How to talk to yourself and your loved ones about injury and illness.
I have to tell you about a book that changed my life, and changed my children’s lives. When faced with an injury or illness, my old reaction was to worry. I would say things like “wow that is a huge cut and it must hurt,” and so many other senseless comments. Looking back, I realize that I could have handled these common situations differently!
Our minds play an integral role in healing and I was complicating issues by adding worry to the equation, rather than reassurance. One day, a practitioner who I greatly respected, recommended that I read Verbal First Aid by Judith Simon Prager and Judith Acosta. This book opened my eyes on how to talk about injury and illness in a way that actually promoted healing and wellness rather than accentuating the problem.
Any great EMT will tell you that the mindset in which you approach a situation and how you communicate that to the patient will have a direct effect on escalating or calming the situation. Your reaction is as important as anything. When your child gets a cut or bumps their head, what do you do? When you find out that your neighbor has covid, what do you do? When your child breaks their arm, what is your initial response? The idea here is that if we create a sense of calm, a distraction, a reassurance, or other positive response, we can actually improve the chances of feeling better sooner.
According to the book’s summary:
“Falling off a bike, having a bad dream, getting stitches…sometimes a kiss isn’t enough to make it all better. But what you say to your child in those first moments of pain or fear could make all the difference.
Using techniques the authors have taught to doctors, nurses, and first responders, Verbal First Aid(tm) explains how words can be used to promote healing from burns, bruises, nightmares, asthma attacks, and more. It provides scripts and tips on how to short-circuit traumatic memories, sometimes just by speaking a sentence or two.
This revolutionary book gives parents the responses they need to immediately stabilize their children’s emotions. And these methods will build a foundation of confidence and inner strength that will help kids heal at the deepest level, and weather whatever hardships and difficulties they encounter throughout life.”
Ever since reading this book we have approached injury and illness with stability and things just haven’t seemed as bad as they used to be. The information in this book is a must and I hope it improves your relationship with illness as much as it did for me.
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