Happy Holidays! The holiday season is a great time to look at what you consider important and valuable. How much are you willing to spend on gifts, food, or taking care of yourself? When do you say something is too expensive? There is no right or wrong answer. Your answer is a story that you tell yourself. We each have a price that we are willing to pay for something, and it is different for each person. Some of my value judgments revolve around doctors and therapists versus alternative treatment.
I have been willing to spend money on alternative healing and therapy, but I haven’t been to a medical doctor in years and have considered traditional therapy a waste of money. For others it is the opposite. One time on a Toltec power journey, someone said, “I could have saved myself 14 years of therapy if I had done this instead.” Because of this and similar statements I’ve heard, I told myself the story that it would never be valuable for me to see a therapist However, there is a time and place for everything.
Therapists have many hours of internship experience that most alternative modalities do not require. I have often thought it would have been helpful to have done an MFT internship so I could have had firsthand experience of working with many people before starting my own practice. For what I do, that probably isn’t necessary. It’s just one of the many stories I tell myself.
I maintained my belief about traditional therapy even though I know therapists who have also trained in the Toltec path, which is the opposite of talking. The Toltec path is about letting go of stories. It focuses on living a life of unconditional love and on providing tools to clear out the underlying beliefs necessary to do so. Once we let go of our underlying beliefs, we can tell stories for fun, without attachment.
Since the Toltec path is about non-attachment, there is no attachment to using any particular tool. Each person has to find the right tool for themselves. This can change over time. Since I am currently in a situation where the experience of a therapist could be helpful, I have finally let go of my belief about therapy and turned to a therapist. Frequently storytelling can get in the way of change, but in this case, it has been useful to tell my story to someone who has helped many other people with similar stories.
I’m looking forward to getting Jan Ogren’s take on storytelling at our Friday Night Flock Night on December 4. While this evening is specifically focused on stories, many of our practitioners, including myself, do work that can help you shift the stories you tell yourself. We look forward to providing you the support you need on your path.