It is all about feelings

Speaking to a number of my clients over the past few weeks has led me to a realization that many of them do not want to feel. What a strange thing to say, and notice, but it was my observation. It can be hard to feel. The not so fun feelings that is… Most of us have very little trouble feeling excitement, happiness, joy, contentment, etc. Unfortunately, we rarely notice when we are feeling these more pleasant feelings, however, I teach my clients to notice both the good and not-so-good. The not-so-good ones are definitely more challenging often because they are accompanied with not-so-good life experiences where we are faced with things we do not want or do not want to happen. It is the not wanting to experience something that creates anxiety and a deep longing for our no-so-good feelings to go away. Do not get me started with the anxiety because that is another thing that folks do not want to feel during all this uncomfortableness. We actually need to feel all this uncomfortableness, however, in order to successfully deal with whatever we are experiencing that is negative and unwanted to us. We cannot ward off what life presents itself with, but we can experience and feel it so that we can move through it. Part of my job as a counsellor is to help clients experience the feelings of moving through and getting some relief from feeling. It takes practice but it works like a charm. This is what I teach. This is what I do.