I know that I can’t keep myself from going back into my past. I think it is worth explaining a life of therapist before I get back in to my periodical silence again. We therapists call that period of silence as ‘recuperating’. Like every smart phone, a smart therapist takes time off to recharge.
It is true when we took oaths as therapists we were warned that our clients do not come to us for healing. Instead, they come to heal us by opening our past wounds through their personal stories. The stark resemblance of their story to our own, may seem baffling initially. However, over time we grow immune. We assist in healing our clients with our own experience of pain across their lifetime. A therapist has no other reference of learning to quote from but from her own life. This pain that we have experienced and learned from, could be our own or the pain that our loved ones went through.
We are fully aware that the client who is seated in front of us is going to rake up our worst nightmare through the session. Yet, it is the same euphoric feeling that an athlete feels when she wins the tournament despite a painful torn ligament. The sacrifice seems small in front of the tremendous high one feels when one assists in healing a broken heart or a wounded soul. The most beautiful part is that at the end of each session we walk out even more realized that all experiences we went through were nothing but intense classes of learning with the sole purpose to help heal others nothing else. What a beautiful feeling to realize we led purposeful lives.
The trick for us to remain grounded despite the client stories punching us in the face wham wham is to not dwell in it. And, this happens when a therapist can stay detached and does not associate her own pain to the stories and indulge in story telling of her own misery. As therapists we have piles of client emotions downloaded on our plate and we flush it down along with our own emotion every single day. Till we feel completely detoxed.
However, if the therapist gets her share of shoulder to cry on, she dwells on her pain rather than flushing it. That is the time she has to be stern with herself in order to be back in her element of therapist. Lest she may loose her powers to connect, assist and facilitate good in the Universe. Self-restraint and detachment are tough yet essential practices for a budding therapist.
We may seem like we are running a marathon between the past and the present. The truth is that over time for all therapists their past will only be a library of reference and the present the platform for solution for everyone who seeks assistance from them. Over time, through every client that requests healing through her she will heal her own self to the next level of being.
There will be one time finally, she will be enough and will not need her past as per reference to heal others.
𝗮𝗔
Anuradha Kamath is a Wellness Consultant and Behavioral therapist and assists her clients both in group and individually, as a Hypnotherapist, Energy Healer, Metaphor Therapist, Sound Healer, Access Bar Practitioner and Laughter Yoga Therapist.
𝘄𝘄𝘄.𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵.𝗰𝗼𝗺