Following on from my last post...more thoughts on talking and why we should do more of it.
I was talking to a therapist friend of mine (Pauline, she does birthday charts) - we were just catching up with each other...nothing specific just general chit chat about our lives and how we learn and grow. And I said, in passing that sometimes I feel a little 'stuck'....I suppose a good example is that I stopped posting blogs here for a while because I got bogged down in a hundred other things all of which seemed to take priority at the time and and before I knew it so much time has passed.
Let me say here that we are both therapists and we both help clients with 'getting stuck' problems regularly and further to that we both have a different way of dealing with 'getting stuck'...I will use a blend of NLP and Hypnosis and Pauline would use her Astrology understanding to work with clients. But at this point in the conversation we were only chatting and not seriously addressing anything in particular. It was just one of those nice round and round, not going anywhere in particular, conversations you can have with your close friends whilst drinking coffee, leaning back in the chair, enjoying the warm respite from the freezing cold wind outside.
Pauline surprised at my 'getting stuck' problem started to explore what 'getting stuck' was like for me because it was her observation that I seemed to have boundless energy and that I am always busy. And that is true, I am always busy .. the old adage about 'if you want something done ask a busy person' has meant that I have half a dozen projects on the go at any one time.
So - to further explain what 'getting stuck' meant I resorted to using imagery and said "I feel as if I am like lightening, always 'alive', always moving around, sometimes unpredictable but striking here and there in a difused and random way". And then I had one of those 'Ah Ha!' moments.
The 'Ah Ha' was the reminder that for me metaphor and imagery is a great way to work at a conscious and unconscious level to deal with issues like 'getting stuck'...metaphor is so good at bypassing the literal and conscious thinking that most of us apply to our own problems. And there was also the realisation that although it had not been our intention to talk about problems and issues affecting us that just talking conversationally had allowed this particular issue to surface on its own. And that by just gently probing it, without even trying to resolve it I had reminded myself of a good method for exploring and working on my own issues.
There was another realisation, which goes back to my earlier post, about how good it is to talk to like minded friends because they can often bring a totally new perspecive and if you can look at something in a new light and perhaps change what you are doing you can avoid another well known cliche..'if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got'.
Taking this further I thought it would also be useful for practitioners and therapists, who often work alone, who might find some benefit in sitting down with a bunch of like minded colleagues and friends to explore problems and issues we have in common...problems like lack of confidence, or sadness, or isolation...and so many other problems that we experience sooner or later. And with that thought in mind I have started a monthly informal discussion group for practitioners and therapists (and a friend). If you want to join this group please do check out here to find if it meets your needs too.
I think that means my list of 'things to do' has increased by 1 :)
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