Previously burned out clients

Christoffer

I started going to Patric at Dolor for massage once a month for about three years ago. In addition to helping me get rid of stiffness in my shoulders and neck, Patric came up with tips and tricks on how I could get rid of headaches, pain in my jaw, etc. My monthly visits worked well and I felt more relaxed in my body. This until March 2020. My stiffness had now instead become pain in my shoulders and neck. Patric asked, as he usually does, what could be the reason. I said that there´s a lot at work, which makes me tense.

In fact, the pain was due to death within the family, working from home, and the whole corona situation (worry, anxiety, fear, uncertainty, etc.). Overall, in June 2020, I got burnout with depression, sleep problems and extreme pain in my body as a result.

After three months full-time sick leave, I contacted Patric to book a massage as usual, but he asked if it was really a massage I needed. He said that he had started working more and more with “projects” and in September we started a “ten-week program”. The goal of the program was that I would sleep better, get rid of pain in shoulders and neck, train shoulders and back in order to prevent pain, run at least twice a week and last but not least, be able to work full time again (I worked half time a that moment).

We met twice a week at first. We trained strength, and Patric dry-needled where it hurt, and foremost, we talked about how my situation could be improved. Between our meetings, I got tools for “help to self-help” and homework to complete. In November I started to work 75%. I now sleep well, train strength and run continuously, my anxiety and worry are gone, and foremost, I have regained my energy and can do more than to just work! I’m not back on full time at the time of writing, but the plan is to go up in January.

Patric, thank you very much for not only helping me get out of a depression and getting rid of pain with your coaching, dry-needling and your positive attitude, but also that you got me to start exercising (and to think it’s fun!) and have energy over! As we said when we last met, we did this together!

Lena

Two years ago I was put on sick leave after collapsing in the office. It was not the first time I collapsed, but so far I had always managed to get back on my feet. I pushed a bit further, refused to give up – only because I did not know how bad it was. At first I was put on a two week sick leave. That seemed like a long time to me, but now I know that it’s not enough to recover from exhaustion syndrome, or what people generally refer to as burnout. It took me a very long time to even realize that I was ill. In addition, I was diagnosed with severe depression. Unfortunately, no one seemed to be able to treat either of the issues. Pills were tried as an intervention for sleep, anxiety and for the depressive symptoms, but with no success.
I was told to rest as much as possible, which was an impossible task. I was incredibly restless and I rarely slept more than two hours per night. My body was aching, my head felt empty and I was not able to control my emotions.
One day I stumbled across Patric. He was very straight-forward in telling me that my burnout  and depression were not entirely work-related. I had some severe issues to deal with in my private life as well. He was quite certain that the body needed to be physically active to be able to relax and rest. Simply being passive and anxious wouldn’t do the trick, he said. “It certainly won’t vanish on its own!” and “Nothing ever solves itself”.This holistic approach seemed appealing to me – a mentor that could give me the tools I had been looking for. That was the best deal I have ever made and today I would like to share some of the tools and methods he used on me or that he helped me apply on my journey forward. From there on – up from the bottom and beyond where I had been before.

• Physical activity instead of rest to make me fall asleep. In the beginning a few burpees was enough.
• Doing small projects like painting a room.
• Getting a social life. To be able to work more I had of course stopped seeing my friends and being social.
• Find something or someone that made me feel safe so I could fall asleep. Sleeping is obviously important and was a huge issue.
• Create a list to find the energy thieves and get rid of them.
• … and a list of what gives energy. It could be watching snails, picking berries, gardening, tending to fire, cooking, looking for four-leaf-clovers, running…
• When I felt worst all I wanted to do was remain in a fetal position and cry. However… That won’t really solve any problems. So, yet again, it got treated with something pragmatic – it was okay to cry, but it could as well be done while taking a walk or during exercise. Not necessarily in an abusive way… Since the crying didn’t really stop if there was no intervention. Doing something about the stress however, did break the cycle and the crying could stop.
• Sauna is perfect for letting the body and soul relax. Warm baths serve the same purpose and work just as well.
• Spend time in nature. Using senses. Trying to be here and now. (Mindfulness!)
• Run. Every step counts. Start small – and then go longer… longer… and for hours!
• Laugh.
• Read. Anything. Even a children’s book if that’s the current level.
• Eat real food. I had stopped doing that ages ago to save time and the health issues kept the appetite low enough for me to live on practically nothing… But it seems we do need that fuel to be useful for… anything, really.
• Splitting up the work day in short sessions. Take breaks.
• Schedule and prioritize positive activities to make sure they get done.
• Meditate.
• Keep blank spaces in the calendar.
• Stop worrying!
• Realize that a job is just a job. Not the entire world.
• Walk in the rain and take in the fresh air.
• Don’t care what other people think.
• I had to accept the situation as it was. “It won’t always be this bad.”
• … and that I was not quite the same person as before. I had to stop trying to get back to being that person and go forward.
• Celebrate my birthday! Something that I used to avoid like the plague.

Ulle

When I first contacted Patric at Dolor I was in a position where I clung to the belief – or rather the wish – that the hands or needles through dry needling could make the wonders I needed with the long term, persistent pain I had, that made everyday life look darker and darker.
I hurt here, there and practically everywhere. I had will, but i lacked energy and fatigue was all that was left. 

The engine – my drive, ambition and motivation sputtered at most. I wouldn’t have come close to the solution on my own. Eventually I couldn’t get to work; the work I went to for so many years and the one thing that really got me going. Sick leave. I went through a wide range of examinations, procedures and check-ups which led to various pharmaceuticals that did help, partially, but the side effects gave new symptoms. 

Eventually I learned that Patric really understood that the intervention might have to be far bigger than a fistful of pills or a decent massage. From day one I felt a truly genuine interest from him regarding my entire situation, cause and effect. Conclusion: “tired as a result of pain” but perhaps an equal dose “pain as a result of being tired”.

For eight months I met Patric regularly, a period where we had contact several times a week. He helped me analyze, separate and examine. Reflect on what feels, how it feels and where it feels. Make the intangible tangible and thereby possible to grasp, seize and affect.

The sessions of brainstorming, reflection and feedback where many.

Often pleasant meetings, on a walk in the forest or among sheep on a pasture, laying down on his treatment table or leaning back in the couch.

Sometimes troublesome and bothering, accompanied by tears and anxiety.

But Patrics positive energy and calm gives a sense of safety which really helps when it gets tough. Not least when new emotional epiphanies needs to be processed.

Patric has given me a wide arsenal of tools, from old and well tried to new and tailored. We’ve then tried and tried again and removed what didn’t fit; we kept those that kept me getting forward. He helped me see the answers and find solutions and first and foremost helped me change. I have processed past events, removed relationships that didn’t fit and added others. Behaviors have been questioned (most often kindly), studied and discussed. Consequences of behaviors have been made visible and in an almost imperceptible way he got me through issue after issue, task after task through one active choice at a time, based on my values and capacity. The tools made me powerful and made it possible to execute!

Patrics presence in every meeting was 100%. His availability and flexibility in though and action, an openness for peoples differences and strange quirks, along a structured and huge warm heart lays way for lovely collaborations with nothing but a dream team for someone who really wants to make a change in their life. In my case it led me to, after half my life, knowing what goals I have, what I truly value and what I actually want to achieve.

From stubborn and I’ll-do-it-myself to humbly accepting help. I can actually state that at last, energy and motivation increase and pain and fatigue decrease.

Definitely worth the money, the time, the tears and the laughs. A BIG thank you, Patric!

Mikael

In early 2017 I was in a tough spot. I was exhausted and depressed. My body ached, my head didn’t work, exercising didn’t work at all as before and the weight skyrocketed. I got help from psychologist, behavior scientist and a physician. They were fine and united in the fact that movement was essential to getting better but everyone just kept talking. There wasn’t anything tangible to DO. It was a huge burden; I had been working out my entire life but at this point I truly couldn’t.

Through his manual therapies I came in contact with Patric at Dolor. He was very knowledgeable and thoughtful and I felt safe to talk about my diagnosis and situation, even though I’m normally not. Patric suggested that we’d treat it with a holistic, eclectic and wide approach to cover all of it, PT, massage and diet. That’s what was missing and now, a few months later I’m back at work, full of energy and getting rid of both weight and centimeters.

Patrics suggestion and our cooperation didn’t just help my rehabilitation, it gave me important tools for the future.

Yellow and happy

Patric is the best thing that have happened to me. I came to him five months ago because I thought he could give me a massage. I was tired and sad and wanted to give myself a little treat. When I got there he started asking how things were and I remained there, crying, for a couple of hours. Without much of a massage. I told him how I was; how I felt, and about the situation. By then I had headaches every other day or so, trouble sleeping (barely doing that at all), quite the depression according to the test we did, upset stomach, an eating disorder, weight going all over the place and stress related skin troubles – and that was the situation for the last couple of years. I was always in a bad mood, angry, sulking or sad.

Patric helped me realize that the relationship I lived in was a destructive one and that I actually did feel bad. I was constantly trying to keep up a facade to make things look good, even though the situation was quite terrible.

A month later we got to it and started the project that really changed my life. I got a divorce, moved to an own apartment, started feeling joy for the first time in a long time. Before long the symptoms started to disappear and quite soon there was none left. Today I work out daily, eat whatever I want, meet friends and do things I truly like. I do what I want. Before the project I didn’t have time, energy or any interest to do anything. Today I’m feeling young again and eagerly look forward to every new day. Life is wonderful and fantastic. I’m so grateful and I don’t have words to explain that feeling. Without Patric I’d be doomed. I was too broken to act by myself.

Today I’ve become a better mother, a more pleasant colleague, a kinder neighbor and just… a more happy and pleasant fellow human being. I’ve become independent, strong, brave and happy. I’m pleased with my life. Patric have spent a lot of time with me and done plenty of strange stuff: been next to me in the car when I was afraid of driving, mulching in my little plot of land, gone with me to just throw old stuff and tended to shopping. We’ve trained both strength and cardio, he cooked for me, guided me around the graveyard, gone for long walks and plenty more… Everyone should have a Patric.

This is how I want to be. This is how I want to live.