The Face of Transformation

July 7th, 2009
A GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Judith Barr, MA, LMHC

Click here to contact Judith and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

Delicious Stumbleupon     

We are going through a transformation . . . individually and globally. Many people are scared . . . they haven’t been taught about transformation. They haven’t been taught how to go through it.

Many people are afraid . . . so many things that are part of transformation
trigger feelings from long, long ago, trigger fear from long ago.
The triggering is a guide to the healing.
The feelings from earlier times are the guides to our healing and transforming –
if we learn how to discern them from here and now feelings;
if we learn how to utilize them safely and draw a boundary so we feel them
but don’t act out on them;
if we learn to build our capacity to feel them;
if we follow through and allow ourselves to go through the feelings at the heart
of the wound and out the other side.

Many people are afraid of change . . .
are afraid of the unknown . . .

But we have examples in nature that show us how.

For example . . . the snake.
In regular cycles, the snake sheds its skin.
About a week before the shedding begins,
the old skin starts to lift away from the new skin.
At this point the snake’s eyes begin to become cloudy,
and for the time of the shedding, the snake is unable to see.
The snake is temporarily blind.
And the new skin underneath
that remains after the shedding
is tender.

When we are in this stage of transformation -
of shedding whatever in ourselves and our lives
needs to be let go – it is scary.
We are not used to being blind,
especially without knowing if we will ever see again.
We do everything we can not to be tender, or raw.

But if we can breathe through the blindness,
Breathe through the unknown,
Breathe through any discomfort during the shedding or right after,
Breathe through and allow the process of the transformation
to occur . . .
instead of interfering with the shedding,
we can be a help in our own transformation.

Many blessings as you shed!
Judith

 

Delicious Stumbleupon     

©Copyright 2009 by Judith Barr, MS, LMHC, therapist in Brookfield, CT. All Rights Reserved.

Print This Post Print This Post

  • Find the Right Therapist

  • Join GoodTherapy.org - Therapist Only For Therapists For the Public
 

Comments

  • susan aires July 7th, 2009 at 8:13 PM #1

    I really like the snake anaology. thank you.

  • Georgia July 8th, 2009 at 1:56 PM #2

    We are all so afraid of change yet those changes are ultimately what make us who we are, for better or for worse. I too love the snake analogy and am excited to share this with others!

  • Dr. Notary July 11th, 2009 at 7:27 PM #3

    That was such a beautiful piece!Thank you, Judith. I’ll remember the snake analogy too. It’s so hard to decide to take that leap into the unknown, that’s true. But if you don’t, you’ll never know what could have been.

Leave a Reply

By commenting on this blog you acknowledge acceptance of this Blog's Terms and Conditions of Use.

 

*

 

* = Required fields

 
 

Search Our Blog:

   

Blog Categories

 

Find the Right Therapist

Advanced Search | Browse Locations

 

Dear GoodTherapy.org

See More...
      therapist  

Recent comments

  • Randy Crawford: Murder used to be a good thing in the Stone Age. He who killed the most prospered the most, at someone else’s expense....
  • Sue: Bomb, sounds like a nightmare, and I hope you find peace. I think of the 1973 “Rosenhan experiment” in which researchers...
  • Peter Strong: During Conflict Resolution Therapy we focus on developing the understanding that conflict is not due to differences of opinion, but...
  • a24z: whats worse is that some abuse survivors could be using it as a coping thing without knowing that it could actually be making things worse...
  • Elvin: No discrimination is harmless. It may not invoke anger or a bad feeling in the person at the receiving end but it certainly affects him/her...