The Shadow of Suffering

Many people who have been through trauma of any kind lose their capacity to deal positively with the challenges of life.  The pain of the experience seems to cast a shadow over every-thing in the patient’s life.  People like this who are not well, even though they want to be healed, will have a difficult time getting better.  They will always doubt the treatment and suspect the practitioner; they will always see things in a negative light.  Even after a problem is taken care of sometimes an unhappiness, a dissatisfaction, lingers.        

This situation challenges even the skilled practitioner: how can we help the patients open their minds so that the intention for happiness and healing dispels the shadow?