TZANEEN: Life after PTSD

Modjadjiskloof resident Gillian Mynhardt received a breakthrough in her long-term suffering of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2016 and has now learnt techniques in order to relieve others of their suffering.

Mynhardt is so convinced by the skills she learned during her studies into Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) that she is now offering her services as community favour to those also suffering.
At 63 years old, after almost 60 years of living with PTSD, Mynhardt says she is, “Entirely free, as free as a bird.”

Mynhardt shares her experiences openly and honestly, reliving without pain or anger how she was sexually abused as a child. Throughout the years since, she has visited a number of professionals in order to relieve her of the “tremendous agony” but nothing ever worked in entirety, “I got pieces of the jigsaw along the way but nothing had really worked,” she says.

In order to better understand her disorder and desperately looking for a way out, Mynhardt, as a natural academic who has learnt five languages and spent her career as a lecturer and in education, delved into the books, studying psychology and PTSD in depth. However, it was only after hearing a retired dominee speaking on the radio that Mynhardt first heard of Traumatic

Incident Reduction (TIR) and its tremendous results on PTSD sufferers.

The procedure allows a person to desensitize painful experiences and reduce or eliminate the negative impact of traumatic, overwhelming events.

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The therapeutic technique is known for its rapid and long lasting results and is based purely on psychological techniques and principles.

Mynhardt believes in the techniques entirely, recounting that her TIR session lasted only one and a half hours and that one session is all that is needed, “This incredible burden was removed. I was ecstatic. I instinctively knew that I would have no more flashbacks,” says Mynhardt and to this day she says she has not had a single one.

Before her TIR session, Mynhardt would have several flashbacks a year, “I became an expert actress. I had a child, a career, I was expected to function normally but after a flashback, I could have anxiety for as long as six weeks,” she says.

The TIR methods were so effective and Mynhardt was so utterly convinced by them that she went on to study to become a ‘facilitator’ and can now offer TIR counselling to those in need. She wrote her exams through an American institution and is now accredited to practice through the American Metapsychology Institute.

“I wanted to learn the technique, even if it was the last thing I do. It is excellent for bereavement, those who have suffered sexual abuse, farm attacks and murders. Anything that has left a scar. The technique does not fail,” says Mynhardt.

Mynhardt believes that every town and even every school should have a TIR practitioner in order to help people recover from traumatic incidents and is offering her assistance to those in need as acommunity service.

Gillian Mynhardt’s contact details: 082 786 4034 / mynhardtgillian@gmail.com