The Process of Psychotherapy
The relationship between the patient and psychotherapist is the fertile ground from which good therapy grows. I would encourage a patient, over time, to bring all aspects of themselves to the space, even if those parts feel too risky or painful to expose. In this way, the therapeutic alliance between us strengthens, and becomes a secure container where the ‘true self’ can eventually emerge.
Sometimes therapy is hard work. As we shine the light on parts of self that have remained repressed and in the shadows for years, decades, or a lifetime, it can be distressing and painful to regain awareness, and integrate those parts into who we are now, in the stark light of day.
“Emotional upheaval during psychotherapy is often paired with sudden insights.”
The good news is there is eventually a reward for such confronting work, mainly in the emotional energy freed up that is no longer required to keep the repressions buried. Much of our vitality resides within the ‘shadow’!
Sometimes there’ll be sessions where not a lot happens- on the surface, anyway. I sometimes think of these sessions as ‘fallow’- a farming term that describes parts of the land that are left untouched for a while, to give the soil a chance to restore and replenish before it is again seeded and required to grow.
Other times you’ll leave therapy feeling so much lighter. There’ll be a bounce in your step, recognised as joy, for no obvious reason. You’ll just feel better....alive to it all.... energised.... and again, for no obvious reason. This is one of the many byproducts of loosening and dissolving psychological and emotional knots.