{"id":923,"date":"2018-11-27T17:45:53","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T17:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/?p=923"},"modified":"2018-11-28T13:20:18","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T13:20:18","slug":"why-is-therapy-like-a-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/?p=923","title":{"rendered":"Why is therapy like a tree?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tree: what we see, or \u2018know\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

We see a tree\u2026 and maybe we hear it, taste, smell or feel it. We see how it moves, changes, sounds; and maybe we feel like we know it.<\/p>\n

In therapy we can look at all that\u2026 and it\u2019s not a bad idea, to see how we see ourselves<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0whether in hibernation or full sway, moist or dry, green or brown.<\/p>\n

But as we know from those lovely pictures like this one, that\u2019s half the story: there\u2019s another chunk below those branches and leaves.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The past<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are occupied \u2013 and many of us very busy – \u00a0doing our life right here, right now, and whilst we like to think we have some control over our daily decisions, actions and words, the past that we experienced all those years ago a) influences us, and b) supports us.<\/p>\n

Some folks say: \u2018I don\u2019t want to dwell in the past\u2019. Well, neither do I!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s helpful in therapy is to acknowledge and explore the past in the safety of the therapy room: it can help us not only understand who we are but moreover avoid trying to push it away, a futile pursuit.<\/p>\n

The subconscious<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, you\u2019ve got one! The tantalising beauty of the unconscious is that it is never fully \u2018understandable\u2019 or \u2018nailed\u2019. It pops up in dreams, slips of the tongue (\u2018I mis-spoke\u2019, oops!), mannerisms, artistic expression, and in altered states due to breathing exercises, near-death experiences and shamanic ayahuasca ceremonies.<\/p>\n

If you see me I can promise you I won\u2019t be continually talking about the unconscious\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(aka subconscious): we\u2019ll never have it cracked anyway. But it crops up in relationship (including between me and anyone I meet) whether we like it or not.<\/p>\n

I have found it useful for me to think about it, speculate, make friends with it: it\u2019s sometimes funny, sometimes dark, sometimes fleeting, sometimes\u2026 like tree roots hidden down in the soil.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The tree: what we see, or \u2018know\u2019 We see a tree\u2026 and maybe we hear it, taste, smell or feel it. We see how it moves, changes, sounds; and maybe we feel like we know it. In therapy we can look at all that\u2026 and it\u2019s not a bad idea, to see how we see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14,8,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":928,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/richardmills.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}