The Restorative Power of Love
I am sure that most of you have noticed that there is an awful lot of fear in the world today. Many people feel broken and certainly in my line of work I see people day in and day out who are emotionally compromised and feeling without hope. Therapy can be a very effective way in helping people rebuild themselves in a more healthy way.
I have always viewed therapy as a step in a much larger process. After all, therapy should not be a lifelong commitment. Theapists enter and exit a person’s life as appropriate, but we are only a conduit for change not the change itself. I have been musing over the past week and a bit as to what it is that actually is needed for long term good mental health. The conclusion I came to is for long term good mental and physical health love is needed.
All too often people do not feel loved, either by themselves or others. Without love there is a black hole in a person’s soul and people attempt to fill it with many other things. Possessions, food, alcohol, drugs, and meaningless persuits are examples of such things. Therapists and clients should be brave enough to ask the question that needs asking, “Do you feel loved?” If the answer is anything but yes, then work needs to be done here in order to help create the foundation that a person needs for long term good health.
