My Story – Child Therapy

I decided to go to Owen Connolly because of my worrying. I used to have problems sleeping and I used to worry about my parents a lot.

Whenever my parents/parent went out at night or day I would always ask what time they would come home at and how far they were going, I would always worry if something bad might happen to them. If it was getting late I would start to get really upset and worried about them. I was worried that if I went down to the babysitter they might get annoyed with me for getting up out of bed if I was supposed to be asleep.

Even when both my Mum and Dad were with me at night, I would still have trouble sleeping. I was always worried about house fires and I had to do a routine every night to make sure all the electrics were switched off and the smoke alarm was working and I did that in the daytime too.

I also had a fear when my Mum, Dad or someone minding me went into a shop and left me in the car I would be really worried that they would leave me there and I wouldn’t know what to do.

So I went to Owen Connolly to see to see if he could help me with my worries, and he did. We talked about my worries and I did a survey and I ticked off all the things I worried about.

I learned about the Reptillium part of my brain (the part that tells the lies) which is a good thing in the event of an emergency (fight or flight) and how to reset my alarm (my worrying) by breathing through my nose and out through my mouth which calms me and helps the oxygen get to my brain quicker.

I had to clip something which measured my anxiety levels and my oxygen levels and showed how my breathing exercises were getting on. I also had a bit of work to do. I was supposed to write out the negative thoughts and make a knew foundation of positive thoughts.

I used to worry about going to see my grandparents in Co. Sligo because of night time, I couldn’t get to sleep there or when we went on our holidays to Portugal, and I slept on my own in both places and I did all that this summer for the first time, and I also slept on my own in my other granny’s house for two night on a sleepover and I could never have done that before. I now have my own bedroom now and I can sleep much better and happier in all different places now that I could never have done before.

As long as I reset my brain and do my breathing exercises I am fine and all the things I worried about in the past are now all just bad memories. Everything has changed now and I’m much more relaxed. I am so proud of myself. It has helped me so much in life and everyone around me too. Owen has helped me so much and anything I do will never be enough to thank him.