What becomes of the broken hearted?

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An innovative approach for coaching adults through heartache

The subject of heartbreak may have provided countless crooners with material for their lyrics but in reality the end of a relationship can be an intensely traumatic experience, especially when the breakup comes as a shock.

At this emotional time many of us seek support from various sources be it a friend’s shoulder or psychotherapy but what if neither of these are for you? This is what Paul Harding discovered after going through a difficult breakup of a long-term relationship a few years ago. His experience led to the formation of Heart School an innovative and unique concept intended to help others who find themselves in a similar situation.

Paul Harding is a Master Practitioner of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) - a highly effective personal development method that identifies an individual’s preferred method of dealing with the outside world and therefore how they store emotions, visual impressions etc in their internal world. A natural and practical communicator, Paul’s background is in people development in major corporations and he now devotes his time to working with people who are dealing with major changes in their lives.

Explaining the approach of Heart School he says, “ Heart School provides a real alternative. You focus on the present problem - heartbreak, on ways to cope with it and on the future beyond it. We provide a much-needed range of Heart Classes (groups) and Tuition (individual) for the broken hearted depending on your preference. Its about the art of mending your heart, so that you can start to paint a new picture of your future.”

Their website www.heartschool.co.uk is full of useful information to help you decide if this is for you and outlines the three Heart Classes available:

1. Heart Foundation Course - Heart mending for beginners

This class looks at alleviating unpleasant feelings associated with the early stages of heartbreak and will enable you to gain insights, learn new ways to cope with your feelings and aim to reach a point where in your daily life the experience becomes manageable.

2. Heart Lessons - Why on earth did that happen to me?

This class looks at the circumstances of your heartbreak, why it affected you so deeply and why it happened at a particular time in your life. Insights gained here are incredibly valuable for moving on in your life and gaining new and refreshing perspectives on who you are and what you want.

3. Heart and Design - Planning your future

This class will identify your criteria for future relationship success and devise a plan to protect yourself from situations that you used to habitually fall into. These two things provide the strength to turn away from the past and set yourself on a path towards a much more rewarding future.

For those who feel that the classes are not for them, there is the alternative Individual Heart Tuition. In Heart Tuition you work one-to-one with the Heart Tutor to sketch out the issues you wish to address. The format follows that described in Heart Classes, with the benefit however of tailoring the process to your individual needs. You will gain insights into your situation, learn exercises to alleviate the unpleasant aspects of your experience, look at why you went through this experience, and develop plans to point yourself at a much more positive future. The pace at which this is done is entirely up to you.

May 29, 2003