I am at the mid-point of my MSc in Person Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy. I am now a student member of the British Association for Psychotherapy and have nearly 40 client hours under my belt. I am well supported by two excellent supervisors, friends and my husband, who have needed to pick me up a few times in the last couple of difficult weeks. Reflecting on your life with this theory and in a encounter group context is not for the faint hearted. I have been acutely aware of my personal limited in these weeks, that I have places of pain which can be touched and trigger a reaction which comes from old, hurt places. In this place of reactivity my Nonviolent values are thrown to onside as I protect myself from a place that comes from fear of the other, separation and scarcity and I needed to return to Nonviolence, as is embodied in the work of Miki Kashtan amongst others. In doing so I came back to myself and an openness to the flow of life, which is where real, sustaining protection can be found. I also noticed the effect of being in a group which is simply an ‘encounter’ with others, I noticed how I could become judgmental about my own and others limits and the usefulness of Spiral Dynamics in understanding that we are all on different paths and discover each other at different places on our journey. That the place we are at right now is the best e can do and the place where we can learn the most if we remain open to new experiences. Remembering the work of Lacroix in ‘Reinventing Organisations’ helped me to understand structurally what is happening while Peter Levine’s work on Trauma helped me to understand what is going on inside my experience. And right now I look forward to having a rest to integrate these experiences and connect with the world beyond this programme.
I celebrate being in the busy mess of life and thank all the ways I have been supported and able to support myself as I make the journey I am on right now.
