Oksana Fortunatova

My practice of using the coherent breathing method:

I use this technique in each case while working 1:1 with my patients. I specialize in working with neuroses, somatoform disorders and depression. All patients notice significant improvement of their state: both while using for acute symptoms (pain, intrusive thoughts, irritability, severe fear) and for long-term work.

The patients that have been practicing breathing exercises over six months’ notice changes in their background state: their response to situations of stress communication has changed, their sleep improved. There is significant success in working with psychogenic pain. Also, while working with traumatizing memories (e.g. life threat, rape) I use breathing techniques to stabilize the person’s state in the process. This makes the healing process so much easier.

I also run a group for those who suffered from the war as a volunteer. The group includes survivors from Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Bucha, Donetsk region as well as residents of Kyiv region where the situation is also far from being calm and peaceful. The group has been functioning since October 28th, 2022. We meet for one hour, twice a week. It has a chat organized in Telegram.

Active participants of the group noticed the following changes: their normal good sleep is back, muscle pains decreased, various symptoms (e.g. lump in the throat, constant expectation of explosions, irritability, etc.) disappeared. All of them had improvement in their sleep and some got their appetite back.

I would like to point out that these practices yield wonderful results to develop people’s contact with themselves which is absolutely needed in various cases during psychotherapy. Patients learn to pay attention to themselves, listen to (and hear) themselves, take care of themselves. Coherent breathing brings this skill to life, and then it can be used in other spheres of life: fullness of life is being established, relationships with people change.

My personal experience is helping me to spread the knowledge about coherent breathing. After spending 38 days in a cold basement, under constant bombardment, I managed to evacuate. After I got to a safe place, I realized I became a different person. Not exactly alive. I was sure I would never come back to life. I was cold, dull and ‘wooden’, both in my body and in my state of mind. It felt like a double punch to me, because I understood I would not be able to continue working as a psychotherapist in such a state. So that also meant destruction of my professional life.

After 6 months of practicing breathing exercises once a week I got to the state even better than I had even before the war. I consider this project incredibly important and needed. To me, Dr.Gerbarg and Dr.Brown are people who helped me survive. So now I am helping others with this.