Finding and releasing emotional blockages has the unexpected benefit of bringing forgotten memories to mind and the insight associated with them.
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Yeah, it's definitely an upside.
It's also, for a lot of people, something that should be supported with therapy.
(Speaking from hard-won experience here.)
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A lot of people will feel surges of relief, even pleasure, or a bit of sorrow, when one of these blockages go.
But there can also be uncontrollable fear, anger...
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Yeah. It is probably wise to develop skills in equanimity and 'letting go' before releasing particularly intense blockages.
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Better yet, just get a clear picture of what your psychological issues might be before you try to solve them.
I'm not a fan of diagnosing and medicalizing every mental health problem, but a model of what ails you (e.g. borderline = emotional instability) can do a lot of good.
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For me, I needed to meditate to create the spacious awareness to look at my psychological issues clearly and not identify with them and instead work with them productively.
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Yeah, but a good therapist can help you with that without necessarily requiring years of practice.
Assuming you're not in a system that will bankrupt you or throw you in an institution, of course.
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I'm a big fan of the therapy-as-path-to-self-inquiry model. If you can get a nonjudgmental, competent therapist, you can open a lot of gates, quickly.
Then you can develop techniques for self-mastery.
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Wise words. I was stubborn and arrogant and thought that no therapist would understand what I was going through. Probably took me longer to heal than necessary.
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Yeah, I didn't get that much out of my last therapist either (I was a teenager).
There is a really big grey area where you have all this junk - bad therapists, bad chemistry with your therapist, self-defeating attitudes that make you impervious to therapy, iatrogenic systems...
I think many people are therefore too quick to judge therapy as a whole, or too quick to recommend therapy for people who have been harmed by it.
Truth is, you'll only benefit from therapy if you want to, and if your therapist is any good, AND the health care system isn't evil.
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