Everything in my life is a gift ...

A colleague I particularly respect sent me the following email:

My talk was to [an association] – couldn’t believe how nervous I was, inspite of how often I do this. It think, because of my counseling background and wanting to speak especially to their particular needs, my stomach acted up a lot and I felt weak-kneed – how embarrassing; finally pulled out of it by simply telling them that I was nervous! HA!

My response to her was:

I find that experiences such as the one you describe help to keep us connected to what our clients are going through. It expands compassion and deepens understanding, ultimately making us better at what we do.

Walking My Talk

During the 9 years I taught Medical Hypnotherapy and Mind-Body Healing at Marilyn Gordon's school, one of the points I stressed the most was how important it is for us practitioners to work on our own stuff with a professional. I would point out that picking up the phone, making the call, scheduling the appointment, and doing the work with someone else kept us in touch with what our clients experience doing the same thing with us.

It's not easy to ask for help. It's not easy to make ourselves vulnerable in front of another human being -- sometimes a veritable stranger. It's not easy to admit we have "stuff," let alone share that stuff.

Yesterday I volunteered as "the client" for a TAT demo with my certification mentor, Lisa Saubolle. The session was just between the two of us, on the phone, and recorded so the other members of our mentoring group could listen later. I had to really concentrate on my own process because thinking about laying myself bare in front of the other group members -- let alone Lisa -- was distracting, to say the least.

The TAT session went well, bringing to light layers of a long-standing self-sabotage pattern I recently recognized. But just as significant was the opportunity to put myself in the shoes of the people I serve, recognizing anew the courage it takes to heal.