Gaining wisdom

Trysten, you are gaining tremendous wisdom through practical experience, AND at an age that will help you to evolve into a self-assured, independent, wise woman. Your experiences will carry you through the rest of your life and you'll be able to help those people who reach out in their own anguish with the wisdom that was born of your personal experiences.

The vast majority of the "mental health care professionals" that I've worked with over the past decades were only able to refer to "case studies" and had not one clue as to how to articulate help and coping techniques in practical terms. One counselor was trying to explain how to "cope" with abuse to a victim of domestic violence and abuse by giving bogus information and NO empathy, at all, "So, you must be a masochist, then." She had not experienced the insidious nature of domestic violence and abuse and could not, even in simple terms, understand the bait, lure, and trap mechanisms that nearly all abusers use!

If a person hasn't had the experiences, hasn't done the work, and hasn't evolved, they need to specialize in another field of study that they CAN refer to, personally. The best abuse specialist that I ever met was this man who had survived abuse, earned his degree, became an ordained minister, and used his experiences to show other abuse victims another road. He would actually demonstrate emotion and this is taught in clinical courses to be a no-no. Why shouldn't someone demonstrate emotion (EMPATHY) for another person's pain? The common consensus among the "experts" is that demonstration of empathy isn't helpful and makes the suffering of another individual more personal to the clinician. Bullsh*t. It makes people human.

You're learning via experience which is much more valuable than any Harvard Psych. course! Tweet