As any writer will attest to, the crafting of a story, let alone a life, can be difficult. Psychotherapy is also not easy. As we confront those parts of our selves that are tormenting us, we are asked to wage a sort of “internal battle” that defies the programming we’ve learned up to now. When we understand our story, we understand our selves. When we understand ourselves, my clinical experience has shown me that we begin to experience more freedom.

There are many parts to a person. Some are free, to be. Others feel as if they are not. These parts, the caged ones, the ones that we have not yet taken the time to get to know, sing for our attention. In my experience, they do this in ways that are uniquely painful for an individual. They may bring on the depression, the anxiety, or the panic. They lock us into re-living unhealthy patterns and traumatize and re-traumatize us. The relationships we have with ourselves and others become increasingly difficult to navigate.