You've completed the first step and courageously reached out to an experienced counselor; you've designated goals, taken steps to trust the process, and let yourself experience vulnerability in the healing relationship. In these initial steps toward individual growth, you've gained a great deal, which should indeed be celebrated. However, these first few stages can be daunting for many who desire change. Nevertheless, promising change is just around the corner for those who are courageous enough to take these initial steps. With this in mind, our therapist in Winter Park discusses what comes next in the therapeutic growth process.

As with any hard work, whether cultivating a garden, fixing a car, creating a masterpiece, or just tending your house, the bounties are worth the grind. The same is accurate during the therapeutic process, and though it requires many actions, the work itself differs from anything else. In achieving therapeutic work, patience is essential. Hence, although it may not be effortless, you will find your best self through your challenging work and activities in the therapeutic process.

Similar to the time it takes for a garden to grow, you must be patient with yourself during this approach. Change does not happen overnight; it can take weeks or even months for ongoing change to begin. Instead of growing discouraged with the rate of change, you can concentrate on using newly discovered skills, incorporating insights, meditating on your experience, and genuinely working through this process with patience. In addition, empathy for yourself in this operation will allow patience and understanding and promote evolution through action. Similar to many items in therapy, this may not happen fast, but by understanding the source of your battles, you can more empathetically undergo the process.

We all have a record of positive and negative experiences; by understanding how these experiences have impacted your life course, you can reasonably empathize with your current situation. Not only will compassion for yourself develop patience with the process, but it can also present the opportunity to better learn from your ventures and incorporate more useful ideas and emotions connected to the issue.

With tolerance, empathy for self, and understanding, you have already begun to put in the healing work. With this in mind, completing the work also translates into vigorously partaking in the process. This means being willing to share, communicate, practice, listen, and experience all that might emerge when working through this process. As thoughts emerge, be ready to examine them or even challenge them. Likewise, as feelings arise, see them, encounter them and examine your experience with the sentiment. As you juggle the often abstract ideas in therapy, this work can lead you to be present with the associated ambiguities. Also, chaos is often necessary to realize something new, but you can find a new and even better way to live as you sit with your confusion.

As you can see, operating in a therapeutic relationship dramatically varies from other more labor-intensive activities. Instead, this work is more of an internal, experiential, and relational technique. It requires patience, understanding, compassion for self, active participation, and a willingness to discuss and share the process. Your therapist will work next to you, encouraging you along the way. You've already set goals and begun to welcome vulnerability, so now it's time to put in the work required to get the desired reward. You've laid the foundation, so do the work and reveal a finished product that will empower you to be the best you can be. Call us today to schedule a visit with our therapist in Winter Park. We want to help!