Brighton

How Do We Access Creativity?

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Creativity and Parts Series, #4 (final post)

So how do we access creativity, then?

We access creativity by being in relationship with all parts. And we access what is immediately in front of us, first. Sometimes we have to work backwards to find what’s right in front of us. At the center of the onion may be vulnerability, and creativity. But there may be a layer surrounding that, a protective part like procrastination. There may even be a layer or two surrounding that – such as frustration with the procrastination. A good question to ask is “How do you feel towards this layer / part?” And if there’s a strong emotion, that may indicate another layer to notice, step back, and work with. If the answer is something like curious, or open-hearted, or compassionate, that’s generally a green light to go ahead and work with the layer (or part, or emotion).

When we get curious about what’s there, we actually are accessing that open-hearted energy known in IFS as Self-energy. The cool thing about doing this – no matter how many layers or steps back you’ve had to take – is that by being in relationship with any part, we are building up the Self-energy that helps us get to the good stuff. In the process of getting curious, we are creating the superhighway that helps us get to the center of the onion. In fact, the vulnerability and creativity that is the goal is also the essence of the pathway that gets us there. Which is why when we start doing this work, going slowly leads to going fast because we build up Self-energy along the way.

By noticing and getting curious about our protective parts, finding out what they need from us and how we can care for them, we are able to be in relationship with them. When protective parts have trust instead of fear, they may step aside and allow access to more vulnerability and creativity. That being said, when protective parts step aside, they also may lead us to younger hurt parts, known as exiles. Working with a therapist can help us to care for these young parts as well – and when our young parts have access to play and fun, and our protective parts are comfortable allowing play and care, access to creativity can become a superhighway. Young parts often lead directly to creativity when they feel safe!

Working with a therapist who is familiar with IFS, or a mentor or coach in your creative field, may help you to take more steps towards this.

Working with parts:

What is your protective part trying to tell you? What is it concerned will happen if you don’t listen? What does it need from you?

Accessing creativity:

Consider what creative pathways are exciting to you. If there are no barriers, what would you do? How can you care for your protective parts as a part of your creative process? What kinds of creativity did you enjoy as a child? What do you enjoy now?

What is the first step you could take today (or the next step, if you’re already engaged in a project) towards your ideal creative activity?

*Please note that this series is intended to be a jumping-off point in considering parts and the creative process, or additional supplemental material in the therapy process; it is not intended to replace therapy. Please discuss any questions, concerns, or activated responses with your therapist directly.

Journaling Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Creativity and Parts Series

Journaling exercise: Try writing a dialogue with a part. You can begin by noticing either the sensation you identified or the voice that alerts you to the part. On one side of the page (or in one color), write out what the part may say, and on the other side, you can respond from your Self. Going back and forth between the two, you can create a written dialogue between your Self and your part.

If you notice additional parts while engaging with this, you can add them in another color or column, or repeat the exercise between the newly-identified part and your Self.

Once you’ve completed the “conversation,” you can read it back over for reflection or bring it to your next therapy session.

Opening Access to Creativity

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Creativity and Parts Series, #3

There are so many potential blocks to our pathway towards creativity. Our inner critics take on a variety of roles, and as protective parts they are often trying to work to keep us safe from harm. Or from vulnerability. Our internal protectors don’t always know the difference.

Creativity requires vulnerability; vulnerability fuels creativity.

So when we have parts that directly criticize us, or indirectly engage in behaviors like procrastination, prioritizing other tasks, or somehow devaluing a creative endeavor, they are trying to keep us from myriad harms that can come with vulnerability. Being creative requires messiness, the potential of failure, being disliked by someone, being criticized by someone, and above all else, being seen in a genuine way. This is the thing that can be scary about therapy, too – and is also kind of the point: being seen.

“Being seen” is a big deal – especially if we’re talking about being seen at our core. In order to be seen at the core, we have to work at first seeing the parts of ourselves that are closest. Most of us don’t have a congenial relationship with our inner critics, but that’s actually a great place to start. We have to understand what they’re trying to do for us, what they’re scared of, and how we can care for them, in order for them to stop shouting at us. We can’t skip ahead or around – they’ll find a subversive way to stop us. But if we understand and care for the needs of the critic, or even find a way to use its skills in harmony with our goals, we can open up more access to the vulnerable process of creativity.

We don’t go around protective parts, or check them off a list and then move on. It’s through the relationship with parts that we experience opening. By seeing all parts of ourselves – protective layers, younger hurt parts, and even some playful and joyful young parts – we can open access to vulnerability, and to creativity.

What parts of yourself are hard to see? What parts feel easy to see and understand? When do you notice yourself feeling playful and allowing joy?

Journaling Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Creativity and Parts Series

Journaling exercise: Start by writing what you feel in your body after reading the previous posts. What sensations do you notice? Where do you feel heavy / light, warm / cold, tight / relaxed? Take a moment to write and describe the sensations in as much detail as possible.

If you could give a voice to one of the sensations you noticed, what would it share with you? Let the sensation “talk” to you. Or, if you are aware that this is tied to a part of you you’re already familiar with, what is the part trying to share with you through the bodily sensation? (For example, an internal critic could speak through tension in the shoulders, or a productive part may tell you through your leg jiggling that you should be folding your laundry instead of contemplating creativity.) We’re not trying to change or stop these sensations or the thoughts associated with them; at this point, we are just noticing and tolerating them, if that feels okay to you to do. (And if it does not, you can always listen to your internal stop signs!).

Next, consider the moment when you begin or plan to begin a creative endeavor. (What is your creative endeavor of choice? Art, writing, music?) What thoughts pop into your head? You can take a moment to journal these thoughts, and any emotions associated with them. You may have positive or negative emotions, or both. All reactions are welcome, and all parts of you are welcome.

Notice, do these thoughts feel like they belong to you, or someone else? Consider if these thoughts are barriers to creativity, or encouragement for creativity. Who else in your lifetime may have influenced the development of this voice? It can be useful to notice how much of this voice belongs to a part of you, and how much may belong to people (such as parents, teachers, or coaches) who may have influenced the way you approach creativity. If the voice is yours alone, what led to its development?

You can continue to journal in this way by noticing sensations, giving voice to them, and considering who may have influenced that voice or how it developed internally. You can use this journaling as a tool for deepening your therapy work, or as a tool for increasing self-understanding and self-compassion in your creative endeavors. As you begin to befriend (or at least acknowledge) the parts of you activated by creativity, you are developing a relationship with your parts and your creative process.

Celebrating 10 Years in Business

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

This June marks 10 years since the opening of Perspectives Mental Health Counseling, PLLC. It’s hard to believe a decade has gone by!

I continue to feel grateful to get to do this work, to be present with individuals in their personal exploration and healing.

I believe that the foundation of a sustainable small business is in the relationships. I may be a solo practitioner, but I work in community with other therapists, medical professionals, and other healing practitioners. I’m grateful for the community!

At the 5-year anniversary, I wrote that Perspectives was just getting started. I don’t feel we’re just getting started any longer – I feel rooted, grounded, and established in our community of mental health practitioners – but I do feel we are continuing to grow. And I say “we” because the growth is what occurs each time someone walks through the door.

I’m continuing to grow as a psychotherapist, too. This summer I look forward to completing my Level 2 training for Internal Family Systems therapy. This approach to therapy and to life continues to inspire my curiosity and my care, and I’m excited to deepen my understanding and application of the model.

With New York state opening up a new credential for LMHCs, I’ve also now obtained my Diagnostic Privilege as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (so my credentials now read LMHC-D).

As I celebrate 10 years in business, and 10 years in community, I find myself looking forward to the stability and growth for Perspectives in the years to come.

July’s Mindfulness Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Mindfulness involves observing and accepting the things around and within us in the present moment, without judgment.  In therapy, Johanna may involve mindfulness skills to build awareness of various issues and to develop coping strategies to reach optimal wellness.   The exercise below is not individualized to your needs as it may be in therapy, but is rather intended as a general exercise that you may find useful.

July’s Mindfulness Exercise:

Last month, we brought awareness to our thoughts. This month, we bring awareness to our emotions!

How aware are you of your emotions? Take a deep breath in, and exhale out slowly. Keep in mind the statement “as long as you are breathing, there is more that’s right with you than wrong with you.” Similarly, there are no wrong emotions – you get to have them all.

Notice what you are experiencing emotionally in this moment. Name the emotion or emotions to yourself. Maybe even write it down on a piece of paper.

Engage in this emotion-naming three times throughout your day today. Notice the fluctuations you experience in emotion and intensity. Notice what you do with the emotion. Is it healthy for you?

 

Today’s exercise is intended to increase your emotional awareness, both regarding what you are experiencing emotionally as well as what you do with it. As always, if this feels overwhelming, please call Johanna to set up an appointment.

 

NOTE: This is not intended to replace therapy.  Please contact Johanna at (585)406-3012 if you are interested in engaging in counseling for optimal wellness.

June’s Mindfulness Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Mindfulness involves observing and accepting the things around and within us in the present moment, without judgment.  In therapy, Johanna may involve mindfulness skills to build awareness of various issues and to develop coping strategies to reach optimal wellness.   The exercise below is not individualized to your needs as it may be in therapy, but is rather intended as a general exercise that you may find useful.

June’s Mindfulness Exercise:

This month, we are going to bring our awareness to the endcaps of the day. Pick either the morning or the evening, and every day write down the first thoughts that pop into your head in the morning, or the last thoughts that run through your mind at the end of the day.

We can’t control what first pops into the mind, but we can control what we do with it and the habits we shape around our thoughts. After tracking your thoughts for several days, notice if there are patterns to your thinking. Those first or last thoughts of the day – are they what you’d want to have in your mind?

If they are, carry on. If they are not, take a moment to reflect on what kinds of thoughts you would like to have at the start or end of your day. Write down on a piece of paper or post-it what you’d like them to be, and place them next to your bed. Every day, before you close your eyes to end the day (or get out of bed to start the day), review the piece of paper.

In doing so, you are bringing mindfulness to your thoughts and training your mind to take the thought paths you would most prefer!

 

NOTE: This is not intended to replace therapy.  Please contact Johanna at (585)406-3012 if you are interested in engaging in counseling for optimal wellness.

May’s Mindfulness Exercise

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

Mindfulness involves observing and accepting the things around and within us in the present moment, without judgment.  In therapy, Johanna may involve mindfulness skills to build awareness of various issues and to develop coping strategies to reach optimal wellness.   The exercise below is not individualized to your needs as it may be in therapy, but is rather intended as a general exercise that you may find useful.

May’s Mindfulness Exercise:

This month, we are going to engage in expanded breathing. Begin by sitting or standing comfortably, and bring your awareness to your breath. Inhale and notice the feeling of your lungs expanding; exhale and notice the feeling of release. Pay attention to the feeling of air passing through either your nose or your mouth.

After taking several breaths without moving, begin to expand your awareness of breathing by engaging in physical movement. You can start by stretching your fingers out as you inhale, and relaxing them as you exhale. Take several breaths to do repeat this, at your regular breathing rate. Next expand your inhale by lifting your arms, and on an exhale release them. Take several breaths to engage in this practice also. You can continue to engage in this expansion or stretch and release with different parts of the body. After doing so, come back to a still position and return your awareness just to your breath as you inhale and exhale.

What do you notice about your physical self as you engage in this practice? What do you notice about your breathing?

NOTE: This is not intended to replace therapy.  Please contact Johanna at (585)406-3012 if you are interested in engaging in counseling for optimal wellness.

Awkward and Strong

~ JB ~ Leave a comment

At a yoga class recently, I was reminded in the midst of a holding a very difficult pose that what we need we carry with us. The instructor went on to discuss how we have the ability to cope with difficult situations. Deep stuff, right?

This doesn’t mean I held the pose. I certainly didn’t look the picture of the strength and grace I aspire to be. I was awkward, and shaky, and exited out of the pose before the teacher told me to do so. I may have even rolled my eyes a bit at the instructor’s words.

But it made me think. Not necessarily to agree with the instructor about what we carry internally, and whether it is enough. No, it made me think about how the things we need to grow come from within us, instead of from the material things around us.

I realized that my physical practice of yoga depended on me. Not the room I was in, not the clothes I was wearing, or even the yoga mat beneath my feet. My awkward, strong engagement in physical movement using my own body… that depended on me.

The instructor was right. I didn’t have the tools to bend and contort into a crazy pose, but I did have the ability to engage my body in the practice and own my movements. I didn’t need anything but myself to do yoga.

I often say in counseling sessions that you are the only one who is in your body and your mind 24/7. (It’s a great thing – and sometimes a very difficult thing!). That self is all you need to challenge yourself to grow.

And in my office, all we really need is you (the person who is in your body and your mind), and me (the person who will sit with you). Counseling depends on the relationship between myself and you, the client.

It is nice to have chairs to sit in, pictures to look at, and a window to let the light in; but the real work comes from the connection in the therapeutic relationship. That’s all we really need. It may be awkward at times, it may be shaky, and it will be strong. The real work comes from the changing perspective you develop for yourself and take out of the office with you.

What we need to grow we carry within us.

In yoga, the things we need come from physical movement. In counseling, it comes from the counseling relationship. In both cases it is the internal parts of self and relationship that lead to growth.