AAIT is the culmination of years of experience, practice, and study, study with master therapists. I’ve not been shy about the importance of my teachers. Y’all know how I feel about them. What you may not know is how I feel about my students.
We all know the burden of walking around uncomfortable in our own skin: the ruminating thoughts, fears, and doubts weighing so heavy on our shoulders; the words and actions, bubbling out of the turmoil of our subconscious, stilted and unsure; trying to prove something we didn’t need to.
Phew! What a ride! For the past ten months, a stalwart group of practitioners has met, studied and diligently practiced Acceptance and Integration Training. Working to learn new skills and shift paradigms from the clunky searching for insight and trying to make behavioral changes to helping clients untangle from the fundamental polarized energetic charge that drives pain and dysfunction, takes time.
In our last session, they dove far past limitations of traditional talk therapy and learned to help clients (AND themselves) untether from the pull of unconscious identities and identifications. It was deeply rewarding to watch the lightbulbs come on as painful tensions fell away. Meet one of this year’s participants, Bobby MacNamara.
Our skills are needed. If you have the space in your life and can offer your services, I trust you will. It can be easy to minimize the work we do. Please don’t. Pause, take a minute and recognize the value of the work you do, reflect on the investment you’ve made in your skills. Though you may not be able to head to Texas, your presence, your work matters right where you are.
Way back in 1988 I made a decision to join a training group I had been invited to by Dick Olney to join his training group for therapists,. This was a big deal decision for me. I knew I wanted to study with Dick. I had one workshop with him, he was a master therapist. What I hadn’t quite counted on is what it would mean — leaving my young family to fly from Salt Lake to San Francisco once a month PLUS the $200 group fee, a FORTUNE to me.