What is the true meaning of therapy?
I think that the poet and philosopher John O'Donohue said it best. These words are paraphrased from a keynote address published in theDec./Jan., 2005 issue of "Psychotherapy Networker". They resonate and speak deeply to my heart on the true meaning and work of therapy.
"The therapist doesn't 'fix' people, - - but inspires and guides them on journeys only they can undertake into the deep territory of their unknown selves.
The idea isn't to give people answers, - but to make them aware of the depths of possiblility in their hearts and lives; help them remove the barriers that keep them from being the people they were meant to be. - People tend to ask the 'how' questions. -What's more interesting is the question of who. Who are you really? The essence of who you are is ultimately mysterious, ungraspable and numinous- completely different from every other structure of matter. When people get into therapy, or when they need healing their real hope is that they'll come to the secret frontier in themselves, some unknown source of energy and healing in themselves, where the divinity of 'wholeness' is protected. This is a spiritual quest."