Although the experience was devastating I never had counselling and Roberts began to help me to alter the way I felt about the tragedy and its aftermath.
I started the treatment by listening to a CD of Roberts talking me through a special mental exercise, designed to teach the subconscious a new sequence, one that leads back to good health.
She guided me to create an image of a place in my head - "my perfect place" - where I felt wonderful, both physically and mentally, and could go to relax. She explained that the subconscious controls the activity of the body and uses sequences to store all our routines, good and bad, which in my case was creating my migraine symptoms. She showed me how to do a simple mental exercise every couple of hours whenever I had a migraine so my mind would gradually switch to a new pain-free sequence.
In the months that followed, Roberts offered weekly telephone support and told me I could ring her any time.
I had to be alert to the first signs of a migraine developing and act immediately. At the first twinge I had to focus on the pain and repeat aloud, or in my head, "Go away!" Roberts had explained that the automatic part of the brain will only change if there is a very good reason, so the order to "go away" has to be said with real force.
She told me there might be no change at first as my subconscious resisted the sequence. But within a month I enjoyed a gap of two weeks without symptoms.
The gaps between migraines grew longer - first a month, then three, then six. The intensity and duration also reduced with each attack. Now I haven't had a migraine for more than two years.
And, amazingly, there are no foods, drinks or situations I have to avoid.
Roberts has written a book about Resolution Magic, to be published later this year. "Symptoms such as depression, migraine, ME, irritable bowel syndrome and backache are all caused by the same thing - our own manufactured electrical waves," she says. "Neurological wave syndrome is at the root of so many conditions.
"With Resolution Magic, even the most debilitating of symptoms or unwanted feelings can gradually be reduced until they disappear."
Olivia Roberts's regional workshop tour comes to London this summer (resolutionmagic.com)
