I posed a few sentence stems for a free writing exercise this morning at a BBP Somatic Attachment Psychotherapy writing group. What came back was potent, powerful, illuminating, expansive, opening, affirming—you get the drift. We decided to share it…here it goes, enjoy!
I feel confident in my clinical practice…
…when someone says something out loud that has previously been unwitnessed or unspoken.
…when my clients speak their truth, sometimes for the first time.
…when someone says, “I’ve never looked at it that way before.”
…in moments where genuine & healing laughter reverberates through my client’s system as well as my own.
…when clients see my tears in response to their hurt or pain and reflect back the experience of feeling “seen” or “not alone.”
…when clients are able to make changes in their life and relationships as a result of feeling a greater sense of internal steadiness.
…when I am able to provide clients with “a different experience” than they are accustomed to. That is, a different experience related to communication, a different relational experience, or a different experience of connection. Amanda J. Murphy, MC, RCC
This is what I know to be true in my clinical practice: When I meet with someone clinically, I bring in the regulation of my system, my capacity to attune to them and I hold internally the strong belief that through the therapeutic relationship the work in therapy will happen. “Love is Medicine”, a powerful healing balm. Susana Farinha, MC, RCC
This is what I know to be true in my clinical practice: What I know to be true in clinical practice is that being relationally held by another with an open heart heals. I know that the more I journey into my Self, clearing and expanding, the more stability and space I have to be present to the truth and pain of others. If I can be with me and move through what is in the way, then I can be with you more completely. I know the power that exists in the delighted twinkle of an eye, the soft reflection of acceptance, and the comfort of a therapist able to hold all of me. What I know to be true in clinical practice is that embodiment, regulation, and relational connection can actually feel like magic. Rachael Pasemko, RSW, RCC, RPT-S
This I know to be true in my clinical practice: I practice from the heart. I attach. I engage my body as the vessel of connectivity it is intended to be. I hold a space of warmth, welcome, challenge, acceptance, and high regard for innate and intimate wisdom of the soul-ular nervous system. My practice is me & I am my practice. My practice shifts & responds to the changing tides, rhythms, and movements of the Earth, stars, and cosmos, as they signal their need at the subtle energetic level tied vitally to my being. I hold lineage, ancestry, and legacy within my care. I attune to the pulse of the lived & loved ones making the beat of their existence known in the space amongst, within and between us. I play; I hold politic; I navigate complexity. Love is the medicine that awaits all ailments. Time, willingness, and presence to what emerges are the bandages that are Here2Hold & swathe us all. Efré Laurence Divina, MA, RCC
I know this to be true in my clinical practice: I am an advanced therapist who has grown professionally and personally in my years of practice. My commitment to my own development as a person, is an exciting never-ending exploration into the Self. I believe it is not so much ‘what I know or do’ but ‘how I am’ with clients, that can make the difference. I offer my compassionate presence, and a creative space to listen to those on the journey of being and becoming. Dawn Sather, MSW, RSW, RCC
What is true in my clinical practice: I know that as humans, we all have a need for love and connection. We need to feel “gotten” by another, accepted and understood. I know that if I am in a state of loving presence with my clients, in a way that creates a feeling of safety, I can trust that what needs to be revealed in order for my client to heal, will come to the surface to be witnessed and transformed. As children, when our needs are not met: needs for safety, nourishment, connection and attunement, we will create blocks to our own truth and sense of worth in order to manage the incongruence. Although at some level we know that our needs matter, we learn to disavow our own needs and consequently make choices that are not in our best interests. Working relationally in the present moment, with constant attention to nervous system regulation, those blocks to knowing that we are worthy and that our needs matter, can be gradually exposed and removed, and connection to intuitive knowing restored. I know that by holding my client in a space of safety, love and acceptance, eventually, there will be a softening of the protective mechanisms that get in the way of the connection we so deeply desire. From there we can attend to the process of rewiring the patterns that form the internal working model, and be freed to live a more satisfying and loving life. Lana Marie Willow, MA, RCC
This is what I know to be true in my clinical practice: As I write this, I keep coming back to the reality that my clinical practice, and I believe all good clinical practice, is a fluid and living thing, and I can see the many ways that mine has grown and aged and matured, as I have grown and aged and matured. There is certainly bedrock that my practice is built on, (but even tectonic plates move) such as my love for my clients, and my ability to provide quiet love in the Winnicottian sense- to really recognize those who have suffered the Trauma of Non-Recognition. My practice is also dynamic, in the excitement that I feel when I learn a new piece of theory, or read a piece of clinical writing, or make a connection in a session that expands my clinical and heart understanding of why people struggle, and am reminded of the immense potential for relational repair. For me, when these threads of love and learning come together in session, they create a magic moment of possibility for connection and healing that I’m finding impossible to put into words- not wanting to trivialize or lessen the beauty and privilege that I feel for being able to witness it. And this is what I know. Stacy Adam Jensen, MEd, RCC
This is what I know to be true in my clinical practice: I know I can lean into my relational capacity, my ability to find connection and common ground, a meeting place. I can trust my capacity to witness, to hold, to regulate, to contain, to love – the process, the person, the story, and the work. Lisa Mortimore, PhD, RCC