Elisa A Escalante/ LCSW/ 7-2-2022
I’ve always said that I learn Just as much from the clients as they do from me. In this blog I share some insights from clients that I never forgot over the years. There’s that part of people that we will never know unless they’re willing to speak of it. There is more power in a persons story vs any statistic you will see. We have to listen more. We have to listen without the urge to correct, invalidate or erase. That’s the only way we can show proper empathy. Read below for some of my favorite quotes/ feedbacks from clients.
“That’s exactly why we don’t get close to people anymore, us veterans. We lose them faster than anyone else. We can’t keep saying goodbye like that, over and over again.”
“I’ll never feel like that again. Seeing the normal, everyday person. How happy they look. I ask myself all the time, can I ever have that again? Can I just go outside and smile for no reason? And I think the answer is no”
“Life is shit. With tiny sprinkles of happiness in it… just enough so that you don’t kill yourself.”
“I’ll never believe that a person can ever love me again. There is not a single person that can say they will love me forever, and I’ll actually believe it. That idea is over now.”
“I can’t tell the difference between if my brain is trying to protect me, or sabotage something that is good, and that’s a hard thing to live with everyday.”
“Yea so I’ve realized that me and my wife aren’t doing well at all, but I came from a broken home so I don’t want to divorce her for the kids sake, so …. I’ve realized that I’m going to be miserable for the next ten years…. but other than that I’m great.”
“That moment that those veterans lived in, when they reflect on their military careers. People judge them for “living in those moments” all the time, but that may have been the most meaningful time of their lives. They will never get it back again.”
“I miss those drugs because my brain will never be able to feel that good on its own.”
“I’ve got so many issues, just add this next one to my resume.”
“I’m just a victim to the gatekeepers of the world. It used to be weapons. But now, the average gatekeeper holds a pen and has an expensive, fancy piece of paper. And they often get to decide who is worthy. They kept holding me down, so now I’ve decided I’ll take myself out of this game. They don’t want me playing in their circus anyways.”
“Being a parent is so hard because you won’t necessarily get any reinforcement that you’re doing a good job. Sometimes you will do your best, and if the baby isn’t happy, you’re a “failure”.
“There’s a saying in NA: ‘One is too many, and a thousand is never enough’. It’s something I’ve related to so much through trying to get through sobriety. Crack will steal your soul.”
“I know it sounds strange, but for now I want to keep my trauma symptoms. I need the attitude, and I need the walls and the defenses to protect me from getting hurt again.”
“I do get angry, seeing so many people take for granted the things I lost. Especially when they neglect or abuse it.”
“It’s like I’ve got two voices. I have the angel and the devil on each of my shoulders. One always talks me into it, the other talks me out of it. One convinces me I’m fine, while the other harasses me to the point of anxiety. I fight with myself so much, it feels like I’ve gone insane.”
Functionally Mental 