Patient Story: Overcoming Fears and Anxiety Through Hypnotherapy & Wellness

Below we have a patient story for you. Brett is currently an employee at Physiofit with a strong background in sports. A few years back, his life had changed from a fall that nearly took his life. He has been ever so kind to share his journey with us below.

“Out of all the things someone can be, a writer or a storyteller is not at the top of my list. Nevertheless, I have a story to tell that I think may help others dictate how they handle their healthcare.

I’ll start by briefly speaking about the day that changed my life – that lovely fall!  It was a normal Saturday morning. I met up with some friends to go on a hike which I was excited about since it hadn’t been in a long time.  I used to live in Tahoe and hiking/climbing were some of the main activities I did.  About 15 minutes into the hike at the Castle Rock Trail in Los Gatos, we came across these big rocks that looked like an easy climb. Deciding to go check out the views, we started to climb higher up onto these giant boulders.

Once at the top, everything was as it usually is with random climbs; everyone catching their breath, random conversation, etc. It was around this time, that I noticed a small cave that had formed between the two big rocks I was on.  Wanting to check it out, I climbed down into the cave through an opening at the top of the rocks. From what I remember the cave was small, maybe about 4 x 4, with a 7-8ft tall walls; all of which would prove to be an issue soon. After being in the cave for a few minutes I decided to get back out to where my group was. I looked up and noticed it was a bit further up than I thought originally, but still didn’t worry about it.  Looking back I was overly confident in my abilities. When I tried to jump up to get ahold of the rock ledge to hoist myself up, my hands slipped. When coming back down to the cave floor, my feet slipped out from under me and the next thing I knew, I was falling out of the cave and realizing that the 30ft fall was not going to be a fun ride.

This is where my memory gets extremely gappy. I can’t remember what happened next, I just remember thinking “Hold on.” and “Dear God, please protect me” and maybe a few “Oh S*#&’s” as well. The next thing I remember, is I am looking up but seeing the ground. I am trying to yell, but feel like there’s something in my neck. I am trying to assess myself and use my former EMT training to determine what condition I am in and if I should move. I immediately knew my back was compromised on some level along with my neck and ankle. My ankle was fully dislocated but I was able to get my neck and voice to function to yell up to my group so they knew I was alive and very much ready for their assistance. I used a nearby stick and a shirt to brace my ankle and walked my friends through how to three-man carry me to a clearing so EMS could come to get me.

As if there weren’t enough learning moments in the first part of this story, here is where I hope everyone takes note and learns from my next couple of decisions, as they are something I regret constantly, and would hope no one I know makes these mistakes.

Mistake #1: I denied the ambulance ride.  Money was a factor at the time for me and I foolishly prioritized things like money over my health – all of which I can’t even enjoy now due to my health. After this decision, I hopped into my friend’s car and he took me to the hospital. Looking back the level of care and the handoff from the EMTs/Paramedics would have been much better than cramping up in the back of a small Honda.

Mistake #2: While at Good Sam, I kept thinking about the price tag I was creating just being there and wanted nothing more than to just be home with my dog and fiance. I made the call after they looked at my neck, back, and head (and I think stomach) to discharge myself and go home. Again, I decided to save the bank and hope that my health was ok. After all, I thought well there’s nothing major showing up – “it will get better if I take care of it” Little did I know that there were injuries they didn’t find, and even if I owned the Physical Therapy textbooks, I would not be able to DIY myself back to where I was.

The next day, I had a 105 fever and passed out just to wake up to EMS in my living room recommending that I go back to the ER. I was there for a few hours but they couldn’t determine what was causing it and suggested I go back home since Covid 19 had just started to break out in their ER. Now, here I am a few years later still in a good deal of pain daily and not able to work out how I used to. I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I got down on myself. I could not find a way to work out or even move without getting so all up in my head about what was causing it why it couldn’t get better through PT and ultimately why I couldn’t control how I thought about the entire situation.

I left the job I was at to focus on my health and do ample amounts of PT.  After getting myself to an ‘ok’ state I wanted to work in the Physical Therapy industry and help others find the solutions that will change their lives for the better. Which is where I am now! There are some very real game-changers I have found. My rounds of PT after the fall got me to a certain level but adding on other fitness options has been where I have felt the difference. After progressing nicely for about a year, for whatever reason, it felt like PT was plateauing a bit. Adding in other options like Shockwave, Pilates, and Yoga helped me take further steps in my recovery but, it felt like I was starting to tread water again and not make any progress. Then I found hypnotherapy. I knew nothing about hypnosis other than what’s shown on TV which always seemed embellished to me on some level and never quite made full sense, I knew that couldn’t be the case.  Then I started to learn what exactly hypnotherapy is and I realized it’s just a more intense form of guided meditation.  I love meditating. I have been doing it since I was about 13 years old; so once I learned what hypnotherapy was, I fell in love! It helped me with the missing piece from my accident: mental clarity. I realized not too long after the accident my brain wasn’t working as well as it used to. I couldn’t meditate – my mind would just be going and 100 different directions at once. I knew getting back to a daily practice of meditating would help me think clearer and in turn, help my life as a whole; I just didn’t know how. Hypnotherapy helped me get back to the point where I could meditate on my own and I try to do so as often as I can. I am forever thankful to Divya for this.

I still have a lot of work to do to get myself back to where I was but there are important learning moments I hope to never forget.”

Brett’s story is one of determination and taking things head-on as they come. While he didn’t make the best decision every time, he did learn. He also learned that some mistakes come at a greater cost than others. He and I have talked a few times about how he’s broken down the numbers on the money he has spent trying to go down this DIY route when he could have just started PT right away and got better initial treatment if he had stayed with the EMTs that day/stayed at the hospital. But no one blames him! And we are proud of his ability to keep moving forward looking for the best treatment paths available.

Hypnotherapy has been able to change so many lives – whether you are trying to quit smoking, or trying to come back from a traumatic event – hypnotherapy is the perfect tool for helping you control your mind and recreate your energy from within. Learn more about our hypnotherapy options by calling us at (650) 947-8500 or you can schedule a time to talk to our customer care team using the scheduling software below: