Tell me and I’ll forget
Show me and I may remember
Involve me and I’ll understand
When it comes to working as a therapist, we need to have been involved deeply in our own journey as healers, healing and healed to be able to understand the twists and turns in the journey we ask our clients to make. This is where our performance anxiety truly stems from: on a deeper level we sense in ourselves the same kinds of anxieties our clients have. How can I heal my client if I haven’t healed myself? This is the question that many hypnotherapists, psychotherapists, and coaches wrestle with in their practices.
We may have listened to our lectures, we may have witnessed a few demonstrations, but until we have embarked on the whole journey ourselves, we may come over as inauthentic and lacking in skill and personal confidence. That may also mean, we have to face our fear of exposure in our classes, our teaching and learning groups, and our general lives. If I can’t find my inner peace in amongst the ‘noise and haste’ of my every day life, how can I rely upon my inner self to guide me when I really need it?
Many sit back and DO nothing about their fears. They continue to blame seemingly external causes for their inner turmoil or lack of success. But the truth is, there is only one cause of inner turmoil, and that is not having the courage to take our own personal inventory.
As shiny and superficial as the world may appear at times with its hedonistic emphasis on outward appearances, there is a simultaneous undercurrent of a movement which is looking for the deeply authentic, the real, the meaningful. It’s almost as if, as a society, we need the authentic the more emphasis is placed on the superficial and frivolous. A bit like the spiritual equivalent of ‘supersize v superskinny’: a spiritual famine or feast.
Training with me at Open Mind means we look for the authentic. We are searching for the unique gift that each therapist or coach brings to their practice: their personality, their style, and their experience. There is no prescriptive way to practice working in the healing arts: each one of us is individual. And if you are looking to find more about who you are in your practice, think about joining us on my Soul level membership. Take a look.
As ever Jenny, honest, insightful, invaluable.
I am a regular attendee of Jenny’s OpenMind supervision group and can vouch for its value to me as a therapist. As a group we are non-judgemental, supportive, open and friendly. Sometimes technique comes into the equation, but it’s about so much more than that, its value cannot be fully understood until it is experienced.