Credits
Composer
The beautiful background music was written and played by talented
musician and composer Barry Brake. While Barry was working on this
music, he was recovering from cancer and undergoing chemotherapy.
You can learn more about this remarkable artist by visiting his
web site at .
The Healing Connection Prayer
The Healing Connection Prayer was written and recorded by Dr. Peggy
Avent, a Texas Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Texas Licensed
Professional Counselor, and a Certified EMDR Therapist.
Dr. Avent counsels with individuals, couples, and families at:
10615 Perrin Beitel, #400
San Antonio, TX 78217
(210) 655-2951 (appointments only)
Visit Dr. Avent's professional site at www.texastherapists.com/peggyavent.html
Appreciation
by Peggy Avent
First I wish to thank God for His inspiration and direction in
the developing and recording of this message. Although there were
many delays and frustrating months, I have always felt God's guiding
hand. After the fact, I was able to see that it would have been
much less effective if I had gone forward too early. I have learned
lessons in patience and that God's timing is foolproof.
This would not have taken form without the inspired leadership
of Francine Shapiro, Ph.D., who discovered and developed the awesome healing
art of EMDR. Learn more about Dr. Shapiro's work at www.EMDR.org. Dr. Shapiro opened doors for thousands of therapists around the
world to discover new and exciting ways to help people. For more
information about EMDR, visit the - Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) page.
Within the EMDR community are dozens of talented therapists who
inspired some part of this meditation. One of these individuals
includes Shirley Jean Schmidt, MA, LPC, who inspired parts of the resource
development within the Nature Meditation. Learn more about her work
at www.shirleyjeanschmidt.com.
I am also indebted to Mark Grant, MA, for his pioneering work using EMDR
for handling chronic pain. Visit his Web site at www.overcomingpain.com.
 About
the author of the Healing Connection Prayer CD
Dr. Avent's Professional career
Dr. Avent has been a licensed therapist in Texas since 1983. Prior
to that, she worked as a caseworker for the Department of Human
Resources in Paris, Texas; as a Child Protective Services Worker
in Lubbock, Texas; and as a caseworker for a Mental Health and Mental
Retardation Outreach Clinic in Hereford, Texas. She also directed
a Crisis Hotline in Corsicana, Texas, while attending graduate school.
After earning a Master's Degree in Counseling and Guidance from
East Texas State in 1982, she began a private practice in Corsicana,
Texas. At the same time she continued her education at Texas Woman's
University in Denton, Texas, where she received a doctorate in Marriage
and Family Therapy. In 1998, Dr. Avent was trained to use EMDR and
was immediately amazed at the results. Soon thereafter, she felt
God's leadership in developing the Healing Connection Prayer meditation
as a way to help traumatized patients prepare for healing.
Dr. Avent authored and published a children's therapy game called
Do What Works (formerly The People-People Game), -A
book for children about building healthy relationships, and has
copyrighted other treatment related materials. Her game, book, and
other materials are currently out of print, but she is working on
new editions.
A Healing Walk
by Peggy Avent, author of Healing Connection Prayer
As I look back over my life, I am puzzled why God chose me. I was
an insecure, spaced-out, uncoordinated little girl who could not
make even average grades. I could never keep up with what my teachers
were saying and constantly chewed my nails. I believed I was really
stupid, and many of my teachers seemed to agree. But with God's
help, I now have a Ph.D. and have been able to help thousands of people
in my counseling practice over the years. My whole career, including
many personal struggles, seems to have been leading toward establishment
of Healing Connection Ministries. Here is my story.
I am the younger of two children born and raised in a loving Christian
family in Los Angeles, California. When I was 11 years-of-age, my
dad took us to a beautiful picnic area he found in Simi Valley.
My best friend, Bonnie, went along and we had a great time. Three
days later I regained consciousness in a children's hospital. I
cried for my Mama. A man in a white coat told me my mom and Bonnie
were dead, my dad was not expected to live, and my big sister might
never even be able to feed herself.
You see, a drunk driver, who was speeding and running people off
the road, decided to change lanes in order to avoid a car in his
lane. He hit us with such force that we were suddenly going backwards
and were sandwiched between the drunk and the car behind us. My
mother went through the windshield, and Bonnie bled to death on
the way to the hospital. For a long time my family members did not
know if the dead girl was me. Even her parents had a hard time identifying
her. My father was smashed by the dashboard and had multiple breaks
in his jaw, ribs, knee, and elsewhere. He was permanently disabled
until his death 10 years later. It was my father that inspired the
words in the Meditation CD that say "Physical healing depends
as much on our mental, spiritual, and social health as on medical
care. Take, for instance, a healthy person who is seriously injured
in a car crash. His injuries are purely physical, yet his chances
for recovery depend as much on his attitude, his will to live, his
social support, and his spiritual health as on his medical care."
There was no medical reason to explain why my father survived. I
believe he survived because many people were praying for him and
because of his determination. The day I got to visit him in the
hospital, he was in traction with clamps lifting his flesh off his
lungs so he could breathe and his jaws had been pieced together
with wires. He wrote me a note that said, "I will not
die, I know you need me."
My sister and I were critically injured. Something penetrated my
sister's brain and she was not expected to be able to function.
Miraculously she was able to finish school and raise three children
in spite of continued difficulties. The top of my scalp was sliced
off, various bones were broken, and I was unconscious for three
days - indicating some brain trauma.
After the crash, I became an out-of-control anorexic delinquent.
My father, who continued to go in and out of the hospital, felt helpless
and thought I needed a mother figure. So a year later he sent me
to San Antonio, Texas to live with my mother's big sister. I continued
my rebellious, out-of-control behavior for another year until I
had a life-changing encounter with God at age 13. I knew immediately
that God had a purpose for me and that God would somehow make that
traumatic crash become an asset in my life's work. I made a commitment
to make a contribution that would leave the world a better place.
This calling has been a central force in all of my work since that
time; and everything I have done in the last 45 years seems to have
led to this Healing Connection Ministry.
School had always been difficult due to severe learning disabilities
and attention deficit, which went undiagnosed. I felt God telling
me that He would give me the tools necessary to do the job he had
called me to do. Today, I marvel that in spite of my learning disabilities
and trauma history, I was able to excel in graduate school and earn
a Ph.D. without any problems. I owe my success to God's infinite
grace. Many of the messages in the Healing Connection Prayer are
ones that helped me overcome my disabilities.
I think it is remarkable that God has used my disabilities and
made them an asset in all my work. Not only has my success in overcoming
them been an inspiration to my patients, but my disabilities have
also become my strengths. I have almost no ability to visualize in
pictures like most people, which is a real handicap, however all
of my professional creativity has involved intense visualization.
You see - because I can not visualize, I am constantly creating
word pictures for myself. It is these word pictures that have made
my meditation and other works particularly beneficial. "In
all things (even car crashes, death, and disabilities) God works
for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His
purpose." Romans 8:28
After graduating from high school, I attended Howard Payne College
in Brownwood, Texas. I married my high school sweetheart and moved
to Lubbock, Texas where I completed my bachelor's degree at Texas
Tech University in 1968, with a major in Sociology. I then completed
my Ph.D. at Texas Women's University.
I have four beautiful, healthy, precious adult children, including
twins. All four earned full academic scholarships for college and
continue to make me proud. I am also the proud grandmother of a
five-year-old boy, Gage; a four-year-old girl, Gracen; and a one-year-old
boy, Ross.
GOD IS TRULY GOOD!
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