A client comes into psychotherapy because something of their current circumstances and interpersonal relationships feels uncomfortable. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧.The task in psychotherapy would be to bring together these opposing positions, and create a synthesis of these two feelings so that a new way of being and relating can be discovered.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐞?
The challenge in psychotherapy is not merely of awareness, but from a depth perspective, I would say awakening. An awakening to the whole truth of the situation in its totality, without judgement or filters. And an awakening to the truth would constitute ‘re-collecting’ what is projected or attributed to the outside world, so that even though it is uncomfortable, it can be integrated in a synthesised way within one’s own personality.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞?
There are many a purpose that this would serve, one of them being becoming whole – integrating into one’s psyche that what is unbearable to hold or come to terms with, in service of the transformation and growth of the personality.
𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 ‘𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞’also answers this question of how the discovery of truth can lead to change. “𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝; 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡…” – Neville Symington
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