Doing the Work

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Re: Applicable to Many Areas of Life

From: Ellen-Marie Silverman
Date: 10 Oct 2009
Time: 19:47:11 -0500
Remote Name: 64.12.116.140

Comments

[[This was a very moving and applicable piece of writing. I thought your idea of visualization was great and something I had never thought of as an approach to working with somone who stutters. This concnept is something that I feel almost any person could find a way to fit into their life. Do you find that most people who you share this idea with have success with it, or is it something that works for some people and not so much for others? Thank you!]] >>> It's fun to think about new ways of doing things! So, Monica, now that you've, perhaps, had an introduction to the power of visualizations to increase understanding, you may, as you suggest, want to include visualization in the therapy you provide. But I must tell you that you need more than a single experience utilizing visualization to competently incorporate it into therapy. So, you will want to familiarize yourself with the process of developing and introducing visualizations. >>> One of the reasons, perhaps a major one, that visualization increases insight is that it encourages experience, albeit, vicarious experience, but the brain does not really know if we are lounging on a beach towel near the shore on a bright, warm day listening to the seagulls call out overhead or if we are on the beach having that particular experience. So, the vicarious experience can be very effective. In the change process, direct experience is much more effective in actualizing desired change than intellectualizing, i.e., talking about change, thinking about change. It is in the doing that we change. So, that is a very important consideration. Will someone commit to actually doing what is necessary to change as he or she wishes or not and for as long as it takes? Does the individual REALLY wish to change? These are a key considerations before accepting someone for treatment, which I discuss at some length in the text, Mind Matters: Setting the Stage for Satisfying Clinical Service. A Personal Essay. So, let me say that individuals unwilling to develop a meditation practice will not find it helpful. Only those who want to change fundamentally and will commit to doing the work will benefit. Those interested in learning more about meditation will find many useful books and CD's widely available as well as centers where they can receive instruction and supervision developing a practice. >>> Those who establish and maintain a practice if/when they become clients can then organize their therapy program around their increasing ability to detect and respond skillfully to thoughts, emotions, and behaviors as they occur in the moment. >>> I'm glad you are thinking about the role meditation can play in therapy, and, before I close, I should add that if you are seriously considering recommending or incorporating meditation into treatment, you will benefit tremendously from developing a practice of your own. Ellen-Marie Silverman


Last changed: 10/10/09