As you have learned, the ECHO process helps people to discover what they are really thinking and feeling, a very important part of the recovery process. Being self-aware instead of living on autopilot is the beginning of your healing, and the things you bring to the sharer’s attention will revolutionize their life.  However, it will revolutionize yours as well.

By listening for these things in other people, it will help you start paying attention to your own speech and thoughts.  The more skilled you get at echoing others, the more skilled you can become at hearing and understanding yourself, as well as implementing positive self talk as a way of supporting yourself.  Conversely, the more self-aware you become of yourself, the more quickly you will be able to pick up on other people’s self-talk.

There is another side effect of the ECHO method that can be not as pleasant, though.  Sometimes what they are saying can trigger something inside of you; you will identify with what they are saying and suddenly you are focused inward and not on the other person.  That’s ok.  Someone else will pick up the slack and do the echoing while you process what these statements mean to you personally.

This triggering is actually good, because as you will learn in the next series, hearing someone else say what you didn’t even realize you were thinking can be life changing.  You may know something is wrong, but not be able to identify it, or there is something blocking you from moving forward, but until that other person says it out loud in group, you can’t figure it out.  It is one of the important benefits of working in a group instead of alone with a counselor.

Below is a recap of the Life Patterns RESET & ECHO processes for each issue that is causing you an inordinate amount of stress:

• When you begin the process of self-awareness and open up your mind to the possibility that you may not be seeing things as they truly are, then you can start the whirlwind process that is Recovery.
• Start with examining your body’s emotional and physical responses to stress when it starts happening.
• Practice taking long, slow breaths to calm your body and return your mind to maximum problem solving range.
• Search through your memory for a related event or person. Study the event from the first person, and then revisit it from the standpoint of a passerby or older you. Then explain to yourself in the past what the adult you learned. Minister to yourself as no one did at that time, giving yourself what you needed.
• Now you bring what you have learned before the  group. Explain what the event was and what you learned by revisiting the event. Elaborate on how you now see that this event has affected your life in different areas.  When you are finished, allow the other group members to hand you their ECHO words and phrases to review, either now or later.  Embrace the truths you have learned about yourself and your past, repeating them to yourself often in written and verbal form.
• Next, start testing yourself a little at a time.  Make sure to taper your breathing in preparation and as you encounter stressful situations.  Tell yourself the new narrative, including the truths you now know, as you walk through it.  Learn from the encounter what is working and what you still need to work on, including conflicting beliefs that block you from accepting and acting on the new truths.

Now it is your turn to start taking these steps.  You can use our support groups and forums to start the process of delving into your past to be healed, and adjusting your coping mechanisms to something healthier until the root of your problem is healed and the coping mechanisms go away on their own.  If you need more personalized assistance, you can sign up for one-on-one or group counseling with Penny.

In the next series, we will address the importance of Spiritual Community in our healing.

RESET ASSIGNMENT:

1. What is the first area that you would like to deal with in your life?  What is causing you the most stress, turning your brain off so you can’t see how to deal with it?  Look for issues to which you respond “I don’t know what to do about this”.
2. Have you started paying attention to your self talk, your physical and emotional responses throughout the day?  If so, what have you discovered?  If not, why have you not started yet? What is stopping you from moving forward in your healing?