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Questions |
How does psychotherapy help a sad person who has a sad existence, when those circumstances cant be changed? In other words, how can therapy change realityoutside of drugs, talking oneself into positive thoughts, or otherwise masking the truth with a labeled condition? If there is real reason(s) to be sad, what can therapy do other than teach the patient to pretend they arent sad?
Psychotherapy does not change reality, nor does it tell you to lie about reality. In fact, it teaches you to see reality precisely as it is, clearly and honestly. And part of seeing reality clearly is seeing the past for what it was. Through psychotherapy you can face up to and heal all the emotional wounds from the past that linger in your heart as a festering bitterness that stains everything around you. Once this bitterness about the past is cleaned upso that your heart is filled with forgiveness and love, rather than hate and angerthen you can face the present and the future honestly and confidently, without illusions. Sadness is the result of feeling that you have been victimized; once you step outside the victim role, you can see the world objectively and face life confidently. In other words, even though psychotherapy does not change reality, it can change your attitude to reality. As I say throughout this website, life is brutal and unfair, but it doesnt have to be misery.
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