By Pauli Geldenhuis
The Therapeutic Relationship between client and therapist is the most significant resource in therapy. Trust and a safe connection is often disrupted when a person is going through a difficult adjustment, has a history of abuse, serious illness, relationship issues and suffering from anxiety or depression. Psychotherapy has the potential to be a life changing investment in all areas of a person’s life.
As therapists we can easily be drawn into the client’s story.
We focus intensely on the past and its build up to the presenting problem and the future as a goal for successful outcome of therapy. I firmly believe, however, that the greatest challenge is to be with the present experience of the client as it is my belief that the “Held Experience” in the here-and-now is one of the most powerful tools of the Therapeutic Relationship.
The challenge lies in meeting the client where he/she is, most often past or future, and gently guide to the present moment of experiencing this in their embodied self.
For this the therapist need to also stay present in his/her own body to be able to help the client “embody” their experience in the therapeutic context. The challenge is ultimately to expand the experience to day-to-day life of the client.
Tools like Hypnotherapy, SE, TRE, BWRT, EMI, EMDR, Breath Work and even interventions like making a collage, drawing a timeline with positive and negative elements help to create a “Held Experience” of congruent self-regulation for the client and co-regulation between client and therapist that can be powerfully utilized in therapy, creating a shift here and now. The process and integration of this experience over time can be integrated on neurological, emotional, cognitive, behavior and physical level to have an impact on day to day life creating a lasting and integrated shift. The outcome – a more resilient client with greater capacity to deal with activating experiences and overcome challenges that life may present mindfully.