Emergency Ambulance

When I was working at The Bay Area Pain and Wellness clinic as the wellness instructor and counselor, I was brought a patient by a doctor. The doctor said, “We are sending him to the hospital in an ambulance as his blood pressure is too high. We thought he should see you first before he leaves.” Sure enough he was in a lot of physical and emotional pain. As I worked with him, he started to shake and cry and tell me what was really going on—his ex-wife keeping his daughter from seeing him. It had been weeks since he had seen his daughter and he didn’t know when he could see her again. I’ll never forget that moment of seeing his raw pain and vulnerability as this big strong man cried and shared his fear. We sat there together with this awareness, and I gave him compassion and understanding as anyone would want when they are deeply hurting. I held the space for him to feel what was going on. We worked with his emotions and sadness. He eventually calmed down and so did his blood pressure. He did not need to go in the ambulance to the hospital after all. He had a new sense of hope that things would work out as long as he fought for what he wanted.