Bowls Hold Soup Better Than Plates
My Takeaway from the Super-bowl
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Hey there,
Esther here. Admittedly, I know very little about the Super Bowl- except that it is ten days away. Go...chiefs? Yankees?
What I CAN tell you is that this reminds me of one of my favorite metaphors, which I often share with the therapists I supervise.
Help your clients be bowls.
Soup-er Bowls.
Let me explain.
Obviously, bowls are the most appropriate containers for eating soup. Right? Right!
If I pour soup into a plate, it won't hold, and I'll make a big mess. It's not so different with our clients during the therapy session.
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When you Pour Soup onto a Plate
Often therapists really want to help their clients succeed, so they go into "teaching mode" or "savior mode" and try to impart as many skills and techniques as possible to help them find quick relief.
As therapists, we may pile up all the information we possibly can. And, with the best of intentions, completely forget to look at WHAT we are pouring into.
Be with them
As therapists, we may find ourselves "teaching" clients ABOUT concepts instead of BEING WITH them in their emotional experience.
Why? This happens for a number of reasons. Some are...
we are either feeling unsure about how to hold their pain,
we aren't clear about where to guide the treatment,
we are having our own countertransference reaction
we are feeling scared that they will leave session without proper relief
we are feeling inadequate....
or some other reason.
But soup is not appropriate for a plate.
And "loads of information" is not appropriate for someone in pain. That's not really why they've come to therapy.
What they want is someone to hold them as they process their pain.
What they want is a therapeutic experience.
Skills can come after they know they have that emotional support.
That's what I think about when I hear about the Super Bowl.
What do you think about it?
I've got some rich tools to share with you in our upcoming MasterClass - helping you deepen your capacities to be a "bowl" and help your clients too!
Scroll below for the FREE masterclass!
For now, Enjoy your party!
Eat the chicken wings, sliders, and chips on your plate, but keep the soup in your bowl!
Go Yankees!
In your corner, Esther G
SAVE YOUR SPOT!
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