So much of therapy – most therapy – is built around deconstructing
thinking that no longer serves us. I know this because I have been in
therapy for almost two decades, and can therefore challenge almost any
negative thought that I have with the “correct” thought; the one that
would serve me better, if only it came to me naturally, or if I could
internalize it. And yet this oh-so-familiar practice, which is also
repeated in self-help books and personal development writing, seldom
speaks of bringing such beliefs down from the intellectual mind to the
depths of our (often) dark hearts. To know that I am a valuable human
being, for example, is far easier to hold in my head than to
internalize.
I doubt that I am the only one who feels this way. I’ve spoken to
others who feel guilty because they continue to believe the “wrong”
things. I know that I am not the only one who cannot hold a compliment
and bring it to the marrow of my bones.
- Esme Wang
descensus Averno facilis est