As I finished up with my last client for the day I sat wondering, “Could they have done this without me? ” The answer is a resounding, YES; it’s just that we get stuck (Most likely in the past). Sometimes we don’t know we are stuck, but we feel off or like life is off keel. Other times we aware and just don’t know how to get up from under the heaviness. Other times, someone who cares about us confronts us about our behavior or attitude leaving us with the question, “What can I do about” followed by “What will I do?”
We each are resilient. Think about people you know and how they have bounced back from the harshness of the world, the abusive past that have left scars raw that reopen with unconscious reminders of the past, the organic mental struggles and conditions, the sense of abandonment that causes one to feel unloved or unlovable. We are resilient and do and have done what we must to endure.
The hiccup that taints our resiliency and leaves us stuck, is that we live in the present with the same defense mechanisms that we used to survive the past, but doesn’t effectively serve us in the present. Defense mechanism of denial, repression, displacement, projection, sublimation ,undoing, rationalization, and regression served as a survival tool, and you did survive. Stop, take a deep breathe and look around, are you danger or do you feel like you are in danger? If you are in danger, please stop and call 911. Your safety is of the utmost importance. But, if you are not in danger and are still using the same coping skills of the past you may be keeping yourself from living a happier and more authentic lives.
That’s where I step in, as a psychotherapist. I am privileged to part of the excavation of rediscovering inner strengths that were buried beneath or that had not be previously discovered. Together, my clients and I create a synergy that gives way to empowerment to live out our Healthiest Life yet, Salus VIta.
And this is my job? I am privileged and count my blessing that I am a Psychotherapist!