The Reflective Eclectic
How to Create a Therapeutic Place
You can control these factors, but don’t attempt to control the people.
Some places are therapeutic, meaning they bring out the best in people; others bring out the worst. If you need an example of those that consistently bring out the worst, think of a maximum-security prison, a busy highway, the cafeteria of a middle school, or the parents’ bleachers at a basketball game.
I wish I could give you a list of settings that consistently bring out the best in people, but I can’t. A home, a marriage, a gathering of friends, a workplace, or a church are all places that could be therapeutic but often aren’t.
If you want to enjoy the therapeutic properties of a well-functioning place, you either have to be very lucky to find yourself in one, or you must create it. Fortunately, I’ve had a hand in creating a therapeutic place or two in my day, so I can tell you how it’s done.
For many years, I worked in a program where almost two hundred people with serious mental illnesses and intense addictions came to spend the day together, every day. If we could make that kind of gathering therapeutic, then you should have no problem with yours. Pay attention to the following factors.
