on counseling
Nov. 4th, 2001 01:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iamomOkay, so I was watching Dr. Phil on Oprah the other day. I only catch a bit of Oprah about once a week, but I often see Dr. Phil on there. This time, he was doing a 5-day group therapy workshop for about a dozen people. The goal of the workshop seemed to be to break people out of some psychologically painful ruts they were in at the time.
Oprah highlighted the breakthrough experienced by one particular participant, a strong male who broke down in tears on camera. Now, as I watched the exchange between Dr. Phil and this guy, I found myself thinking the same thoughts that were coming out of Dr. Phil's mouth as words. I was totally in synch with Phil's therapy with this guy, and even gave the patient a mental hug when Dr. Phil did (something I wouldn't think would normally be appropriate in a therapeutic setting).
It felt like the most perfect dance you could do with another person. You listen to someone who is going through a painful period, and you administer to them a therapy of language which you create yourself through your questioning. If you're effective, your therapy will help to awaken the patient to themselves in a way in which they were previously not able. In time, you might find that your approach is more effective with certain sorts of people, and so you focus your energy on them.
The goal, if one can be articulated, is to facilitate the free-flowing movement of energy throughout the universe. I can't say why that's the goal, but it is. The ideal is a freely-flowing system which has no bindings, no particular tension, no specific obstacles within itself. In essence, I'm thinking of matter returning to a more primal, rested state; a state of unadorned being.
Oprah highlighted the breakthrough experienced by one particular participant, a strong male who broke down in tears on camera. Now, as I watched the exchange between Dr. Phil and this guy, I found myself thinking the same thoughts that were coming out of Dr. Phil's mouth as words. I was totally in synch with Phil's therapy with this guy, and even gave the patient a mental hug when Dr. Phil did (something I wouldn't think would normally be appropriate in a therapeutic setting).
It felt like the most perfect dance you could do with another person. You listen to someone who is going through a painful period, and you administer to them a therapy of language which you create yourself through your questioning. If you're effective, your therapy will help to awaken the patient to themselves in a way in which they were previously not able. In time, you might find that your approach is more effective with certain sorts of people, and so you focus your energy on them.
The goal, if one can be articulated, is to facilitate the free-flowing movement of energy throughout the universe. I can't say why that's the goal, but it is. The ideal is a freely-flowing system which has no bindings, no particular tension, no specific obstacles within itself. In essence, I'm thinking of matter returning to a more primal, rested state; a state of unadorned being.
