You are familiar with the dark, difficult stretches of your thoughts and how you feel lost, confused and unhappy. They seep into your mindset and make you feel unsure and depressed. What if these thoughts came from patterns that are obstacles to your happiness? In relationships, in life choices, in your daily mindset, and in your view of yourself - they cause obstacles. In therapy, you push yourself and try to figure it out and change it but you keep coming back to that word “stuck” and things that feel uncomfortably familiar.
Sitting at my desk, reflecting on my career and what it has taught me, my thoughts move to an internal remembrance of clients whose progress stalls. They often report feeling frustrated and disempowered when they are trying to make change and can’t move forward. Their motivation dwindles. They may doubt themselves. As a therapist, I challenge them to take time to feel all of this, allow the human condition, and give space to this experience. This is a time of self-exploration when the emotions eventually largely dissipate. Dig deeper into who you are and what is really holding you back.
When you feel like there is something holding you back, you may be detecting an obstacle that is present but unrecognized. Reaching into therapeutic methods and strategies and possibly seeing some progress but it is not always enough to regain your happiness or potentially break these patterns. Or you may leave, feeling renewed, and then find that you are back in that familiar cycle with that familiar type of person or situation. You may blame yourself but it is the patterns, the obstacles under the surface. You can only make so much change within yourself. However, if you don’t identify these obstacles through exploration, you will be there again. Let’s find your way to move past them for good.
Katie has been practicing psychotherapy for 18 years and educates clients nationwide through her company, Higher Fulfillment. The materials offered include courses for individuals and couples, webinars, consultations, the affirmation book, her upcoming book which will be released in April of 2023: Obstacles Under the Surface: How to Keep Your Subconscious from Negatively Impacting Your Life, and the podcast "Obstacles Under the Surface". Katie's practice is dedicated to helping individuals and couples find peace and flourish through relationship challenges.
