Socially engineered depression
Society has socially engineered and constructed people to no longer trust themselves. It is at a critical point now where we are starting to see a change in industries such as psychology, psychiatry and counselling, where the narrative changes slightly. The client is there for them, so they need to be able to feel they are engaging in a way that works for them. There may have been therapists using techniques similar to these for a while now, but it is so incredibly important for clients to feel that they are making the difference in their own lives. The theories that establish this basis are from the underpinnings of community development, that a community needs to be strengthened to be able to build themselves up, rather than be given the tools but not the techniques.
Counselling and psychotherapy needs to take the same substance involved in sessions with clients to provide sustainability in their life. Many people who are going to therapy sessions are at the point they are not coping. They are struggling with everyday experiences and have got to the point where they often feel alone and this is their last ditch effort to try and talk it out. Something that has been a common thread in working with clients is talking is not always going to help. This is where creative client led therapy comes in.
Mental illness, depression, anxiety and other disorders, become the only way people often remember how to think, feel, act and be. They lose sight of what really matters in life and reality becomes distorted. They pull back on control and often sink into dark thoughts over time, not knowing how to get back out of that space. These dark experiences are not without a stressful event that has occurred, or even several events that have caused this silent downfall. They have often experience some kind of trauma, they may not even remember, or don’t even understand what they are experiencing.
Allowing a client led experience brings them to the forefront of what has happened to them, bringing a safe space for understanding, for them to really find out what has got them landed in such hot water, all of the time. People don’t choose this experience for themselves, and more than often they do want to grow and move past what has happened but do not know how or have the knowledge of where to go next. Client led situations, mean the client is able to choose what they would like to do in the session. They could verbalise an experience, but they may also like to have the chance to be more creative.
Creativity is an expression that we often have shut off by society. This socially constructed world, where we grow up and are ‘expected’ to take on life as ‘everyone else does’. But, not everyone is like everyone else and there is no set accomplishment of normal. Everyone has their own childhood, their own school struggles, their own life story to tell and the best way to express this is through creative means. Client led creative sessions are a means of storytelling without a constructed narrative, completely intuitive and individually meaningful. It can also be an accomplishment for some that have had their creative zones shut down for a long time.
To create intuitively is a way of capturing the soul’s words.
It is important to bring an environment of counselling that is putting you in touch with your roots. In a society where most of the time we don’t even know the expectations others have or why we even allow others expectations to affect us. Every client that I have worked in this way with has flourished soulfully connecting to themselves, to remember that they are strong, capable and loved, and they can grow in all forms, whether that’s with the dark or the light, as we are always going to flux between the two, but the aim is to find that spot in the middle where your soul path is being paved before your very eyes, and it is possible. All it takes is to take one foot ahead of the other and continually reflect on where you have been, how much you have grown and be proud of who you are today.
It’s time to stop just talking about what’s happening and to start to really make a difference for clients who are wanting real change and support in their lives.