Gems from the Therapist's Office:
I had a soap box but didn’t want to get on it.
She chose to be a fraction of herself.
A healthy relationship is one in which everyone can grow.
Perfection is the enemy of the very good.
No is a complete sentence.
The Man loves his own voice.
Oh man, that resonated.
She has become her own nightmare.
A fish and a bird can love each other, but they don't have a space to live in together.
What remains unspeakable in any relationship?
Sometimes the bowl can become hotter than the soup - Iranian Proverb
There is a difference between being loved and feeling loved.
She became more indexed on the tender side.
Being groundless.....is it a Buddhist concept?
Boys are whatever. Cats are forever.
Pain travels through families until someone is willing to feel it.
What you want isn’t always what you need.
Anger is the bodyguard of sadness.
"Depression can feel like anger without the enthusiasm."
For now is not forever.
No response is a response.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
If everything is a crisis, then nothing is a crisis.
“We’re out of time”
Sehnsucht stillen - fulfill your desire? Is that what it means?
Haben Sie sich schon entschieden? - Ich glaube ja....
I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other,
it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped.
(Fritz Perls, 1969)
«Learning is the discovery that something is possible.»
«Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem. If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge.
«…nobody can stand truth if it is told to him. Truth can be tolerated only if you discover it yourself because then, the pride of discovery makes the truth palatable.»
«Lose your mind and come to your senses.»
«The only difference between the wise man and the fool is that the wise man knows he is playing.»
Dites n’importe quoi, ça touchera toujours au vrai. [Say any old rubbish. It will always touch the truth.] Jacques Lacan
" Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. " ~ Viktor Frankl
Unspoken expectations are pre-meditated resentments. ~anonymous
Avoidance is a symptom of anxiety, not a treatment for it.
“Boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously.” – Prentis Hemphil
“Anger, resentment and jealousy doesn’t change the heart of others– it only changes yours.” ― Shannon L. Alder
“In Hollywood if you don’t have a shrink, people think you’re crazy.” ― Johnny Carson
“Therapy isn’t Radio. We don’t need to constantly fill the air with sounds. Sometimes, when it’s quiet, surprising things happen.” ― Mary Pipher.
Listen to understand, not to respond.
“Psychotherapy isn’t a twentieth-century artifice imposed on nature, but the reinstatement of a natural healing process.” ― Patricia Love.
“The best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost
The only way to win against a toxic person is to choose not to play.
“It’s up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.” ― Steve Maraboli
“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” ― Wayne W. Dyer
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it.” ― Eckhart Tolle.
“Learn to deal with the fact that you are not a perfect person but you are a person that deserves respect and honesty.” ― Pandora Poikilos
When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves. ~ Viktor E. Frankl
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. ~ Carl Jung
The purpose of psychotherapy is to set people free. ~ Rollo May
Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can listen to the B Minor Mass? ~ Michael Torke
In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth? ~ Carl Rogers
Effective psychotherapy works because the therapist continues to grow as a person and as a healer. ~ Jed Diamond
Where you stand determines what you see and what you do not see; it determines also the angle you see it from; a change in where you stand changes everything. ~ Steve de Shazer
How bold one gets when one is sure of being loved. ~ Sigmund Freud
The science of psychotherapy is knowing what to say, the art is knowing when to say it. ~ Jonathan Kellerman
Problem talk creates problems, Solution talk creates solutions. ~ Steve de Shazer
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. ~ William Shakespeare
A person who doesn't breathe deeply reduces the life of his body. If he doesn't move freely, he restricts the life of his body. If he doesn't feel fully, he narrows the life of his body. And if his self-expression is constricted, he limits the life of his body. ~ Alexander Lowen
«You cannot achieve happiness. Happiness happens and is a transitory stage. Imagine how happy I felt when I got relief from bladder pressure. How long did that happiness last?» ~ Fritz Perls
Sexuality is not a leisure or part-time activity. It is a way of being. ~ Alexander Lowen
The four-letter word for psychotherapy is Talk. ~ Eric Hodgins
I don't know what psychotherapy does. I have been seeing the same person for 26 years now. ~ Jim Harrison
Gratitude and admiration have a tendency to wear themselves out.