The Power of Wellness
There is no way of me knowing when in your life you felt the best that you have felt, but you will know when that was. I have no idea when or how often you have felt happiness or even if you can recall it, but I know that you will know if this is so. I am sure, that if you can recall that feeling or even imagine it, as if you are really waking up to one of those mornings, when your eyes open and you stretch and smile. You can feel that it is going to be a good day, the sky is blue, the birds are singing, your body feels alive, you have woken with that smile on your face and you are looking forward to what ever the day is going to bring. If for one moment you can recapture this mood, you can live your life as though it is the best day you have ever had.
I have had the great pleasure of working with many people who are feeling disconnected; some times reconnecting with a mood that is useful is of great assistance. Even creating a mood that is a holiday from the day to day can be of some assistance. Of course this is not the only solution as people are more complex than this. Other times disconnecting from an un-useful mood also helps; again this is not a panacea but may be useful in some cases. No two problems or solutions are the same, even with the similarities that create universal possibilities. In the same way that we explored connecting to something useful, beautiful and inspiring, we can ask an individual how they disconnect from the things that are no longer of any use……I have know way of knowing how in the past you rid yourself or escaped from this feeling, could you explain this to me, what was different when the feeling was gone, what was present instead are some questions that may assist in uncovering internal resources to achieving these results.
It is with some hesitancy that I write any of this down, as my concern is always that the person in front of you carries all of the answers; that we as therapists in the helping professions just need to listen to our clients. When I say listen, I really mean hear, hear their strengths, their possibilities, their resources, because every individual brings these to a session, the problem is normally around your resourceful client not being connected in some way to what is useful for them or you as the therapist not hearing what they are because they do not fit with your theory.
I know this may seem abstract to stop thinking about all that we know, and ask the client what they know! If you would like to try this in a session with a client, I ask that you look for possible resources with the client, not in their presentation which is possibly symptomatic but in areas of their lives where they have been strong, capable, resourceful, coping. These resources may even be in another time? Some may find a future possibility, others will recall this in their past, and you may even find that some clients are resourceful in the present. It is for this reason I have concerns when writing some tools down, as people, us therapists are inclined to pay more attention to the tools, then we do to the individual, which will be of little use to the client. If this were to occur these tools could become part of the therapeutic disease that creates un-wellness with some people, if I in some way lead therapists to focus on diagnosis, theories or anything other than the individual, I to become part of the problem. It is not my intent to debunk any theory, or dismiss any diagnosis, it is however my intent to make sure we in the therapeutic world remember that the person is more important than any one given approach, theory or diagnosis.
There is no way of me knowing when in your life you felt the best that you have felt, but you will know when that was. I have no idea when or how often you have felt happiness or even if you can recall it, but I know that you will know if this is so. I am sure, that if you can recall that feeling or even imagine it, as if you are really waking up to one of those mornings, when your eyes open and you stretch and smile. You can feel that it is going to be a good day, the sky is blue, the birds are singing, your body feels alive, you have woken with that smile on your face and you are looking forward to what ever the day is going to bring. If for one moment you can recapture this mood, you can live your life as though it is the best day you have ever had.
I have had the great pleasure of working with many people who are feeling disconnected; some times reconnecting with a mood that is useful is of great assistance. Even creating a mood that is a holiday from the day to day can be of some assistance. Of course this is not the only solution as people are more complex than this. Other times disconnecting from an un-useful mood also helps; again this is not a panacea but may be useful in some cases. No two problems or solutions are the same, even with the similarities that create universal possibilities. In the same way that we explored connecting to something useful, beautiful and inspiring, we can ask an individual how they disconnect from the things that are no longer of any use……I have know way of knowing how in the past you rid yourself or escaped from this feeling, could you explain this to me, what was different when the feeling was gone, what was present instead are some questions that may assist in uncovering internal resources to achieving these results.
It is with some hesitancy that I write any of this down, as my concern is always that the person in front of you carries all of the answers; that we as therapists in the helping professions just need to listen to our clients. When I say listen, I really mean hear, hear their strengths, their possibilities, their resources, because every individual brings these to a session, the problem is normally around your resourceful client not being connected in some way to what is useful for them or you as the therapist not hearing what they are because they do not fit with your theory.
I know this may seem abstract to stop thinking about all that we know, and ask the client what they know! If you would like to try this in a session with a client, I ask that you look for possible resources with the client, not in their presentation which is possibly symptomatic but in areas of their lives where they have been strong, capable, resourceful, coping. These resources may even be in another time? Some may find a future possibility, others will recall this in their past, and you may even find that some clients are resourceful in the present. It is for this reason I have concerns when writing some tools down, as people, us therapists are inclined to pay more attention to the tools, then we do to the individual, which will be of little use to the client. If this were to occur these tools could become part of the therapeutic disease that creates un-wellness with some people, if I in some way lead therapists to focus on diagnosis, theories or anything other than the individual, I to become part of the problem. It is not my intent to debunk any theory, or dismiss any diagnosis, it is however my intent to make sure we in the therapeutic world remember that the person is more important than any one given approach, theory or diagnosis.
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