When I was in graduate school, getting my PhD, I read a study that found that college students could be as beneficial to clients as could people with Masters and PhDs, no matter what type of field of therapy studied. At first, I was pretty disheartened, even a little pissed-off. After all, I was spending 10 years of my life gaining the wisdom to help others.Then I realized, it in not the theories, the techniques, or the letters behind my name that help others in their path through life; It is the willingness to walk my own path, feel my own pain, and joy, that helps me sit with others. I learned (and am learning) to be with myself, whatever I am experiencing, so I can be with others, so they are not alone.These wise words from Jeff Brown www.lifewithoutacentre.com reminded me of what I began to get a glimmer of in grad school.
BUDDHAS NEXT DOOR
Some of the greatest therapists and healers
I’ve ever known have no diplomas, no qualifications, no letters after
their names. They have written no books, and you won’t find them being
interviewed on TV chat shows. But they are so effortlessly
compassionate, able to listen deeply without prejudice, willing to hold
the most intense energies in their unshakeable presence. With their
loving attention, the unacceptable can move into a space of acceptance,
traumatic material can re-emerge without
shame, the darkness can come into the light, be felt fully and
integrated in a space of safety and kinship, without fear. They are as
comfortable with silence as they are with the most heart-breaking
personal stories. There is no sense of “I am the expert with all the
answers”, no image of themselves as the great saviours of mankind or
enlightened gurus. These unknown, undiscovered Buddhas are the
therapists and teachers of the future, humanity’s hope, and they may not
even know it.
– Jeff Foster