Today I attended a webinar hosted by an esteemed psychologist about the rewards of freeing ourselves from defenses and letting ourselves love. This is a vulnerable risk for many of us and speaks to me personally and professionally. Show up, be there, love. Then we are truly living.
What if this is too hard? It can be hard for many of us because of protective defenses we have in place to keep ourselves from experiencing emotional pain. Makes sense, right? Who likes pain? The problem is that keeping ourselves from painful emotions can also protect us from wonderful emotions--like joy, bliss, happiness and (my favorite) love.
Therapy can help us learn to take vulnerable risks, loosening our defenses and truly connecting with the people and world around us. What I’ve learned as a couples counselor and individual therapist, is that this is where the healing happens.
