"Everyone is longing and hoping that someone will get them, that they are a person and not a behavior." - Dr. Roy E. Barsness
I have to say, I love this quote and I hate it. I love it, because its true. I know that I have longed for someone to see me rather than my behaviors, either good or bad. I hate this quote because I so often fall short of it when I view others.
It is so much easier to see behaviors rather than to se people. I especially found this interpersonal stance more convenient during my time as a pastor. It was far more comfortable to stand at a distance and judge behaviors and to give "fixes" that it was to get deep into the muck of life, two people with beauty and pain all swirled together.
As I embark on this journey of school, internship and then a career as a therapist, I am aware that one of the easiest default settings for me will be to sit with a client and view them as a set of behaviors rather than a unique and beautiful person with a narrative/story that I would be blessed to hear. So, wonderful words by one of my professors, humbling words, and challenging to the core.
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