I often have "one of those days".
Psychotherapists are not immune to having "one of those days".
We sometimes have "one of those weeks" too.
Today has been "one of those days" after "one of those weeks" after "one of those months" after "one of those years" after "one of those decades"...
...and it suddenly felt like too much.
Too much going on; too much to think about; too much to juggle; too much to comprehend; too much to worry about; too much change, too much past and too much future, one layer upon the next, a million small things and a thousand big things accumulating too fast.
In spite of all the training and all the theories I have now absorbed, I found today to be just too much - and for once, I didn't fight it. I let myself feel overwhelmed by life. I just accepted where I was and what was happening, knowing that "this too shall pass".
Arnold Bessier once said that "change comes about through full acceptance of what is, rather than striving to be different", so I didn't strive. I accepted fully.
The Gestalt therapist rejects the role of "changer," for his strategy is to encourage, even insist, that the client be where and what he is. He believes change does not take place by "trying," coercion, or persuasion, or by insight, interpretation, or any other such means. Rather, change can occur when the patient abandons, at least for the moment, what he would like to become and attempts to be what he is.
Although much of what's occurring in my life currently is positive, exciting and expansive, it still sometimes feel like "too much" - like having a box full of delicious chocolates whose expiration date is tomorrow and therefore must be eaten today. It would cause discomfort despite the pleasure.
So, I've decided to put the toffees and the coffee creams to one side - and if they're still edible when I can come back to them, all well & good!
Damian George Psychotherapy - providing therapy so that history doesn't win.
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