Friday, July 19, 2013

Knowledge changes everything

As this week closes out, I realize today why it is so important for people to have the right job for them.  It changes a lot of our overall happiness with life.  My knowledge of bariatrics is challenged, all the time.  My knowledge of metabolic disorders is challenged, and I rise to the challenge.  My continual efforts to read and educate myself on what we know between science and what we're doing in society and government is important to me.

Today, I had the opportunity to speak to a patient who had weight loss surgery 30 years ago. While I wasn't shocked that she didn't know the exact name of the procedure she'd had, once she described it to me I knew the exact name, without hesitation.  I connected with her and earned her trust and was able to help her with ease.  It was one of those moments that I was impressed with my brain, it didn't feel so broken. 

It's easy to feel broken. We can feel tired, worn out and desperate for change, but life has a way of knowing when change will come. We have control over what we do, what we say, what we put in our mouths and what comes out.  When positive things start to happen, it seems like it becomes easier to bring in more positive. Positivity is abundant as dreams come true if you open your heart to it.

When I think of how I show my authenticity with clients, I show it by being patient, kind, nurturing, inquisitive, non-judgmental with a little bit of humor and a lot of love for listening, empathizing, problem solving, creating, collaborating and designing a better life. Reaching out for help has a lot of stigma attached to it. You have to be able to trust a strange with your story and how it ends. Who you trust and how they process your concerns-- will they act in your best interest to facilitate conversation that will motivate positive behavior and action?

Counseling is not Freudian psychoanalysis or Gestalt talk therapy. While I do think it is highly beneficial to talk to an empty chair when you're struggling with the words you need to describe your pain, it is finding the release for all the anger, fear, hurt and pain in a counseling session. That's what counseling is. You have a place where you can describe the ugly truth, how you really feel about anything and everything and what you can do to move away from that negativity.  

Therapy is not solely counseling though, and many people get the same contemplative satisfaction from recreation, entertainment, and sports.  Simply put though, if you do these things to avoid thinking about negative situations and decline action toward coping and processing your emotional pain, it may catch up to you. It may prevent you from leading the life you could have lived.  In order to lead the life we want to live, e have to talk about what it is we want.  Do you know what you truly want?  Understand your motivations and live your dreams! 

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