Authentic Therapeutic Relationship Leads to Client Liberation

In a therapeutic relationship, the role of the therapist is to help liberate the client. And in doing so, the therapist also becomes liberated. My job is not to keep clients dependent upon me. My clients can depend on me, but dependence becomes disempowering. I see my role as helping others' connect into their own inherent wisdom, which resides deep within all of us. We all disconnected, to some extent, from our authenticity in early childhood in order to attach to our caregivers. And therefore, the journey into adulthood becomes a quest to reclaim what was always our birthright, our authenticity. With so much noise and information in the world, it is easy to stay lost and disconnect from our own inner knowing.  Our own compass that guides us along our path. It does take courage and curiosity in order to slow down enough to connect back to our own inherent wisdom. And I find, slowing down, to be one of the most challenging aspects of this work. And yet, the slower we go, the faster we get there. “There” being whatever change you are hoping to make in your life. It is a simple, but not easy, concept to cultivate. With so many old stories repeating in our minds – stories that once kept us feeling safe in the world – it can be difficult to discern past from present. These stories, along with memory feelings stored in our bodies, keep us seemingly stuck in a disempowered loop of thoughts and emotions that appear to be out of our control. So, I invite you, what might it feel like to begin to slow down? Slow down enough to observe your thoughts. Are the stories they are telling you happening in the here and now? Or are they familiar, yet old, stories that perhaps may no longer be useful in present time? And if it is difficult to discern the difference, ask yourself if you would speak to a dear friend or a loved one the way your mind is speaking to you now. If the answer is no, please remember that you are (and will always be) your longest relationship and that no one is more deserving of your love than you. And then feel into how that new truth lands in your mind and your heart.