Courage And Safety In Deep Inner Work

Safety is a big concern in psychotherapy. People want to feel safe to enter into what they may well have regarded as dangerous psychological and emotional territory, and they want a guide to help them do this. They want this guide to be experienced as a safe person too, naturally. Someone who will understand and appreciate them; who won't judge them for their weaknesses or their prejudices or their "failures"; who will, if the truth be told, love them carefully and well.

All of this is appropriate and wonderful in what is sometimes and generally called a "person centered" approach to therapy. Deeply respectful of the rights and freedom of each individual. Not imposing. Patient. Welcoming.

The other side of this coin is the necessity for courage in doing any meaningful psycho-spiritual work. Courage to enter into unsafe inner terrain. This is where the importance of the therapeutic relationship comes into play. This is where the necessity to develop trust and willingness becomes important. If you're going to step into danger, or at least into perceived danger, you want the person helping you with this to be trustworthy, to guide you skillfully, to not abandon you in the wilderness. These needs are relationship needs, and they are met in the context of the therapeutic relationship.

Paradox: safety, and courage, or skillful and appropriate risk taking. Both are needed for deep psychotherapy to live up to its potential.

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