated by giving her a thought log to write about her automatic thoughts and behavior. After she was able to pinpoint the automatic thoughts, emotions, and behavior she had, it was discovered that Natasha* went through intrusive thoughts of being the ‘victim of an acid attack’ and a ‘victim of a geyser blast’ that will blemish or damage her face due to which she constantly seek reassurance from her parents regarding her low self-image. Natasha* repeatedly experienced thoughts that if she paid attention to her appearance only, then God would punish her by making her the victim of an acid attack or geyser blast. After listening to and thoroughly understanding her thought patterns, our psychologist began by teaching her formal mindfulness techniques in order to promote relaxation in her. As for the repeated intrusive thoughts, she was again psycho-educated about thought-action fusion which is the tendency of individuals to assume that certain thoughts increase the likelihood of catastrophic events. It was further taught and normalized to her that the occurrence of intrusive thoughts is irrelevant to taking any further action against them and that being hyperaware is not really helpful for her negative thoughts. As the sessions progressed, Natasha* was able to restructure her thoughts to more helpful ones which hence reduced her seeking reassurance from her parents. Now, Natasha* is doing much better and there is more than a considerable amount of improvement in her negative and intrusive thoughts and reassurance-seeking behavior (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 12
This is a story that every parent could relate to, whose kids are getting trapped in the clutches of the internet. Karthik is a 14-year-old teenager whose life existed around the internet. His indulgence led to a drop in grades, sleeping late, frequent fights with his parents over the time spent on the laptop, and limited interest in any other physical or social activity. His parents reached out and booked an appointment with us for him. The psychologist enquired about the usage of the internet by the whole family, current ground rules, and what other activities the adolescent was interested in. The psychologist encouraged the parents to learn about positive discipline, keeping in mind the teenage period. They were motivated to law down some ground rules which would be applicable to the whole family like a time limit on the usage of the internet, spending time with family, etc. The psychologist had a healthy conversation between the parents and Karthik* so that he understands the reasons behind the changes and how they would further benefit him. Negative discipline in the form of taking away the laptop or disconnecting the internet was discouraged by the psychologist as it would increase the gap between the parent and him. It would further boost behaviors that would be unsuitable for him like going to a friend’s place on the pretext of studying and ending in playing a game or two. Obedience comes with respect and mutual respect was something that was stimulated by the psychologist. The parents were advised to spend quality time with their son like playing a video game so that the child feels that his parents are ‘flexible” and “cool”. This further helps the parents to reach out to their son more effectively. It was also advised by the psychologist to ‘let go’ of the child and let him learn through his mistakes and face the repercussions so that he could grow and learn from his own mistakes. Karthik* showed tremendous improvement and was able to restrict himself to the time allotted for internet usage and the parents too felt that the gap had been filled as their child started spending some quality time with them. (*name changed for anonymity)
Stories Of Transformation
Case 6
Rahul* was extremely terrified of being in social situations and meeting new people to the extent that he would avoid social situations that required any sort of interaction. Feeling judged by others and anxious about being in social situations was prevalent since he was 20 years old. Now, at 23 his fear and anxious thoughts only progressively got worse. After taking an appointment with our psychologist at The Mind Research Foundation who recommended him to our clinical psychologist, found that he was suffering from social anxiety and was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder. Once the diagnosis was made, Rahul* felt more comfortable because he knew what was happening and could put a name to his thoughts. He said that he was relieved to know that recovery was possible and was receptive and willing to put in the effort. Once we went in-depth into his concerns, he revealed that he didn’t have that much difficulty having one-on-one conversations with someone and only felt uncomfortable. He found it extremely difficult to deliver presentations or speak publicly and he had a few coming up soon. Initially, our psychologist suggested some mindfulness exercises like deep breathing and JPMR (Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation), a muscle relaxation exercise to reduce stress. In the next few sessions, they practiced public speaking on random topics for specific times and had constructive feedback from both persons. The psychologist found that she had more positive feedback to give compared to Rahul’s* feedback. Noticing this, our psychologist psycho-educated him saying that the more he magnifies his negative thoughts and evaluations, the more anxiety it’ll cause him. It was also pointed out to him that something like avoiding eye contact and preparing the conversations in his head only hindered his performance even though it served him well at some point in his life. Along with all this, he was also given homework to practice giving lectures on random topics with people he was comfortable with. As the sessions progressed, he felt more comfortable and confident with talking to new people, presenting, and public speaking. Role plays, an explanation of assertiveness, and how to be assertive were taken up further reducing anxiety. Rahul’s* self-image also drastically improved once his rates of anxiety started diminishing. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 7
Anger and stubbornness are usually seen and brushed off as teenage issues. However, in the case of Jaya*, a 17-year-old student, it seemed abnormal since she was not assertive with her parents or her grandparents. Therefore, anger outbursts, stubbornness, and picking fights with family members seemed very unusual. Once she started therapy, she also revealed that she was socially anxious and showed signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As an unassertive teenager, she ended up letting her caretakers help her with every task including things she wanted to do on her own. She felt like she had no sense of personal space or responsibility in the family. Our psychologist helped her with her anger issues, and assertive techniques along with Acceptance and Commitment therapy, a form of therapy that focused on helping her be more consistent with her own values and morals and practice acceptance in her life. She started showing remarkable improvement and was able to get along with her family. She did not have any anger outbursts and did not pick any fights with them. She started undertaking activities on her own which made her experience feelings of happiness and contentment. She started working on her self-esteem by setting her own goals with the help of the psychologist like going to the gym etc. She could finally create her own identity for herself and be assertive, reducing her anger outbursts and stubbornness. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 8
John* a 31-year-old male came to The Mind Research Foundation with complaints of being addicted to porn and compulsively masturbating. It was adversely affecting his sleep which affected his work performance as he was not able to focus on his work. When he learned that this behavior was affecting him on a daily basis, he decided to seek help. Apart from this, he also had issues with impulsivity which led to anger and spending money recklessly. After scheduling a session with our psychologist and explaining the above, the therapy process itself began with psycho-educating John* regarding addiction and how it works. The reward pathway in our brains which was responsible for maintaining addictive behaviors, in his case consumption of porn and masturbatory practices was explained to him. This psychoeducation proved extremely effective in terms of mapping his behavior and helping him understand that whatever was happening wasn’t his fault. To help identify his triggers better, John* was asked to maintain a journal that would help him and the psychologist describe, explain, understand, and predict his behavior. After the first week of recording, better identification of triggers was made. In the following therapy sessions, a technique called urge surfing was taught to John* in which alternative behaviors for the maladaptive coping mechanism were taught. The nature of an urge and auto-pilot was also explained to him in which our minds automatically go into an auto-pilot mode when an urge comes and the person automatically satisfies the urge by engaging in the behavior. John* was taught through mindfulness to accept the urge as just an urge and not something that has to translate into action. The importance of recognizing the urge or craving and accepting the impermanence of it also helped him. The practice of formal mindfulness was encouraged and conducted in sessions as well so he gets a better understanding and practice of the same. An added element for him was to note in his journal what had helped him surf the urge rather than get pulled in by it. Another important aspect for John* was having 2 other anchor points, that is, having 2 people to talk to when the urge was too overwhelming. This also helped him as it acted as a distraction and further delayed the urge which he was then able to fight off successfully. Gradually, as the sessions progressed, his overpowering need to watch porn and masturbate began to lessen and he felt more empowered. He was also able to find ways to deal with his anger in a more healthy and respectful manner and also use the techniques he learned to manage his reckless spending. He learned that there are better ways to deal with things and learned to surf the urges like a pro rather than get consumed by them, through which he was able to function as a better person on a personal as well as a professional level. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 9
Being worried about losing your job is normal. But being worried about your job every day with no unknown root cause is not. This is the story of 38-year-old Lakshmi*. A divorced mother of two teenagers, she has had a successful well-paying career for the past several years in the top management of her organization. Being in the organization for over 6 years, she’s been constantly worried about losing her job and not being able to provide for her children for the past 8 months or so. Ever since the worry set in, she’s found it extremely difficult to brush it off and found herself getting restless, tired, and tense. Pacing when she’s alone, losing track of what she’s saying, rehearsing worst-case scenarios, and losing sleep to the fear of losing her job… are a few of the ways it’s been impacting her. After listening to her valid concerns, our psychologist helped her identify unhealthy patterns in her relationship with work. While exploring this, Lakshmi* also revealed that she has unhealthy relationships in all aspects of her life. She was made aware of her anxiety-driven relationship patterns and behaviors and how they might have had long-term detriments. Once she was psycho-educated on that, she was taught better ways to deal with any fears or insecurities that she encountered. Other techniques like how to build a strong support system, talking to friends about her worries, and knowing who to avoid while she felt anxious were discussed with her. Today, she feels her negative thinking has reduced and in case she encounters a negative thought she feels equipped to deal with it in a healthy manner. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 10
23-year-old Divya* came in with complaints of anger outbursts, and picking fights with family members, her boyfriend, and her colleagues. Her behavior led everyone around her to be terrified of her, making her lonely and socially incompatible. Apart from this, she feels like she’s not good enough at her work, is feeling pressure due to her father’s illness who is a heart patient, isn’t able to connect with her sister, and also witnesses the fights between her parents. On top of all this, her family was pressuring her to get married which didn’t help at all. She ended up slapping her boyfriend for trying to comfort her while she was venting about how unappreciated she left about her work life. This incident made Divya* see that she needed some professional help and reached out to us. Once she started having sessions with our psychologist, she gained the confidence to open up and discuss her career growth, weight gain, frustrations and being entangled in her parents, and so on… After opening up, Divya* started showing remarkable changes within weeks. She learned to prioritize the areas she wanted to address, healthy relaxation techniques, and more. Over a period, she started expressing her anger and needs in a healthy manner, making her less irritable and more calm and composed. (*name changed for anonymity)
Stories Of Transformation
Case 6
Rahul* was extremely terrified of being in social situations and meeting new people to the extent that he would avoid social situations that required any sort of interaction. Feeling judged by others and anxious about being in social situations was prevalent since he was 20 years old. Now, at 23 his fear and anxious thoughts only progressively got worse. After taking an appointment with our psychologist at The Mind Research Foundation who recommended him to our clinical psychologist, found that he was suffering from social anxiety and was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder. Once the diagnosis was made, Rahul* felt more comfortable because he knew what was happening and could put a name to his thoughts. He said that he was relieved to know that recovery was possible and was receptive and willing to put in the effort. Once we went in-depth into his concerns, he revealed that he didn’t have that much difficulty having one-on-one conversations with someone and only felt uncomfortable. He found it extremely difficult to deliver presentations or speak publicly and he had a few coming up soon. Initially, our psychologist suggested some mindfulness exercises like deep breathing and JPMR (Jacobson Progressive Muscle Relaxation), a muscle relaxation exercise to reduce stress. In the next few sessions, they practiced public speaking on random topics for specific times and had constructive feedback from both persons. The psychologist found that she had more positive feedback to give compared to Rahul’s* feedback. Noticing this, our psychologist psycho-educated him saying that the more he magnifies his negative thoughts and evaluations, the more anxiety it’ll cause him. It was also pointed out to him that something like avoiding eye contact and preparing the conversations in his head only hindered his performance even though it served him well at some point in his life. Along with all this, he was also given homework to practice giving lectures on random topics with people he was comfortable with. As the sessions progressed, he felt more comfortable and confident with talking to new people, presenting, and public speaking. Role plays, an explanation of assertiveness, and how to be assertive were taken up further reducing anxiety. Rahul’s* self-image also drastically improved once his rates of anxiety started diminishing. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 7
Anger and stubbornness are usually seen and brushed off as teenage issues. However, in the case of Jaya*, a 17-year-old student, it seemed abnormal since she was not assertive with her parents or her grandparents. Therefore, anger outbursts, stubbornness, and picking fights with family members seemed very unusual. Once she started therapy, she also revealed that she was socially anxious and showed signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As an unassertive teenager, she ended up letting her caretakers help her with every task including things she wanted to do on her own. She felt like she had no sense of personal space or responsibility in the family. Our psychologist helped her with her anger issues, and assertive techniques along with Acceptance and Commitment therapy, a form of therapy that focused on helping her be more consistent with her own values and morals and practice acceptance in her life. She started showing remarkable improvement and was able to get along with her family. She did not have any anger outbursts and did not pick any fights with them. She started undertaking activities on her own which made her experience feelings of happiness and contentment. She started working on her self-esteem by setting her own goals with the help of the psychologist like going to the gym etc. She could finally create her own identity for herself and be assertive, reducing her anger outbursts and stubbornness. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 8
John* a 31-year-old male came to The Mind Research Foundation with complaints of being addicted to porn and compulsively masturbating. It was adversely affecting his sleep which affected his work performance as he was not able to focus on his work. When he learned that this behavior was affecting him on a daily basis, he decided to seek help. Apart from this, he also had issues with impulsivity which led to anger and spending money recklessly. After scheduling a session with our psychologist and explaining the above, the therapy process itself began with psycho-educating John* regarding addiction and how it works. The reward pathway in our brains which was responsible for maintaining addictive behaviors, in his case consumption of porn and masturbatory practices was explained to him. This psychoeducation proved extremely effective in terms of mapping his behavior and helping him understand that whatever was happening wasn’t his fault. To help identify his triggers better, John* was asked to maintain a journal that would help him and the psychologist describe, explain, understand, and predict his behavior. After the first week of recording, better identification of triggers was made. In the following therapy sessions, a technique called urge surfing was taught to John* in which alternative behaviors for the maladaptive coping mechanism were taught. The nature of an urge and auto-pilot was also explained to him in which our minds automatically go into an auto-pilot mode when an urge comes and the person automatically satisfies the urge by engaging in the behavior. John* was taught through mindfulness to accept the urge as just an urge and not something that has to translate into action. The importance of recognizing the urge or craving and accepting the impermanence of it also helped him. The practice of formal mindfulness was encouraged and conducted in sessions as well so he gets a better understanding and practice of the same. An added element for him was to note in his journal what had helped him surf the urge rather than get pulled in by it. Another important aspect for John* was having 2 other anchor points, that is, having 2 people to talk to when the urge was too overwhelming. This also helped him as it acted as a distraction and further delayed the urge which he was then able to fight off successfully. Gradually, as the sessions progressed, his overpowering need to watch porn and masturbate began to lessen and he felt more empowered. He was also able to find ways to deal with his anger in a more healthy and respectful manner and also use the techniques he learned to manage his reckless spending. He learned that there are better ways to deal with things and learned to surf the urges like a pro rather than get consumed by them, through which he was able to function as a better person on a personal as well as a professional level. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 9
Being worried about losing your job is normal. But being worried about your job every day with no unknown root cause is not. This is the story of 38-year-old Lakshmi*. A divorced mother of two teenagers, she has had a successful well-paying career for the past several years in the top management of her organization. Being in the organization for over 6 years, she’s been constantly worried about losing her job and not being able to provide for her children for the past 8 months or so. Ever since the worry set in, she’s found it extremely difficult to brush it off and found herself getting restless, tired, and tense. Pacing when she’s alone, losing track of what she’s saying, rehearsing worst-case scenarios, and losing sleep to the fear of losing her job… are a few of the ways it’s been impacting her. After listening to her valid concerns, our psychologist helped her identify unhealthy patterns in her relationship with work. While exploring this, Lakshmi* also revealed that she has unhealthy relationships in all aspects of her life. She was made aware of her anxiety-driven relationship patterns and behaviors and how they might have had long-term detriments. Once she was psycho-educated on that, she was taught better ways to deal with any fears or insecurities that she encountered. Other techniques like how to build a strong support system, talking to friends about her worries, and knowing who to avoid while she felt anxious were discussed with her. Today, she feels her negative thinking has reduced and in case she encounters a negative thought she feels equipped to deal with it in a healthy manner. (*name changed for anonymity)
Case 10
23-year-old Divya* came in with complaints of anger outbursts, and picking fights with family members, her boyfriend, and her colleagues. Her behavior led everyone around her to be terrified of her, making her lonely and socially incompatible. Apart from this, she feels like she’s not good enough at her work, is feeling pressure due to her father’s illness who is a heart patient, isn’t able to connect with her sister, and also witnesses the fights between her parents. On top of all this, her family was pressuring her to get married which didn’t help at all. She ended up slapping her boyfriend for trying to comfort her while she was venting about how unappreciated she left about her work life. This incident made Divya* see that she needed some professional help and reached out to us. Once she started having sessions with our psychologist, she gained the confidence to open up and discuss her career growth, weight gain, frustrations and being entangled in her parents, and so on… After opening up, Divya* started showing remarkable changes within weeks. She learned to prioritize the areas she wanted to address, healthy relaxation techniques, and more. Over a period, she started expressing her anger and needs in a healthy manner, making her less irritable and more calm and composed. (*name changed for anonymity)
