If its so simple, why isn’t it easy?
The people who come to therapy tend to be bright, successful, competent individuals. They are fully capable of successfully meeting most of the challenges they face without assistance. They have already demonstrated that they can solve nearly all of the major problems in their lives without the help or direction of anyone else. If the solutions to their current dilemmas could be easily seen, they would solve them as effectively as they have all the others. Usually patients come to therapy because something has created an impasse that appears insurmountable.
The therapist is not someone who is”smarter than they are” and can “solve their problems for them.” That is not what most people want or need. You are the expert on your life. You are in charge of the direction in which you choose to take your relationship.
Negative elements that reoccur in our personal life and in our relationships often stem from emotionally based responses that push us to behave in ways that we may be well aware are unproductive. We may know what is not working for us, but we don’t know why we do it –or how to stop it. Sometimes the emotional responses that influence us are actually beyond our awareness. We certainly can’t fix what we don’t see, don’t realize is taking place, or can’t understand.
Therapy provides an effective venue for discovering and examining the source of our problematic behavior and responses. It can offer an enhanced awareness, greater understanding, and a new perspective on the nature of the most persistent and troubling elements in our life. Most often, the answers and explanations are relatively simple and straight forward. Once seen, the choice is yours to use those new insights to implement change. Permanent, effective change generally requires commitment, courage, and persistence. It may not be easy–but the payoff is a sense of peace and satisfaction that makes your decision and your effort well worthwhile.
Tags: Therapy