The Essence and Impact of Psychotherapy: A Personal Account
The primary role of a therapist as a sophisticated observer is to deeply listen and understand the language of a person’s inner world, aiding them in crafting their next life chapter. Such understanding can lead to building a constructive and truthful outlook of one’s experiences as they progress through life.
My own therapy journey began without a clear purpose. What drew me to it was a deep sense of nagging dissatisfaction despite having experienced both victories and setbacks in my life in general, signaling a need for change. Seated in my therapist’s chair, I found myself bamboozled by the most asked yet poorly answered question of how’re you feeling? .
Fine, thanks … yourself?
… and exploring that rabbit hole led to some interesting results.
I came to understand that psychotherapy is not merely a conduit for hope or comfort, but rather a rather painful exercise of refining our understanding of the trure reality of our experiences.
Also, the pain of therapy is comparable to the necessary discomfort of medicine. When it is effective, therapy can be [fucking] painful, but good for the long run. On the client side at least, the work involves the meticulous process of recalibrating one’s internal worldview so that they can integrate their daily observations, sensations, and what appears as valuable into a cohesive and interconnected system with the least amount of redundancy of information.
A Motivation For Engagement in a Psychotherapeutic Relationship
what’s in it for me?
Examining ones inner model of life, just as they would regularly maintain a car, can offer new and vital insights about their thoughts and behaviour with no judgement. Therapy isn’t about placing blame, digging the past for its own sake, or aimlessly exploring topics without caring to form a connected narrative. Therapeutic relationship provides a coherent account of current experiences, leading to genuine understanding and (inter)personal growth. Such understanding has to become multi-faceted and can serve well as a map to use to navigate our decisions and interpret our emotions.
The therapeutic journey’s healing power comes from forming a trusting alliance with the therapist as a companion in vulnerability who guides one toward our next steps of their personal development. This is invaluable for (at least) two reasons. First, it helps us with setting realistic expectations of ourselves. Second, especially when done consistently, the practice of articulating our thoughts and experiences helps us with revisiting our internal worldviews and adjust it forward.
Psychotherapeutic approach can act as a litmus test for one’s ability to form meaningful patterns of thought and behaviour based on their personal experience when it comes to the intimate, more personal stuff. Broadly speaking therapeutic approaches can be many and vary over time for each person.
But regardless of the approach, I think it is safe to say that the pain that results from keeping one’s internal models clean and calibrated is constructive in the long run.
