A talk
designed especially for people coping with life altering illnesses
or injuries. This can obviously be modified to help nurses or
other health care professionals who are dealing with deaths.
When faced with a life threatening or life
altering illness or injury, it becomes critical to not lose one's
way. Oftentimes the shock of the new situation can paralyze
people emotionally, psychologically and spiritually or blind them to
the possibilities they still have in this life.
Many times well meaning friends resort to
phrases such as,"It'll be fine," or "Just keep thinking positive,"
in an effort to encourage the person who is dealing with the illness
or injury. These phrases, though well intended, usually have
very little if any positive effect.
Coping successfully with this new, usually
devastating, situation is going to take more than their slogans. It
is going to take a person who is willing to not only work on their
body, but on their mind and spirit as well. It is going to
take a person who refuses to see himself or herself as a victim even
though that is exactly what the feeling might be, especially early
on in the process.
Dr. Scott Sheperd has worked with many people
in this type of situation. He has witnessed over and over
people who refused to be beaten by the illness or injury they faced.
He has also witnessed people who gave up on themselves, not just
physically but psychologically and spiritually.
"What I have learned from the people I've
helped is what I bring to this presentation,"says Dr. Sheperd. "I
have seen that even in the most dire of situations people have
choices to make that will affect their psychological and spiritual
life. I try to help people believe that they are not helpless
even if they feel that way, and that the choices they make, not
their illness or injury, will determine the quality of their lives."
Surviving with Spirit is about living with
spirit. "I remind people that being healed is different than being
cured. Being cured is about the body, and sometimes that will
happen and sometimes not. Healing involves the heart, soul, and
spirit and that can happen at any time if the person believes it can
happen."
This is a presentation that challenges both
the person dealing with the illness or injury as well as family
members to not be victims. If gives specific strategies on how to
avoid the pitfalls that can devastate a person or family.
Most of all, this is a message of hope because
it is based on the lives of the people how have done what Dr.
Sheperd is talking about. This is not "fantasy" talk -
"Wouldn't it be nice...".
This is a talk about possibilities -
possibilities based on others successes. |
