The therapeutic process involves discovering who you truly are; what motivates you, what inspires you and what holds you back. The aim of therapeutic intervention is to allow you to emerge as your true self without the relentless and burdensome dross under which you have been labouring for so long.
How We Get 'Stuck'
The facade:
Day to day, like a mask, most people will put on some kind of protective device to get through; different Psychological theorists have their take or terms they use to describe this, but often in therapy I will hear the terms ‘facade’, ‘ I'm putting on an act’, ‘like I’m on stage’, ‘I feel like I’m living in a bubble’, ‘like I’m inside a shell’, & ‘ I put my barriers up’, all of these are so that we can function on a level we feel we need to within the environments we enter.
This facade is there to serve one main purpose, and that is to protect us. It is a persona of ourselves, we feel can represent who we believe we are to those people in the environments we enter. The representation can be born out of how we believe we want others to see us and how we see ourselves, but can be a complex mix and over time the facade can become our very downfall.
The facades can vary depending on the people or situations we enter; however ultimately it is not truly us, and if we take time to reflect on how much energy it takes to put on this act then we can begin to find the key to our own freedom. To be aware of the façade is the first step it can both make us feel separated from ourselves as well as others leaving a feeling of isolation and loneliness, even in the company of others. The energy taken to put on the façade varies on the individual and their circumstances, however, one common factor will be everyone will have a tough time keeping up appearances whether they are aware of it or not.
At some point we will fail and then the world around us as we’ve known it and the world within will be sent into a spin this is often when we need to find a resolution and to begin to discover who we really are....
Psychotherapy sessions are an effective way of decreasing anxiety, raising confidence and giving you the peace you deserve.
Book a free initial telephone consultation here
Eve Houseman MBACP
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