TRG EXPERIENCE - Maria Araújo

[00:02] behind a machine, behind a computer. computer. No. I love taking care of people.

[00:17] Aparecida, but I'm known as Maria Araújo. Well, I'm 45 years old, Araújo. Well, I'm 45 years old, married, and have been visually impaired since

[00:30] married, and have been visually impaired since visually impaired, meaning he can't see anything. I see 100 10%.

[00:42] see anything. I see 100 10%. In my right eye, 2% vision; in my left eye, I see blurry shapes. Well, my blurry shapes. Well, my story is, I was born on a

[00:57] farm, it's a big family, we are 10 siblings. I am the youngest, my father was a farmer, my

[01:09] mother a housewife. Well, I was born in the Well, I was born in the countryside and due to my disability, I did n't attend school. In other words, I only went to school when I was

[01:25] 21 , I learned to read Braille, and the story that really affected me, that hurt me a and the story that really affected me, that hurt me a lot, was when I came here to

[01:40] lot, was when I came here to Belo Horizonte. This was in resolve my vision problem. And then I received a diagnosis that

[01:54] vision problem. And then I received a diagnosis that my case had no solution. I became depressed and started having suicidal thoughts, and my family needed to be by my side all the time

[02:09] to prevent it from happening, to stop me from committing me from committing suicide. And the questioning began. As a teenager, I was 15

[02:23] teenager, I was 15 years old and I fell into depression, during which I cried a lot, I thought I would never amount to anything in life, I felt

[02:38] life, I felt worthless, I lot of pain, very emotional.

[02:56] where I was born, was born, uh, many of my siblings, both my father and my mother, were

[03:08] alcoholics. So there were a lot of fights, a lot of violence. I watched my brothers hitting my mother, my brothers, my mother hitting my father, my father hitting my mother.

[03:23] And that hurt me a lot, because I felt completely powerless. I wanted to help them, but I couldn't even help myself.

[03:37] And at 21 years old, I was already here in São Paulo. Why? When I was 15, I came to São Paulo to to live and started living with someone else. So

[03:52] I lived with my brother for a while, and with my sister for some more time. And that was my life. I was n't studying, I had no n't studying, I had no expectations. And at 21

[04:07] I entered school, I became literate using the Brazilian incapable. I never believed that one day I would be

[04:21] someone, that one day I would get to where I am where I am today. And I learned to read and write, I completed my high school equivalency

[04:33] today. And I learned to read and write, I completed my high school equivalency , I got married at 25, , I got married at 25, from the depression, but it was still with me. When I got

[04:48] with me. When I got married, I had another episode of married, I had another episode of depression, this time stronger, this time depression, this time stronger, this time deeper. And so I started, I went to five

[05:00] psychologists, they helped me, they helped me, I'm very helped me, they helped me, I'm very grateful, but that pain remained inside. I was still depressed, just with a functional depression. I

[05:17] work, I do my things, I take care of the house. I went back to school when I was 25, and when I was 30 I got my first job. Oh, it was

[05:32] wonderful, it was my dream. I went to work at Citibank, where I worked for 10 years and 11

[05:47] fearful person. It was at the company where I worked that I lacked self-confidence. I always thought that what I was doing wasn't good, that my way

[06:00] of speaking was wrong, my Portuguese was bad, and it caused me a lot of pain and bad, and it caused me a lot of pain and anxiety. And I go to the doctor almost every day because of anxiety attacks. I also had a

[06:18] anxiety attacks. I also had a trauma from when I was 9 years old, where when I got nervous or worried, I would lose my voice, become mute, go to the doctor, take medication, and

[06:33] go back home. go back home. And that was my life, taking care of the house, making a superhuman effort to take care of the house, to manage

[06:47] things. Well, I love my family very much, so I wanted to take care of my father, I wanted to so I wanted to take care of my father, I wanted to take care of my mother, I wanted to take care of my siblings. in 2021 I was still depressed.

[07:03] 2021 I was still depressed. I had already been taking antidepressants for 8 morning I was at home, I was praying. I prayed to God

[07:16] God, show me the way. God will show me. Put someone in my path. I need someone who can help me

[07:32] my projects. Why? I used to dream of becoming a psychologist. handle college, I don't have that kind of intelligence, this isn't going to work out

[07:48] intelligence, this isn't going to work out . Okay, so tomorrow, like I . Okay, so tomorrow, like I said, I was at home and I went to check my Instagram and guess who showed up?

[08:01] Soares. I stopped drinking my coffee there, started listening to him him talk, and that was it for me. I

[08:13] talk, and that was it for me. I was already 40 years old. I signed up right then and there . I said, "This is what I want. I'm going to take care of myself. I'm going to be able to help myself and I'm going to be able to help

[08:28] other people." I took the mini-course, fell course, keeping in mind that my financial situation was quite

[08:45] financial situation was quite complicated. I had, the only money I had in the account was to buy some food for the house. But I've decided, I'm going to pay for this course. I bought the results-oriented therapist course

[09:00] course. I bought the results-oriented therapist course , I bought the behavioral body reading course, , I bought the behavioral body reading course, and I started studying with a lot of determination, a lot of passion, a lot of willpower, and I didn't worry about whether I had

[09:17] a visual impairment or not. I said, "I'm going to learn, I'm going to learn, I'm going to put in the effort by studying." I took the course, both studying." I took the course, both courses, and started my own

[09:32] courses, and started my own treatment because I needed to. How could I take care of someone, try to help someone, if I was emotionally ill myself? I began my treatment

[09:48] emotionally ill myself? I began my treatment by remembering that I had by remembering that I had reprocessed myself. I did all my self-reprocessing. Yeah, it was very challenging because there was a lot of pain. I

[10:02] found painful things there that were hidden inside. treatment, my self-reprocessing. I became free from

[10:16] depression, free from anxiety and many other emotional pains, that fear, that shame, that feeling of

[10:31] And I started to answer calls. My first client was my husband. Yes, I started seeing my husband, then I began seeing seeing family members, and I fell more and

[10:46] more in love with therapy. therapy. And today, after 2 years, I continue And today, after 2 years, I continue working, serving customers, I love what I do.

[10:58] I love taking care of people. I understand now that I wasn't born to be behind a machine, behind a computer. No. I love taking care of people. I came to

[11:10] this earth for this reason: to care for lives, to care for souls, and to do so with lives, to care for souls, and to do so with great responsibility. And I provided services to some clients for free

[11:25] , uh, I still do, I continue to provide services pro bono. pro bono. Something that makes me very happy, tears, is that I had the privilege of treating my

[11:39] of treating my mother, who is now 86 years old. And a year and a half ago, my mother was depressed back at the farm. She wasn't

[11:53] depressed back at the farm. She wasn't eating, she was losing strength, and getting sick. And I went to sick. And I went to her. I made the proposal: "Mom, would you

[12:05] accept that I treat you, that I be your therapist?" And my mother agreed. It was therapist?" And my mother agreed. It was wonderful to see my mother doing

[12:17] well today. Today my mother still lives with me and my with me and my husband. And it's nice, it's wonderful, husband. And it's nice, it's wonderful, because we talk a lot at home and

[12:29] the peace I see there with my mother is see there with my mother is priceless. Well, today my mother is doing great, my husband is doing great. I treated a

[12:43] sister who had been raped; she has since been raped; she has since been discharged from the hospital. I have been serving clients from Rio Grande do Norte, I provide online services,

[12:58] and each client interaction is a gift from God to me . I'm thrilled with my

[13:14] TRG. It was a gift that God sent directly from heaven to me. directly from heaven to me. Well, Jair Soares, for me, is like an older brother

[13:29] an older brother , because he appeared at the moment I needed him most, when I most needed him. And I 'm sure, even my mother tells me this, that she knows, if I

[13:44] me this, that she knows, if I hadn't met TRG, maybe I would n't be here today telling my story. Why? Because I myself went to church when I was 16, it

[13:59] I myself went to church when I was 16, it helped me a lot, but helped me a lot, but I still had suicidal thoughts. The thoughts came, but I didn't speak. There was a time in my life when

[14:12] I even put on my shoes to go to the train tracks to play, and to the train tracks to play, and an old man helped me, he wouldn't let me. So I believe I wouldn't be here today because there was so much suffering, so

[14:26] here today because there was so much suffering, so many demands, so much, so much suffering indeed. And I've had several professions to get to TRG. Today I understand, I understand that my

[14:41] calling, my mission, is TRG, because I've been a babysitter, I've elderly, I've sold jewelry, and I've set up a

[14:57] massage parlor. I'm also a massage therapist, but at the moment I massage therapist, but at the moment I only work with TRG therapy. I've sold perfume, I've

[15:16] I set up a jewelry store, but nothing, you know, nothing flowed. I had that mental block, block, and for me, who has a visual impairment—

[15:31] and for me, who has a visual impairment— right? I have microphthalmia cataracts, and for me, it

[15:49] was very difficult during my adolescence. that in '94 I was in this '94 I was in this city, but I was

[16:04] depressed. I left this city wanting to end my life, and today I've come to a end my life, and today I've come to a cheerful, and working on TRG therapy. It gave me this

[16:22] opportunity because it didn't limit me, my disability doesn't limit me. I attend to my clients normally and, look, today I consider myself a

[16:38] winner. Of course, here I am summarizing, or rather, trying to summarize, because it was a lot, a great deal of suffering. But

[16:52] suffering. But finally, I found TRG, and it solved what I couldn't solve before. And today I am

[17:10] happy and grateful to God. I am grateful to Jair Soares, I am grateful to TRG for being here, and I believe I will go much further. I have make a difference. And that's all I want to

[17:27] leave in my testimony. [Music]