How to Find Fulfillment
The other morning I was sitting at my kitchen table drinking coffee and scrolling through Facebook. I came across a post from another therapist who was looking for advice. She asked the group, “What do you say to clients who are looking for fulfillment? I am finding that a lot of my clients are not feeling fulfilled right now.”
I thought to myself, “That’s my specialty!”
Beyond the DSM and the Medical Model
Why was this therapist so perplexed about helping her clients find more meaning, fulfillment, and a sense of purpose in their lives? Because feeling unfulfilled is not a mental illness. You can’t treat it according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual. There is also not a good catchphrase or easy answer for “treating” this issue.
An Individual Journey
Finding your path is yours! What I love doing is teaching clients how to listen to that deep feeling within themselves and translate those feelings into action. We do this by creating art in art therapy, active imagination techniques, and translating unconscious communications.
“OMG what we were talking about in therapy last week just clicked! A friend of mine reached out and emailed me with some of the same things you had just said. It was perfect timing!”
Synchronicity
This quote is due to synchronicity, a term that Carl Jung coined. It means that there is something that happens in the world that vibrates on the same wavelength as something occurring in your internal landscape. The correlation is so strong with personal meaning that it seems that the universe is acting as a mirror to you and the timing creates personal significance.
So why would such a thing occur? We had explored symbolism that was surrounding themes of artwork and unconscious communication through stories brought up during the therapy hour. The therapy house has a condensed quality to it with a feeling of deep listening. As you learn the nature of symbols and the symbol sets of your dreams, you learn to listen to this voice of clarity within you.
Learning About your Symbol Sets
As time goes on, the voice becomes clearer. Like the moment of synchronicity I described earlier, you start to feel in line with your purpose. Such moments have a domino effect where you find yourself in alignment with your true calling, your destiny more often.
Individuation
In Jungian psychology, this idea of learning to satisfy the calling of your destiny is called the individuation process. Joseph Campbell popularized this process and called it the hero’s journey. I will talk more about this process in a future post.
Taking up the Call
This process really struck a chord in me and filled my heart with a sense of purpose and adventure. I knew I was meant for more than the reoccurring issues in my life that got in the way. Eight years later, my life is much more in alignment with my core values and my vision. Give me a call if you’d like to explore this process, your dreams, or move into closer alignment with the call of your Self.