The Dog Whisperer - Cesar Milan

This guy is one of my heroes.
He basically trains dog owners and rehabilitates problem dogs (the dogs are normally the easy part of the problem!).
Had a treat of an episode recently: Cesar was doing more than his normal amount of “people whispering”. He had a woman who had been diagnosed with chronic panic disorder. She was wanting to have her dog resolve a few issues it had in order to qualify to be an assistant of sorts for her. The woman herself had been confined largely to her home for a year in fear of going out and amongst other things had a strong fear of certain dog breeds – those she believed to be aggressive.
Enter Cesar - “Oh – you afraid of the Pit Bull? [with a slight mexican twang] ...Then we need to get you in amongst a pack of them and see what happens!”. Not surprisingly her face was a picture! But with some gracious, patient and wise preparation Cesar had her not only walking amongst “problem dogs” and having her at peace in the midst of them but had her training her husband how to be around them – maintaining a calm assertive state (to be “pack leader”). He showed her how to carry it through even if she didn't exactly “feel” like doing so – to operate “as if” and to continue until “as if” behavior became the new norm. The woman was transformed to the point where it became plane that actually she no longer needed the dog to give her the confidence to venture out because she was free of the very problem itself.
Fantastic
It speaks to me so much of how we can be self imprisoned victims to our own beliefs and thoughts. We often don't see it for ourselves (though we see it plainly in others!). Give us a label for it (“panic disorder”, “phobic”......) and we'll own it all the more, fight for it's respect and assume it's a legitimate “part of us” (and could you be a bigot or prejudice if you fail to agree that this is just the way a person is?).
So often we'll run the line "this is me” or “what can i do?”. Most times our self limiting thoughts probably just go unnoticed, I'm sure the enemy loves to keep his grapple hold inconspicuous...silent suffocation or a slow boiling of the frog?!
;-)
....Go Cesar!