Never Too Late
Mary came to Thrive when her son was just five months old. A traumatic birth, and an undiagnosed genetic disorder left the family with feelings of despair and isolation. After countless, disparate doctor’s appointments, she was referred to Elizabeth. The family’s confusion shifted to clarity. She saw the powerful connections Thrive made through rhythmic movement and the gradual, gentle impact reflex integration work had on her son’s development.
As the process led to her own education in primitive reflexes, Mary recognized something and the indicators of active defensive reflexes felt personally familiar. She bravely asked Elizabeth for help. She saw parallels in her own behavior.
For over ten years, Mary had talked to a therapist about her emotional outbursts. She struggled with uncontrollable bursts of anger that would creep up multiple times a day, her system already on high alert. The feeling would compound, to the point it was nearly impossible for Mary to regulate. She would literally see red. Mary struggled to make sense of how or why she felt that way.
Elizabeth explained that her feelings stemmed from an active Moro reflex and offered to work with Mary in her own weekly sessions Thrive. Through rhythmic movement, she was able to progress toward emotional resiliency. As a wife and mother, the work was so powerful.
Physically, Mary felt change too. For years, her body felt debilitating pain, radiating from her back and leaving her bedridden. The pain, and associated alarm and hopelessness, caused a downward spiral and episodes of deep depression. At Thrive, Mary learned this was all related to her active reflexes.
“We’re led to believe that our challenges are independent of each other. Instead, Thrive connects this all back to our nervous system,” says Mary. “Things that you may think are not related may indeed be related. There’s so much freedom in discovering that these things were never problems. My challenges are not a problem with me, but I have reflexes that are working against me.”
Since working with Elizabeth, Mary has encouraged her husband to explore sessions at Thrive Therapy as well. The couple were well aware that their approach to conflict came from defensive reflexes, yet appearing differently. Mary’s anger and aggression was met with her husband’s tendency to shut down in vulnerable situations. His Fear Paralysis was extremely immature. Together, the two have seen positive change in their household and in their relationship from separate, targeted sessions at Thrive.
For Mary, it’s the intangible changes that she feels are the most substantial. The biggest difference since working with Elizabeth, she shares, is that when pain flares, she approaches it with a new mindset. She reminds herself that the moment is ok, that she is safe and the pain is temporary. She returns to the gentle rhythmic movement that has had so much powerful change on her body and her mind.
