Case Study - Recovery from a Broken Heart

Break up. Split up. Separation. Divorce. Urgh. 

These are some of the most traumatic heart-process that we can endure. These words have profound and dramatic weight. They are potent, real, and active. They invoke profound negative feelings —especially in the heart. A broken heart feels heavy, laden with sadness and fear, it is one of the strongest emotional experiences this life can throw at us. In a world where we are used feeling in-control, a broken heart surely throws us out of control – it happens to us.

There is good news though, as a broken heart can heal. I have experienced that in my own journey, and I have seen numerous clients heal their broken hearts. The birthing of a more peaceful heart is a journey that needn't be endured alone.

Kate called and left a message on the Monday, asking if we could delay for a week because she simply couldn't stop crying. That was a shame because there was work that we could do straightaway to support her to ease her pain.

We eventually met. She was ready to move on, and the resonance we created in our first session assured me that I could help her. The space I held with her was in total confidence. The life Coaching work that we did together over the next three months had several key qualities to it.

• Developing a coping strategy
• Support to clearing turbulent energies
• Healing and emotional stability
• Exploring Self love
• Reframing life/people expectations
• Action to Fill vacuums
• Developing an understanding of the roles that were played
• Preparing for a Re-invention
• Welcoming in the new
  

Support through Turbulent Times  

Kate shared stories of how she had met the love of her life. Their journey had been great, but she also shared that on numerous occasions her intuition had told her that "this man was bad news". We so often walk against our intuitive knowing. She shared the events that lead to the breakup. She replayed the numerous scenes of laying on the bedroom floor, sobbing uncontrollably in devastation. She told of how she didn't want it to end. She told of how she couldn't let it continue. Her heart was visibly shattered, she was in pieces.

On the threshing floor, Kate stated to reveal the core of her hearts pain. I'd say one of the most challenging discourses arose whenever Kate ventured off into her "life is supposed to be all roses and unicorns" narrative. Then she'd change tact and feel deep remorse at all the terrible things she had said to him mid-break-up. At this stage, she shared and I listened. Then deeper truths emerged --- She had lost her Love, and the life that she thought she was going to be living (even though she had ignored her doubts right from the beginning). Ultimately, she was fearful of feeling alone in the world.

It is hard to describe a broken heart better than the way sage-poet Kahlil Gibran does…

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire
By K Gibran

I've had a few broken hearts in my own journey; and anybody who's had one will know what the emotional reactions feel like. They are not pretty. Over the first few weeks, my coaching work with Kate focussed on various exercises to allow her to accept and process the raw energies that were thrashing her around. She started to lean into our work and I supported her to return to an emotional stability. She reported that the appetite loss, the wild dreams, the disruptive sleep, and future anxieties had started to subside.

Self Love  

One of the joys of walking the path with a partner is the considerable investment of our hearts, our time, our emotions, and ourselves into the building of a dream. A dream that nurtures our happiness. A major breakup not only robs us of that happiness but also establishes the illusion that we have no hope of ever finding love again. The 'I am not lovable' narrative gains considerable territory here.

I intended that our coaching process and focus on self-love would lead her to develop a fulfilling new life, to live happily without that man that she loved. The coaching work eventually changed gears, it was now time to use the break up as an opportunity for Kate to learn about herself. Her homework was a feeling-honoring exercise. I showed her that her feelings of grief were holding a lot of wisdom. Truthfully that wisdom is hard to access when consumed by blubbing. But as we start to take perspective on the whole situation, we can pave the way to return to a powerful center. A life crisis is so often an opportunity for growth and self-betterment.

Life coaching focuses on action and the formulation of new choices and habits. We don't dwell too much on how did I get here, preferring to focus more on how do I make the next decade have the qualities that I wish to welcome. My guidance to her was to prioritize happiness. A focus on filling life with desired situations is often one of the best solutions to neutralizing a heartbreak. Time can heal faster when we give ourselves permission to focus on the cultivation of new possibilities. Truthfully this phase the work tends to take a lot of time. Finding wisdom embedded in heart-pain is often a daunting process.

I urged Kate to live one hour at a time. I shared some Gratitude practices to go and experiment with. These simple practices proved very effective at snapping her out of complete downers. I also urged her to keep a journal as a way of transforming negative waves into positive moments. There were times where she struggled though and even gratitude proved to be weak-medicine. In those moments I told her to create safe-space, and then indulge in gratitude for having a really good cry. Embrace the cry, accept the cry. That was the sacred fire. Then at the other side of the cry welcome in some new peace. After all, really feeling the heartache is an important healing process. There isn't any shame in mindfully experiencing all those raw energies. Indeed, its an important process on the path to feeling normal again.

Re-Invention  

When we have expectations of how other people should behave, speak, act, love, touch, understand. We surely set ourselves up for a major broken heart, when they don't.

Kate would often return to the narrative of how things could have been, should have been. We did several exercises exploring how feelings can change when she starts to eliminate expectations. Expectations of how her man should have behaved. Expectations of how life could have been. Acceptance is the great healer.

Kate had journeyed through shock, denial, pain, guilt, anger and loneliness. At some precious point in the heart-break journey, you can feel the tipping point when a client is ready to step into the new. To re-construct and re-invent. In many ways that's when some proper life coaching can begin. It is with alacrity that I love to support people through major life changes. My work always focusses on Authenticity and alignment with that authenticity.

Coaching work is dynamic, custom and targeted to an individual's unique situation, but don't forget the basics like…

• Get support
• Talk with friends and family (especially those who can pump you up)
• Journal
• Eat well
• Sweaty exercise (Move your feelings)
• Be in big Nature (I find the Sea amazing!)
• Rest
  

Hope  

Perhaps the most rewarding part of the life coaching journey through heart-break was when I reminded Kate that she would love and be loved again. Hope springs eternal and when the heart is healed it will open to love again.

If you are single and ready to start dating again you may find this helpful.

I have reconstructed this case study from several client histories to demonstrate a range of coaching interventions.