Heal psychologically: Accept the past, embrace the present and re-write the future

On-demand webinar details

Although the presenter focuses on the aspect of thriving and flourishing (using resilience building tools to do so), and practitioner psychologists focus on the element of ‘cure’ - we are not yet living in the space between ‘cure’ and ‘flourish’– that space is healing.

It is possible to learn to manage issues that may have developed over time – we can reflect on them, we can learn about them, we can understand our reactions and develop coping/emotional regulation strategies, decision making skills and even have external intervention (such as  somatic/drug therapy) to help us get back to ‘okay’.

Similarly, we can learn what makes us happy, we can springboard off the changes we had to make at the point of crisis, and we can develop the conditions to flourish.  Not only that, but these same energisers, these tools of ‘joy’ can help buffer ensuing stressors and make relapse (if we have suffered) less likely, and they can empower us to know we can cope in future. In the same way our voice can ‘break’ as we switch from chest to head, there is something missing – and that is the formal and voiced need to heal.

The presenter has reached this understanding through an ‘Informal’ grounded theory reflection on a number of interviews conducted as a radio host with guest experts.  What is different about the interviews is that experts are asked for their professional tips and tools for the listener, but are also asked to share personal stories. While the act of doing this is in order to raise awareness of the issues and talk about how there can be all sorts of psychological upheaval on the inside of a well-put together expert, one thing that was not expected was how many of them said they were so glad to be able to talk about it because they didn’t tall very much to their families (protecting them), and some of their friends wouldn’t talk about it for fear of not knowing what to say. They all found the discussion healing.  Talking about something that they had learned to manage (practitioner psychology), and realising that the changes and adaptations they made brought them to the thriving life they have right now (positive psychology/flourishing) – they were beginning to bridge a gap.

It is possible to be well, and it is possible to grow beyond that, but if we do not take time to heal, if we do not take time to be angry or to be reflective or to be more aware of what our emotions are saying to us that we can unconditionally love ourselves just for being…and while we are of real value – we might still hold resentment, we might never feel we can even get to ‘okay’.

Healing is an emotional process focused on:

Building unconditional self-worth (sometimes this can be done through inner-child work, or understanding attachment theory, or introspection) – but then we need to go beyond that to take action to make the mindset shifts we need (practical exercises will be given here)

Recognising our value – not in comparison to others, not because we’ve ‘achieved’ – but because we have as much right to ‘be’ as anyone else…not looking to others to validate us, knowing that ‘who we are – speaks for itself’ (practical exercises will be given here)

Self-compassion tools (along with self-care) – this goes back to resilience building/positive psychology approach to creating: Flow (meaning); finding purpose; and having healthy relationships (and tools to develop those aspects) – not in comparison to others (for example self-esteem building) – we need to learn to speak kindly to ourselves at the time when we are not succeeding

Finding ways to express ourselves (talking is not for everyone, and certainly for many, not at the start of the process) – but we do need to find a way of getting those emotions out – if nothing else so we can free our mind to make the next decision

Taking positive action  - not a Law of attraction thing, but we can get too caught up with overthinking (which is a bit like over training – if we were looking at this physically) and this can actually keep us stagnant (in the same way as over-training can result in injury needing rest).   So we also need to focus on what can be controlled and what we can do for ourselves.  We need to focus on how spending too much time in what went wrong can mean we never reach our full potential in flourishing because we are always resentful, or we might not even take action.  This element is the crux of healing.  We need to look at who we are now, embrace ourselves, forgive ourselves, and dare to keep going. Again, practical tools around this is key.

A workbook will be available to you in your 'materials tile' when you purchase a place. The workbook will be used in the session so you can use it during the session and/or revisit it subsequently. There will also be a guided meditation document. 

The duration of this webinar is 2 hours. 

You will have access to this on demand webinar for 8 weeks from the date of purchase. 

This webinar was delivered live in November 2021. The webinar is available in English only.