Confronting the Dark Parts of Oneself - With Dr. Gabor Maté

[@1GR8LMFT]

I have journeyed, over and over again, into my own personal internal hell…this has deeply impacted my trauma informed psychotherapy work with others. In my humble opinion, I can only invite my clients as deeply as I have journeyed myself. I teach them to be comfortable with their authentic selves so the trauma and pain of their childhoods are no longer running their lives. It is a true honor to help others journey through and into their pain, and emerge more authentic and whole on the other side. This process offers ever-expansion and deepening of integration.

[@upendasana7857]

Its correct what Gabor says about the need for clarity within any therapist and sadly which they so often do not possess or at least in not sufficient quantity or quality. This is why it can get so tricky when a therapist ends up transfering their own disowned material and automoatically assumes it is the client who is projecting if a client says anything perceived as "critical" or just does not feel met by the therapist in some way.this can often happen and a therapist has to be able to be honest enough with themselves to know when they may have hit on their own blind spots or unhealed wounds. No one necessarily expects a therapist to be completely healed but to at least be honest and self aware enough to know when they may have hit on a blind spot or limitation and this is soemthing which many therapits unless they are extremely honest find very hard to do in my expereince and it can be very traumatising for clients to not have that honest openness of their therapist.This is where therapists can cause more damage and too often do,there needs to be more rigorous therapy training which includes much deeper diving and healing for therapist not just theoretical study but deep embodied work.

[@MindfulnessExercises]

Thank you so much for sharing these insights and reflections Upenda!