Following are several exerpts from essays, literature and my own work that I find meaningful and resonate in capturing the many values of therapy.
To be seen and remembered,
to speak and be listened to,
which she knows from the very beginning will be what saves her,
to psychologically save herself from hiding underneath a mask
(whether literal or figurative) of unknown and distorted illusions,
is the freedom that she seeks in undertaking analysis [therapy].
-excerpt taken by Jamieson Webster, Wilma Bucci and Elena Petrovska from the DIVISION/Review No. 24
***
you receive the gift of my stories
i receive the gift of your ears
we both receive love
back and forth
mutual fondness
playful connection
many silences
you finding me
me finding me
wandering
discovering
surrendering
accepting
we both receive love
-paula s. best
***
”What is therapy?” He asked me.
I was astonished.
”Therapy?” I said. “Well, let me think for a minute.”
Why had he asked this question, I wondered.
What explanation would make a sensible reply?
”I would say that it means a chance to come here and play and talk just about any way you want to, “ I said.
“It’s a time when you can be the way you want to be.”
”A time you can use any way you want to use it.”
”A time when you can be you.”
-Virginia M. Axline, Dibs in Search of Self
(Dibs is a 5yo boy who discovered who he was through the process of psychotherapy)
***
”[He] heard the first two lines of my story and identified it as a story about love and abandonment. He knew that ‘gibberish’ was a language and he trusted my voices. His chair held me. He listened at the very edge of my own knowledge and then spoke to me. He welcomed my tears. After seeing him, I could sleep. His words dropped deep into my body and worked like a tiny, hidden compass to orient me within myself…”
-Annie Rogers, Shining Affliction