"Therapist's Healing Journey: Balancing Self and Client Care"

In areas where therapists themselves grapple with unresolved wounds, encompassing factors contributing to repetitive life challenges such as ineffective patterns, emotional schemes, insecure attachments, and more, success in providing treatment to clients, particularly in that specific domain, becomes elusive.

However, a crucial realization emerges: therapists, despite their own unhealed wounds in that very domain, possess the capability to aid clients in addressing "issues" specific to that area. When we mention "issues," we refer to recurring external events or inner turmoil, which serve as symptoms and consequences of inner wounds, distinct from the wounds themselves.

The rationale behind this lies in the ability of a consultant to tackle external issues separately from the emotions and sentiments experienced by clients, effectively dissociating from them. In this realm, the consultant delves deeper into the mind and the higher brain regions specialized in problem-solving, like the Ventro-medial prefrontal cortex, albeit from a distance. This process can aptly be termed consulting, despite its effectiveness and value in specific moments and scenarios; it distinguishes itself as a separate process from traditional therapy.

Within the therapeutic framework, empathy and a profound understanding of the client stand as the fundamental prerequisites for effectiveness and efficiency, viewed through a neuropsychological lens. This perspective identifies three key components:

1. An Affective Response to Another Person

2. Cognitive Capacity to Assume the Perspective of Another Person

3. Emotion Regulation

These actions predominantly transpire in the deeper regions of the brain, such as the anterior cingulate cortex and the right temporo-parietal region, or even lower brain regions like the insula and right amygdala. Often, these functions unfold through visual and imagery processes, enabling individuals to tangibly experience represented emotions in the here and now. Consequently, emotional and cognitive experiences intermingle with the desired encounter.

Now, envision a therapist listening to clients recount painful and emotional experiences while simultaneously wrestling with their own unresolved emotional wounds linked to the clients' experiences in the same domain. This scenario activates lower brain regions, especially the amygdala, and culminates in the perception of a perilous situation, triggering the body's immune system and eventually leading to fight or flight responses.

Unbeknownst to the therapist, this frequently results in the adoption of defensive or aggressive postures concerning the clients or the characters within the clients' narratives, guiding the therapist away from a neutral and receptive stance toward a role akin to a savior or oppressor (within the Karpman Drama Triangle). Alternatively, it creates distance between the therapist and the experience of understanding and empathy, often transforming the therapist into a consultant at best.

Rather than addressing internal factors and the root of harm, this shift directs the therapist's focus toward navigating the external world and establishing a safer space, both for clients and therapists alike.

"Sajjad Abbaszade"

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