Learning to listen

When I saw my first client as a therapist more than forty years ago, I thought they needed me to solve a problem. I knew that I wasn’t capable of solving anyone’s problems, so I strove to create the right impression.

I wanted very much to prove that I was a “good therapist,” because I knew that I wasn’t. At the time, I had little professional experience as a therapist, and my life experience wasn’t extensive either. Continue >>

 A happy man at last

Some time ago, I needed to scan through old magazine articles on my life and career. One of these articles was titled “Expert in Pain and Suffering,” and this gave me pause. Am I really a specialist in suffering? It’s true that I have devoted the greater part of my life to learning about pain and suffering, but do I really wish for my name to be associated with the agony of life?
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Pointing at the Moon

We cannot control life; rather, we should let life control us. We don’t know where we are coming from and where we are headed—which means that we don’t really know where we are and what this all is about. We are perplexed by this journey called life. One of our deepest needs is to find safety amid this immense insecurity. But can we find safety anywhere? Is there anything that could show us the meaning of life? Continue >>