#in love and often talks to their clients beforehand about whether or not they really want to go through with this
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((Was asked to set up a D&D campaign that takes place in space (as the resident scifi friend in my group, I get to DM 😅😆) and it made me think of how much fun Cass would have being a DM, but especially if she got to show off and share her astronomy knowledge with the group 😆))
#ooc.#in love and often talks to their clients beforehand about whether or not they really want to go through with this#((Ideas for the campaign are abundant. what I've actually written out is minimal 😂#But it won't be for a few more weeks so I have time 😅))#((My friends still need to set up their characters and such so i can work them into the campaign anyway))#((Also if anyone has ideas for little plot points or enemies or whatever don't hesitate to toss em at me because I think this#might be a long standing thing if it goes over well.#As a Star Wars AND Star Trek girl I have plenty thoughts to work with but am always open to more 😅))
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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My adventures of having a therapist and teacher who put us both into a bit of a situation. And the best food to soothe the gut and recharge your brain. In addition to this story, at the end of this episode I’ll share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. OK enough hints from me, let’s get on with the story. This week’s crazy story Right, so this story is a bit of a doozy and I’ve never shared it before except with a few close friends. So why not share it all over the internet, right? The reason I’m sharing this story though is because I feel it deals with a really important topic. And that is boundaries. Let’s talk boundaries When I say boundaries, I don’t mean fences or stone walls or anything like that. I’m talking about the boundaries that we all set that say to people, “You can come here but no closer”. For those who don’t know, boundaries are our (mostly unconscious) way of telling people what is and is not OK. So for example your boundaries with your friends are probably very different to those with your coworkers. Friends can most likely get closer to you, not only emotionally and mentally, but physically as well. You probably wouldn’t move away from a friend in an elevator if they were standing fairly close to you, whereas with a stranger, you would. Right? We talk about personal space and that’s one kind of boundary. Now why am I prefacing my story with talk about boundaries? Well, because this story is all about violating someone’s boundaries – in this case, mine – without even touching them. And this kind of behavior is just not OK. Although it does make for an interesting story, as you’ll see. It started in a bookstore This story takes place not in Paris as with some of my previous episodes, but in London, England. And it starts in a used bookstore. My son was very small – he was about a year old – and he and I often found ourselves in used bookstores, whether we wanted to be there or not, because his dad loves books. He wanted to browse and scour all the shelves searching for whatever books caught his eye. While my son and I were waiting, I spotted a flyer on a bulletin board advertising training in a particular method of therapy that sounded really exciting. I won’t say exactly what it was because this isn’t about name calling and the story involves the founder of that method. And, you know, I don’t want to use real names because the purpose isn’t to name and shame, it’s just to tell a story. I looked at the flyer and my intuition said, “You need to do this course. It’s perfect for you”. So I wrote down the phone number and the website address and looked it up at home. And sure enough, it looked fantastic. It was a full year of training in a small group to become a therapist using this method. I could even use my vocal skills, so I thought ‘wow that really is perfect!’ Very exciting…at first I signed up for the course and was very excited on my first day. Beforehand I had already read a bit about the method’s founder, whom I’ll call Chris. I was really looking forward to learning from him. We were definitely a small group – there were twelve of us, plus Chris and his two female assistants. And the training was very intense. Chris told us that he wanted to ‘break down the walls of our egos’ (and if this sounds like something a leader of a religious sect might say, well yes you’re right. How did you know?) So what followed were some very long days of exploring our own inner psyches using Chris’ method – we did this in the mornings usually. Then in the afternoons we would do group work, so trust exercises, therapy games etc. We also always had some kind of circle time where we would talk about things that had come up during our group and individual explorations of our inner worlds. Chris was the lead therapist, and we were all like his clients. We were learning by exploring our psyches and then using him and his therapeutic skills to deal with what came up. Dealing with heavy stuff, and ego-breaking exercises And I have to say that some of the stuff that came up was pretty heavy. Things that people had repressed for years, or that they remembered vaguely but had never explored. Or that they didn’t even remember until the work we were doing brought a memory to the surface. I can’t go into details for obvious reasons, but we’re talking childhood abuse, family members committing suicide, birth trauma, that kind of stuff. So not exactly what you’d chat about over a coffee, right? Some of the exercises were pretty interesting as well, as was the homework. One assignment I remember was that for 3 days we had to create a blanket fort in our homes (now that does sound like fun, right?) and we had to live in there. We also had to eat our food without using our hands from a bowl on the floor. Sounds weird, right? I mean now you probably definitely think I’m nuts! I mean I’m all for self-exploration, but I have to say that my son’s dad thought I was nuts. My son thought it was normal – I mean he spent a lot of time crawling around on the floor anyway so he probably figured Mommy was playing like he was. It was interesting to say the least, and I know I did have some deep realization or other during that process but for some reason I can’t remember for the life of me what that was. But that’s not important. Is he skilled, or is he psychic? Anyway exercises like this make you a bit vulnerable, and we very quickly came to depend on Chris in the all-day sessions for his help and support. He was very, very skilled – extremely good at what he did, and he would see things in people that left you thinking, ‘Is he psychic? How did he see that?’ It was incredible to watch. So we all, I think, admired him. Certainly for me, I had him on this therapist pedestal – I admired him as a teacher, a trainer and a therapist. Nothing more than that though. One day we were learning about two aspects of a relationship between therapist and client that are crucial to understand if you want to be a good therapist. And those aspects are transference, and countertransference. I need to explain them so that you understand what comes next. But it’s pretty logical and I’m going to give a very simplistic explanation here. Transference and countertransference Transference is a process where the client unconsciously transfers feelings that they have for someone in their life onto the therapist. So for example let’s say a therapist is helping a woman get over her difficult relationship with her brother. At some stage in the therapy, that woman can start to transfer her feelings for her brother – good and bad – onto the therapist. The mind does this to help us work through those feelings, because the therapist is a ‘safe’ version of her brother. The client can rant and rave or say things to the therapist-as-brother that she perhaps wouldn’t feel able to express to her real brother. And a good therapist knows about this process and is smart enough to work with that transference. For example if the woman starts ranting at him in the way she used to at her brother, the therapist can use that dynamic to respond to her in a way that can help her move forward. This is very simplistic, so if you’re listening and you’re a therapist, please forgive me. I know it goes deeper than that but I’m just trying to get across the basic idea because of what comes next in my story. An example of countertransference Let’s say then that the woman is ranting at the therapist because in her unconscious mind he has become her brother, in a sense. In a perfect world, the therapist wouldn’t take this personally. He or she would be thinking ‘Well her transference is that I’m her brother, I know this, so I won’t take this personally’. But therapists, like the rest of us, are human. And they do react to the client’s transference – which we call countertransference. In the case of the ranting woman, the therapist’s reaction – his or her countertransference – could be anger. It could be fear. It could be any number of things depending on the therapist’s own personal history. And a good therapist will recognize that if he or she starts to feel a strong emotional response, then perhaps the client is unwittingly triggering some of the therapist’s own personal stuff. Cause we all have our personal stuff, right? We all have buttons that people can push, regardless of how much personal development we do. It’s just that usually the more personal development you do, the more difficult it can be for someone to push your buttons. But the buttons are still there. And now the story gets tricky… So here’s where my story gets tricky. One day we were in our circle time talking after we’d done some group work, I think this was about 3 months into the course, and Chris wanted to talk about his reactions to each of us as people. Well, as clients. He wanted to do this because he was convinced that his reactions to us were based on our stuff. In other words, his countertransference. He went round the circle saying things to people like “With you, Jim, I feel on edge a lot of the time. I wonder where that has shown up for you in your life?” or “With you, Anna, I feel protective, like I want to look after you to make sure no-one hurts you. Where could that come from?”. Then he got to me – and he said the thing that (according to the books I read that he recommended we read) NO therapist is ever supposed to say. He said, “With you, I feel a lot of sexual energy, a very primal kind of attraction”. No, no, no! Therapists are NEVER supposed to tell a client that they are sexually attracted to them, countertransference or not! Clients – and students – are fragile people. And we were in the middle of a very intense psychological process of breaking down barriers and uncovering any unresolved issues in our lives. It was hard, scary work and none of us needed this kind of complication. Especially as we were such a small group, working together in one room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week. Delayed hearing? Yup, that’s a thing Now Chris threw this particular bombshell 3 months into the course, but interestingly I didn’t actually hear him say it until 3 more months had gone by. My mind literally blocked out his words in the moment he spoke them, it wouldn’t let me hear them to protect myself. Unfortunately my subconscious heard them and the dynamic between us changed after that day. You might think that’s weird, but this does happen. There are moments when we just don’t hear something because, yeah, our mind protects us and it just gets blocked out. Whereas before, he was the teacher, therapist and innovator that I admired, now he was a dangerous threat. The problem though was that because my conscious mind didn’t let me hear his words until months later (when a comment from someone in the class unlocked my memory), I didn’t understand why suddenly I was afraid of him. During our group exercises there was so much tension between us that it affected everyone, especially me, I think. The worst part though was that as the course progressed, I started to get more and more upset, and he somehow had managed to convince himself and the rest of the class that I had “started it”. He was convinced that his attraction to me was simply his countertransference due to “my stuff” even though he was the one who had said to me out of the blue that he was attracted to me. And he had some of the other students believing that I was more than a bit like unhinged. Which was just really annoying, especially once I’d remembered what had actually happened. My ego was having a great time And the other annoying thing or challenging thing was that there’s a very thin line between massive admiration for someone and attraction. So as the course progressed it was difficult to not feel a response to the mega teacher saying he was attracted to you. I felt singled out in some way, and if I’m honest, it made me feel important. Right? Suddenly I had something that no-one else on the course had. Well I know now that the whole scenario was pretty ridiculous if not embarrassing. I think of it now and it makes me (almost) want to laugh, but how often have we felt important over something that actually wasn’t that important at all? My ego was basically having a field day. So I’m sure that’s happened to you, right? Anyway even with the huge cloud of tension hanging over my head, I did manage to finish the year. Ironically when we had completed our last assignment, he gave me the only compliment for the entire year. On the last day. How Chris really saw me In our final circle time, he went round to each person and said what he wished for them and/or what he could see them achieving with what they’d learned. And as usual it was super perceptive and absolutely incredible, actually. It was one of those moments when again you were like, ‘is this guy psychic?’ When he got to me, he said “Out of everyone here, you’re the one who I can most see doing what I did. You’re the one I can see creating your own method and taking it out into the world to affect change”. So of course I felt like screaming – if he thought I was that good, why on earth couldn’t he have told me that, instead of talking about his feelings of attraction and stuff. Anyway! My conclusion My conclusion looking back on all of this is that circumstances can create feelings that aren’t real. As soon as a few weeks had gone by, after the course, the whole attraction thing felt false. And while he really should NOT have said what he did, it taught me a lot and I’m very grateful for the experience. I learned that our minds can create all kinds of stories, his and mine and everybody else’s. And if we take a step back from the situation – or in my case a couple of years’ distance – we can see the experience in a different light. Which makes me question how much of what we experience in our day to day lives is real truth? How much of what we think is happening, or what we think others are thinking and feeling comes from our own stories? We speak a little bit about this in my episode with Corrina, with Corrina’s story which I’ll link to as well. The other things I learned were within the method itself, which is absolutely amazing and I do use it for many things today. I gained an invaluable tool, even though it cost me a bit of heartache to get it. And I also learned how strong I can be and about the different kinds of people that I can help. So was it all worth it? Definitely. It’s all life experience, right? Even the blanket fort and eating out of the bowl. All good! Can you disappear from Google? I never found out what happened to Chris after that, except that he left the country shortly afterwards. And his two female assistants left the course at the end of the year, at the same time I and the other students did. They would never say why, but I do wonder why they both left. A few years ago I even tried Googling Chris to see what he was up to, and I found…are you ready? Nothing! Nothing! A founder of a fabulous therapeutic method who has written several books…and I found nothing. It’s like he’s disappeared from the face of the earth. But even so, like how can you disappear from Google? Right? Amazing. I guess it’s possible. Anyway, I share this story for anyone who ever starts a therapeutic journey. Yes I learned a lot, but it was definitely the hard way. So make sure you’re in good hands, and if your therapist or trainer starts making noises like “Oh I find you attractive”, take my advice and run the other way! Food to soothe the gut So, I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I’d share with you the best food to soothe the gut, recharge your brain AND bring you strength and connection to who you really are. And that food is… avocado! Benefits of avocado There are so many benefits of avocado, it’s ridiculous. Avocado is a great food to soothe the gut because it can actually help restore the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also has anti-inflammatory compounds that work like aspirin but without thinning the blood. So if you have any kind of condition where your digestive system is upsetting you, so things like IBS etc, any kind of irritation in your digestive tract, then you definitely want some avocado. Because as a food to soothe the gut, it’s one of the best. Also avocados are one of the best-known foods for the brain. Their omega 6s can help restore our central nervous system and can help alleviate conditions like Alzheimer’s, dementia, ADHD, things like that. So I don’t know about you, but my central nervous system could definitely use a reboot sometimes. And yeah, avocados are just the thing. They also have anti-ageing benefits: they’re great for the skin and they can even help reduce dark circles under your eyes. And they’re even great for your hair – you can mix some avocado – ripe avocado obviously – with your favorite conditioner and use it as a hair mask. The other neat thing about avocados is that the fats that they contain are similar to those in breast milk! It actually makes an amazing first food for babies along with bananas. And on an emotional level, avocados are like a ‘mother fruit’. They nurture us at a very deep level. Think of them as the supreme ‘comfort food’ – that’s actually good for you. The next time you want to reach out for a comfort food, as many of us do, reach for an avocado instead and see what happens. How to pick and store avocados Here’s the best way to tell if an avocado is ripe: Press gently near the stem. There should be a bit of give. If it’s too soft, it’s too ripe and may be stringy. You don’t want that. If there’s no give, it’s too hard and isn’t ripe yet. The color should also be uniform, where possible, whether it’s the lighter or darker green variety. Now for storing avocados, they’re best kept out of the refrigerator because cool air spoils their flavor. It just ruins them. Keep them at room temperature until you’re ready to eat them. I have heard that people freeze avocados, I haven’t tried that myself. You can try that if you want. I know it’s possible but I haven’t done it, I always eat them fresh. How to eat avocado The easiest way to eat avocado is to obviously just slice them down the middle, take out the seed (just stick a sharp knife into it and pull) and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. You can puree it with a fork if you’re giving it to a baby, or if you just want to make yourself some speedy guacamole. Just mix in some diced tomato, a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of sea salt, maybe a bit of chili powder if you like spicy things, and then instant guacamole! I have lots of recipes that go great with avocado in my 5-Minute Salads & Sauces ebook, and I’ll post the link in the show notes. Have YOU got a story to share? Which brings us to the end of this week’s story – and if you’ve got a true story to share (and you’d like to know what food could have saved the day or enhanced your particular situation), I’d love to hear from you! Got a question, or a comment? Got a question, or a comment? Pop a note below in the comments, that would be awesome. You can also subscribe to the podcast to listen ‘on the go’ in iTunes, Stitcher or TuneIn. I hope you have an amazing day. Thank you so much for being here with me to share in my Clean Food, Dirty Stories. Bye for now! RESOURCES 5-Minute recipe ebooks: More about the benefits of avocados here: Article on avocados as first foods for babies: Source link
#KITCHEN_AND_DINING#AVOCADO#CFDS#COUNTERTRANSFERENCE#EPISODE#FOOD_FOR_THE_GUT#SAY..#THERAPIST#TRANSFERENCE
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Take Care of Everything
This is my first ever fic for a writing challenge omg I’m so excited! Huge congratulations to @balenciagabucky for hitting 3K followers!! That’s such a huge milestone and thank you for organising such a fun challenge! So excited to read the rest of the submissions 💗 @dulceslibrary
Pairing: Personal Assistant! Bucky Barnes x Lawyer! Reader
Word Count: 3.5k maybe?
Summary: There’s only one thing in your life that your PA doesn’t take care of
Warnings: Smut, praise kink, pet names, protected sex (go me for writing something safe sex for a change), court mention, lil fluff, mile high club
Minors, do not interact.
“Un-fucking-believable.” You couldn’t stop the roaring boil of the blood in your veins, storming out of the court room with your long black gown billowing behind you. Being one of the top barristers in the country brought it’s fair share of high profile cases but this one had got on every last nerve in your body and you were out of patience.
The case itself wasn’t the problem. The issues were straightforward enough and applying law to fact, at the most basic level, your client had done nothing wrong. It should have been essentially cut and dry. The problem was the opposing council and the lack of intervention from the judge.
The prosecution had torn your witness to shreds. You had tried to warn the poor woman beforehand, as you did with every client, but on the stand, she had just crumbled under such an intense and downright ignorant line of questioning.
It shouldn’t have even been allowed in the first place. The judge should have stepped in and clipped the opposing council’s wings but the damage was already done and now you would have to pick the pieces up when court resumed on Monday.
“How did it go?” Your personal assistant must have been leaning outside the courtroom door for who knows how long, his suit somehow as neat and pristine as always, despite the fact it was the end of the day.
“Fucking dreadful, Terry was an asshole to Andrea and she lost it. Should’ve known he’d pull shit like that, he’s always a cunt on Friday evenings.” You practically spat the words out, heels clicking on the floor as you made your way down the marble hall to collect your things and begin to put an end to this miserable week.
Part of you almost wanted to laugh at how Bucky had developed the skill of being able to keep up with your pace without even having to look up from his blackberry. That only came from years of practice.
“Terry loves playing with fire. Fuck him. If anyone can put him in his place on Monday, it’s you.” Bucky still hadn’t taken a second to pull his nose up from his phone, his steps landing in perfect time with yours until you reached the chamber at the end of the hall, throwing the heavy wooden door open in front of you. Bucky filtered in behind you of course, closing the door behind him before slipping his phone neatly into his pocket.
“Thought your doctor warned you about your blood pressure? You gotta calm down.” Bucky’s face showed he was genuinely concerned, his eyebrows knitted together in disdain but there was nothing new there. He had worked for you for years now and truth be told, he was damn good at his job, not to mention the fact he was the closest thing to a friend your busy schedule allowed you to have.
“I’ll calm down when I’m dead. We need to get to the airport if we’re going to make that flight for the convention.” You pulled your wig off, setting it neatly into the little wooden closet before removing your gown, hanging it up alongside the other worn ones from earlier in the week so they could all be dry cleaned and back in the closet for Monday.
“It’s a private jet honey, it can’t leave without you.” Bucky laughed softly, knowing you were worked up and hoping a little joke would ease the tension.
You had to admit, you were so thankful for Bucky. He was devoting the prime of his life to making sure you had everything you needed, your life only felt so seamless because Bucky made it that way. He didn’t just manage your calendar and fetch you coffee like any other PA, he lived and breathed you. He went everywhere with you, crashing in your spare room at least three nights a week because you had both worked yourselves to exhaustion. He never missed anything. He had a solution for every problem, nothing was too big for him to tackle and given the chance, you two could absolutely take over the world one day. You confided in him, and he in you, getting to know every tiny detail of his life in the past few years, right down to that fact that neither of you had seen your family or been on a date in months. Hell, he’d went as far as buying you a packet of batteries one Monday after a particularly long and stressful court hearing.
“Here, got you these.” He had smiled mischievously as he handed them over to you, chuckling a little at your confused expression. “For your vibrator. Looks like it’s gonna be a long week.” You took them gratefully, joking with him that you really would need them, tucking them into your handbag and damn were they appreciated. The following morning he had asked how you had got on and you could only laugh. You didn’t tell him how thoughts of him had come into your head right as you had gotten close. Similarly, you didn’t tell him how painfully intense your orgasm had been when you imagined him on the bed with you, watching you come apart against the plastic toy. You could just picture his hungry gaze, watching how your body gushed as you released, nipples pebbled from arousal and your lips parted, a single whimper of his name escaping you as you rode out your high.
No, that was a little secret you would keep to yourself. He didn’t need to know your dirtiest fantasies. He was an employee. An employee that often arrived at your bedroom door shirtless and smirking, holding a stack of freshly made pancakes on the mornings he stayed over at yours but an employee nonetheless.
—————————
The cab ride to the airport would have been silent if it hadn’t been for the gentle tapping of your thumbs and Bucky’s racing over your respective phone screens. You had at least two dozen emails left to reply to and your eyelids were beginning to get heavy, the body heat radiating from Bucky in the cab’s back seat making you drowsy. You took a second, squeezing your eyes shut to force away the tiredness before going back to typing relentlessly.
The trip to the airport was short, Bucky had competed the preflight checkin so you essentially stepped straight onto the plane, taking a seat by the window, with Bucky taking the one opposite you. Takeoff was smooth as always, your phones picked back up as soon as it was safe to do so. But with the glowing screen came a fresh wave of drowsiness, your eyelids threatening to close of their own accord.
“Shit, Buck did you pack my -“
“Glasses? Left side of your bag, under the tissues.” Bucky finished your sentence for you, not looking up from his phone.
“And my -“
“Eye drops? In your makeup bag.” There it was again. What surprised you most was that Bucky didn’t even need to see you to work out exactly what was wrong.
“Do you really just take care of everything?” You huffed out a little laugh, digging through your bag, finding both your glasses and eye drops exactly where he told you they would be.
“Everything but you.” He chuckled, finally setting his phone down.
“What do you mean ‘everything but me’? All you ever do is take care of me. You organise my shopping and dry cleaning for god’s sake.” The whole notion of Bucky doing anything but taking care of you was just insane because you sure as hell didn’t have time to do any of those things for yourself. That’s what you hired him for after all.
“I didn’t mean like that. I meant like really take care of you. You’re so damn up tight.” You knew by the little chuckle that accompanied his words that he meant it affectionately but it still made you slightly defensive.
“I’m not up tight.” You protested. Normally you would’ve let harmless comments like that slide but the combination of your shitty day and the fact you were so sleepy made it impossible to not seek out conflict. This was the life you were used to after all. A life of treating almost everyone you came across adversarially. It was second nature to you at this point, inside and outside the courtroom.
“Come on, you seem to forget I am your calendar. You think I don’t know you haven’t gotten any in months? You should get laid, that’s all I’m sayin’. Wouldn’t kill you to have an orgasm every once in a while.” The words roll off his tongue like it’s nothing and truth be told, if you were in better form, this would have been a perfectly normal conversation between the two of you. Neither of you were particularly shy when it came to talking about your hookups.
You hated how right he was. You hated that you hadn’t been touched in months and Bucky knew that. You hated that most days, you were too exhausted to bother tending to your own needs. And you hated the warmth spreading through your body at the thought of Bucky finally taking care of you.
“Don’t know Buck, an orgasm might actually kill me with my high blood pressure.” You needed this conversation to turn more light hearted and you needed it fast, before your head became so clouded with need that Bucky picked up on it.
“I mean, I handle everything else for you. Wouldn’t even mind if that became part of my remit.” You almost couldn’t believe how carefree and nonchalant this whole conversation seemed, Bucky hoping you missed how he cock twitched in his trousers. Of course you didn’t. You missed nothing.
“If what became part of your remit?” You quizzed firmly, trying not to give anything away but knowing your eyes had gone big and doe-like, entirely of their own accord. This was a dream come true.
“You. Actually taking care of you. However you need.” His stare was intense, watching you keenly to determine whether he had horrendously overstepped and was about to get fired.
“Why would you even want to?” Your voice carried every single ounce of confusion you were feeling, staring Bucky down with an intensity that mirrored his own in that moment.
“You’re far too smart to act dumb.” He replied softly, knowing it was all or nothing now. If he was getting fired, he might as well be honest. His head tilted downwards, drawing your attention to the bulge growing in his suit trousers. Years worth of need and longing bubbling over all at once.
“If you want this, tell me. If not, that’s fine. But it doesn’t need to be anything romantic. Can be just sex. Whatever you want.” He was doing his very best to stay calm, his brain finally catching up with his mouth and considering that he was now in way too deep to just apologise and about to get his ass handed to him at thousands of feet in the air by one of the best legal minds in the world.
You’d never wanted anything more in your life. It was almost like Bucky was dangling himself in front of you. A piece of meat before a lion that could be snatched away at any second. You weren’t going to give him the chance, professionalism be damned. You were out of your seat and onto his lap in a flash, your pencil skirt hiked up to allow you to bracket his legs in your own.
“Are you sure about this?” Your quizzed softly, giving him one last chance to back out before you lost all self control.
“Do I feel like I’m not sure?” His voice was almost a choked whisper, his hands landing on your hips to press you down against his stiff cock.
You’d never seen him like this before. Horny and needy and losing himself in the feeling of you on top of him after years of fantasies. He had tried to curb the fantasies but his body didn’t allow him to. You were all he could think of on those lonely nights, a hand wrapped around his cock, groans and whimpers escaping until he came over his hand, a cry of your name pulled from his lips. He thought you would never know. And now here he was, the woman of his dreams perched in his lap, asking to be taken care of. Even the filthiest parts of his brain couldn’t have come up with this.
He could never have dreamt how you moved forward so tentatively, your lips hardly even touching his. He was used to seeing you confident, in control, the calmest person under pressure and yet here you were, unsure of yourself for the first time, he imagined, in your life. You both kept your eyes open for a little while, your lips sliding together gently, getting a feel for one another, up until your teeth sank into the plush skin of his bottom lip and an actual groan left him, his eyelids fluttering shut. The sound could’ve made you quiver with need. It was so alarmingly sexy, knowing your huge, sexy PA could be taken apart with the smallest touches. Suddenly, this seemed to be as much, if not more, for Bucky’s benefit than your own.
“Thought this was for me, hm?” Somehow your condescending court voice was pushing him over the edge. You felt one of his hands come up, tangling in your hair while the other wrapped around your waist, pulling your core flush with his clothed cock. He kissed you with a burning intensity that made your head swim and your pussy throb, loving how he was taking control but still hurtling further into a breathless, needy state.
“You’ve no idea how long I’ve thought about this. Didn’t think we’d be joining the mile high club.” He huffed out a little light laugh, using his grip on your waist to help you roll your hips over his growing erection.
“Couldn’t have been thinking about this for as long as I have.” You smiled softly, letting out a little gasp as his cock nudged you just right through your panties that you were sure had been soaked through already. His eyes went wide at your admission, his dick twitching deliciously underneath you.
“Fuck, that’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.” He whispered, making you laugh at how eager he was.
“I won’t be able to wait until we’re off this plane Bucky. You gonna fuck me right here?” You teased him softly, your faces so close, your tiny hands running down his pristine shirt, toying with the buttons. When you began to graze his chest gently with your nails, it was like a switch flipped inside Bucky. He thrust up against you with a growl loving the yelp you let out, one hand now squeezing your ass, the other massaging your breasts through your blouse.
“Gonna fuck all the stress out of you. Gonna have you leavin’ this plane leakin’ and cockdrunk.” Somehow you didn’t even doubt his words and you had to admit, it did sound quite appealing to give up the control for a while, just letting Bucky take over.
“Gimme all you’ve got Barnes. Gotta make it worth my while or this is gonna be the last time you get the chance.” You couldn’t help but tease him before instantly realising that might have been a mistake, his lips burning hot as they worked against your own, needy, insistent and as always, eager to please.
His mouth was relentless to the point that you found yourself practically dry humping his cock, your hands laced in his hair while his untucked your blouse from your skirt, greedily holding onto any skin he could reach. He tasted of peppermint and coffee, smelt like the expensive aftershave you were so fond of and felt like a man who’s only purpose in life was to make you cum until it hurt.
“Need you. ‘Nside me. Now.” You managed somehow to pant the words out between the fervent slide of his lips over yours, his tongue dipping in to taste you, never wanting this to end.
The feeling of your much smaller hands landing on his belt buckle made him look down but he could’ve cum then and there at the sight that met him. The front of his suit pants were slick with your mess, proof that he wasn’t just dreaming and you really were needing this just as badly as he was.
“You’re so fuckin’ ready for it aren’t you? Look at the mess you’ve made. Why didn’t we do this years ago?” He was groaning, shifting in his seat to help you get his trousers and boxers down. You couldn’t help how you gasped a little at the sheer size of him, his cock thick and long, the head slick with precum, proud veins running up his shaft. He looked Godly. Two firm pumps was all it took to have his head thrown back against the plush leather seat, cursing and bucking against your hand, aching for more.
“I’m sorry Buck, I can’t wait any longer.” You panted, his lips attached to your neck now, kissing, licking and sucking all his frustration into your skin. If there was a time for foreplay, that wasn’t it. Neither of you had the patience right now.
“Thank God, needa feel this pretty pussy.” He all but whispered as you lined him up at your soaking entrance.
“Shit Bucky, you got a condom?” You asked anxiously, stilling yourself at the last second.
“My bag, zip compartment at the front.” He replied quietly and sure enough, that’s exactly where you found a packet. Tearing the wrapper off, you slid it down his length earning another groan from the huge man who was practically shaking beneath you.
“You think of everything.” You giggled, finally beginning to slowly sink yourself down onto him. Your laugh quickly turned into a breathy moan, your breath mingling with Bucky’s and you noticed how he made a very similar noise. You pressed yourself down slowly, your body having to adjust to the stretch.
“So tight, fuck. Shit, never felt a tighter pussy in my life.” He whispered when you were finally seated on top of him. He pulled your skirt out of the way to appreciate just how connected your bodies were in that moment. His cock just seemed to fit perfectly, so snug you could’ve cried as you began to slowly work your hips against his.
“Oh my god Bucky you’re huge.” You should’ve been embarrassed by how high and needy your whine came out but right then and there, you didn’t care.
“It’s all yours sweetheart. Gonna fuck you so good you never need another cock again. Gonna ruin anyone else for you - fuck.” Under normal circumstances you would’ve chastised him for being so overconfident but feeling how his cock nudged your sweet spot perfectly, you thought he might actually be right.
“Gotta fuck you angel, can’t just sit here anymore, ‘s driving me crazy.” He just couldn’t keep himself still any longer, lust burning behind his eyes in a way you had never seen in him before. You lifted yourself up slowly, feeling his length slipping from you, your walls fighting to pull him deeper until you sank back down, taking the whole length at once. The strangled cry that left Bucky was incredible. You repeated your gentle rise and fall, setting a decent pace. Every sharp fall of your hips tore a needy gasp from both of you, the sweetest spot inside you throbbing from the almost constant onslaught. It was everything you craved. Bucky was grasping at every curve of your body, lost in the feeling of your soft skin and the grip of your silky walls and the smell of your shampoo as you rode him, building speed as your pleasure built in your lower belly. The wet sounds escaping where your bodies were joined was nothing short of obscene, only fuelling Bucky to meet each of your thrusts with his own.
“Oh my god, I -oh oh- I can’t, can’t take it Bucky please.” You groaned, manicured fingernails digging into his chest.
“I got you honey. ‘s okay. Gonna take such good care of you when we get to the hotel. Just want you to cum once for me now, okay? Take the edge off. You feel so good wrapped round me. You know what else I can feel? Your pretty pussy is leakin’. Feel you drippin’ down over my balls. Never felt anything so hot in my ‘ntire life.” His fingers fell to your clit, rubbing neatly as if he had been trained to do nothing else. You were on cloud nine, your high so close but not quite there yet.
“Bucky, gonna cum. Oh fuck!” You whined, your orgasm hitting you like a train. You came with a loud cry, eyes squeezed shut, rocking against him more than fucking so his cock stayed buried inside you.
“Shit, how did you get even fuckin’ tighter. ‘M so close.” He whispered against your neck, broken and needy. Your high had all but subsided, aftershocks still pleasantly coursing through you as you went back to letting your hips rise and fall so Bucky could finish. It only took four more well timed thrusts before he was cumming with a shout, pulling you flush against him as his balls emptied into the condom.
You were both spent and sweaty but more satisfied than you could remember being in months, your chest pressed to his as you both came down, craving a little extra affection. Bucky held you for a good few minutes until you felt his cock softening, knowing he really should get cleaned up. You let him slip from you, pulling your skirt down to take your original seat across from him again.
“Gimme a second.” He whispered, kissing your forehead before making his way to the little bathroom, returning a few minutes later looking just as put together as ever, apart from his telltale grin.
“Jesus, we should do that more often.” You smiled quietly when he returned, letting him settle in the chair beside you this time, the dividing arm rest pushed out of the way so you could cuddle as much as possible given the limited space.
“I can’t stop now honey. That pussy is addictive.” He smiled, happy to see you leaning so comfortably up against him but even happier when he heard your soft little snores.
Taglist:
@harrysthiccthighss @jeremyrennerfanxxxx123 @justatirednightowl @littlecanadianlani @babebr @sebsbrokentoe @badgirlwolfy
#bucky barnes imagine#bucky barnes smut#bucky barnes x reader#bucky x you#balenciagabucky3k#fatws#marvel#marvel imagine#bucky barnes x y/n#fatws bucky#PA!Bucky#PersonalAssistant!Bucky#lawyer!reader#james buchanan barnes#james bucky barnes#James barnes#marvel writer#marvel fluff#marvel fic#marvel fanfiction#marvel fanfic#marvel headcanons#bucky x reader#bucky imagine#Bucky fic#bucky x female reader#the winter soldier#I LOVED WRITING THIS OMG AUs ARE TAKING OVER MY LIFE#THERE ARE SO MANY AMAZING AUs IN THIS CHALLENGE I HAVE NOOOO IDEA WHY PA!BUCKY JUMPED OUT AT ME THIS TIME ITS NOT LIKE ME AT ALL#hope this is okay hun!! moots pls consider participating I know so many of you would be amazing
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Norson’s NSFW Alphabet
I figured he needs one ;3
A= Aftercare (What they’re like after sex)
Norson is an absolute gentleman when it comes to aftercare, considering its going to take you longer to come down from heaven than him. Usually he has things set up before the deed; towels, water, a few snacks. After however, he is holding you tight. Soft praises and lots of kisses. He stays with you close until you’re coherent again so he can get other things if you need them or to carry you to the bathroom.
B= Body Part (Their favorite body of their own and their partner’s)
Norson for him would be his hands. They’re absolutely massive and he can do a lot with them. And a lot to you, grabbing, spanking (if you’re into it), fingering, stroking. Whatever it is, he can do. For his partner’s, definitely their hips. Regardless if you have any or not. He likes to watch you walk, the way they sway from left to right. Its a good spot where he can rest his hands and leave cute little bruises on them.
C= Cum (Anything to do with cum)
Jesus, this man is a pristine baby batter maker. His ‘average’ load is the size of at least three large loads of the typical man and he loves to cum inside you. Loves to see your belly be a bit bigger with his liquid seed (yes, he has a breeding kink but that will come later). Its also thick and globby. Like glue almost but without the sticking things together part. If you’re blowing him and you can’t swallow all of him down, that’s okay. He loves to watch run down your chin. But you do you, baby boo.
D= Dirty Little Secret (Pretty self explanatory)
Norson has one that he doesn’t talk about much because its made others uncomfortable. But he really wants to tie you down and do whatever he likes to you. However, this will be brought only after you’ve been together for a while because what he wants you to be comfortable with the whole idea of letting go wild.
E= Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)
Experience-wise, Norson has only a little real world experience. What he does know is seen through porn and asking way too many questions. But surprisingly enough, Norson is very good from just observational learning, From taking with his older brother, Keane, he knows exactly what not to do.
F= Favorite Position (Also self explanatory)
The mating press, hands down is his favorite position. Legs pressed against his shoulders as he slams into and watches you lose your mind. That is a five star Michelin meal to this man. But doggy style is a very close runner up, hands on your hips as he pulls you back to him. Norson will not able to get enough of it.
G= Goofy (Are they more serious or goofy in the moment?)
IN the actual moment, Norson can be very serious. Hyper fixating on you, making you feel all sorts of things. Before the moment, he can be a dork. Cracking jokes but in a teasing type of way, loves making you giggle. He notices that some soft humor can help people relax before a big moment and helps develop a strong connection between two people. So he uses light humor when he can before, during and after said deed.
H= Hair (How well groomed are they? Carpet match the drapes?)
Being a former military man, Norson is very neat when it comes to his hygiene. Very well groomed and trimmed short. But if he grows out his pubes a bit, they’re soft and curly. They’re a bit darker than the hair on his head but undeniably his.
I= Intimacy (How are they during some heat, romantically?)
Norson has this ability that during your moment with him, you two are the only people on the planet. That time has slowed down or stopped. Forehead to forehead with those slow, deep thrusts. No one else can enter your guys’ own little world. No matter the position, he is there with you and the only one with you. God forbid anyone should try to enter this little domain.
J= Jack off (Masturbation stuff)
Norson has knows he can’t have you all the time so sometimes when he’s got nothing else to do, he lets one loose. Its a pure boredom thing and something to pass the time. And a bonus stress relief. How often though? Once in a blue moon, he is a mechanic so he barely sits down.
K= Kink (What kink or kinks do they have?)
Oh boy, here we go. Stay with me now. One, his domination kink. The man loves to manhandle and control you, plus being an absolute unit of a human, this task comes very easy to him. Two, breeding kink. Even if you can’t have kids, regardless he is still filling you to the brim, having you beg to put a child in you. Three, size kink. Norson is 6′ 10″, everyone is small to him and he loves it. Four, overstimulation. Whether its his hands doing the work, his tongue or anything else. He loves to have you shaking and begging for him to stop only to pull away and making you whine for him.
L= Location (Where does he like to do it the most?)
Anywhere and anywhere, babe. Anywhere around the house, even in the backyard or front yard. In his shop, in a client’s car, in his little office over the desk. You have a place you want him in, already done. No questions asked.
M= Motivation (What turns them on? What gets them there?)
The real question is, what doesn’t? You could breathe a certain way and it makes him throb. A look you give, the way you lick your lips, anything and everything. He could watch a video on social media and be like “I should call them.” It really doesn’t take much.
N= No-nos (What is a no zone? Turn off?)
Anything that causes a lot of pain. Spanking is a lot lee way though. But things like burning, deep cuts, etc. Its a red no. Its happening kind of thing. As for turn offs, seeing you cry out of pain. (but if the tears are an involuntary reflex, then its a bit different.) He doesn’t want to cause his baby pain, even if they ask.
O= Oral (Giving or receiving?)
Norson prefers to give. But will never say no if you want to go down on him. The man will spend hours between your thighs if you let him, the overstimulation kink comes in handy here. Not to mention, Norson has a very nice tongue. Its long, he can touch the bridge of his nose with the tip of his tongue and its split. Loves to lick your deep.
P= Pace (Are they fast and rough or slow and sensual?)
Truly, it depends on you and how he is feeling. If you’ve been a brat and are begging him to go faster or harder? Guess what, he’ll slow down and keep it light. But if you’ve been prefect, he’s a bit on a harder pace naturally. Always a skin to skin slapper.
Q= Quickies (Do they like them?)
Norson is always down for a quickie. He’ll never say no to you and understands sometimes you just need to get down and dirty. But he usually has kinda long quickies, so jus prepare for a quickie to last quite some time.
R= Risk (Are they risky? Are they willing to spice it up?)
Yes, Norson will be risky for you as long as its within certain boundaries. You wanna try some very spicy things? He’ll talk it over with you, figure out a game plan to where its fun and you both remain safe. He wants the best for you.
S= Stamina (How long is the round and how many rounds can they last?)
This man will be able to make you stay in bed for days. A single round can last anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes. Depending on how long he’s been teased and if he’s masturbated beforehand. But a full session can last up to seven hours. And no, he doesn’t always have to be inserted into you. Most of it is foreplay but he is hard the entire time.
T= Toys (Do they have toys? Do they use them? On their partner?)
Yup, big man has toys. But he has to special order his. Sometimes his hands aren’t enough. Using them on his partner? Oh yeah, especially when he has you tied down.
U= Unfair (How much do they tease?)
Good Lord. I hope you have an unlimited amount of patience. You’re going to need it. Norson LOVES to tease, naughty words throughout the day, scandalous touches. And he learns everything that gets his partner going in a very short amout of time too. There is not a minute that goes by that he doesn’t want you.
V= Volume (How loud? What noises do they make?)
Norson can be very loud, he very much voices the pleasure you’re giving him. Groaning at the smaller touches, moaning at the bigger one. Words of praise or degradation (whatever you’re into). Growls and snarls. Norson has an insane deep voice too. It’ll make you wet or hard at the simplest words.
W= Wild Card (A random headcanon)
Norson is a ring maker. In his home garage, he has a tiny workshop that he makes rings. Sometimes he sells them, others he gives away as gifts.
X= X-ray (What are they packing?)
Norson is...proportionate. A incredibly thick eight inches. Thick at a monster energy drink can from base to tip. He is cut and a shower. When he sits down and his pants tighten at the crotch, you can faintly see the outline of him and its intimidating.
Y= Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)
Norson is a moving freight train. He has a ridiculous high sex drive. Almost insatiable. Always ready for you when you need him.
Z= Zzz (How quickly do they fall asleep afterwards?)
He will wait for you to fall asleep. Norson will talk about mundane stuff with you. Cracking jokes and about things about your lives. He loves to watch you sleep as he holds you to his chest.
Hope you enjoyed this!
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The One-Stop, Interview Prep-Shop for Video Interview
If you’ve ever wanted a one-stop, interview prep-shop, this is IT.
From an in-person meeting or a video interview, we're here to help.Interviews can be the most intimidating thing in the entire world. A close second could be asking someone on a date—in real life. You know, not through an app. Swipes aside, we’re aiming to lay out the prep work for a fantastic interview.
The kind that feels like you’re floating on air afterwards or the kind where you hear the cash register’s KA-CHING after an eloquent and to-the-point response.
We’ve outlined:
Interview homework: what to do to prepare for the (video) interview
During the interview: what to expect, what to avoid, and what to deliver
The interviewer's 3 essential questions
Interview Homework
Like a quote on Pinterest once said, “Proper preparation prevents poor performance”. Abraham Lincoln may not have said it, but if he had a fondness for alliteration, he probably would have. After all, he is the figure that said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”. Preparation is where you win the interview. The interview is where you show the interviewer you won.
Research the Company
The first line of defense is a good offense, a well-known military strategy. The same goes with an interview. Researching the company is essential to create a positive impression. It shows you’ve prepared well, take the opportunity seriously, and may possess a few ideas on how to contribute. Not all research is created equal. It’s important to land on a few key areas. These areas will prepare you to freestyle if any unexpected questions arise; they also showcase how thoughtfully you’ve considered the company, its industry, and its potential roadmap.
When researching, find the answer to these questions:
How do they view themselves?
What sets them apart in their particular niche or field?
What are keywords that showcase their uniqueness?
What are some ways that their intention may fall short of the reality?
If possible, learn about these areas:
Recent news and/or highlights.
You can find this out in the PR/News section of their website—companies love to brag about themselves understandably. Check out their social media channels, including their Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for news. For negative things (or less-glamorous news), ask ye olde search engine, Google. Type in the company’s name and hit “News” and a slew of information will be listed.
Most famous client and/or project.
Check out who their customers are and check out whether these organisations are small, mid-sized, or giant corporations. You’ll be able to get a grasp onto who their audience is, giving you information on what their potential business goals may be. Additionally, it sheds light on a specific company’s niche: they may be selling accounting software to airlines or FitBits to dog food companies. If they’ve historically been selling FitBits to dog food manufacturers but also landed a big project with an agricultural firm, this could give you ideas about you’re a great fit as they expand.
Know the Job Position
This may be the most “Dad-like” advice—ahem, obvious—but it’s an important point to thoroughly investigate. Look over the job description, and take some notes. A little exercise might be helpful:
Print out the job description
Pick a colored marker or pen and circle skills or areas you have direct experience in, that was your main “job”.
Pick another colored marker and circle skills or areas you do not have direct experience in, but have been related. ie. you ran a company’s social media, but learned to create infographics.
Write down how you’ve developed and/or learned these skills, like attending a webinar or an online course.
Your “direct skills” education
Your “related skills” education
Write down why this job position stood out to you personally—do you have a particular passion about the product, the industry, etc? Why are YOU drawn to it?
Know Why You’re a Fit
Use the earlier job description analysis to help you build a story in your mind about why you’re a fit. This is the time to reflect on possible questions or concerns the interviewer might have, “You worked as cosmetics store manager and now you want to work as a Data Scientist at our company?” Highlight how you taught yourself, took online courses, and always had interest in computers (your thesis was on how cybersecurity after multi-stakeholder organizations). Don’t be ashamed of your past; this is your story: own it and then construct the narrative.
Practice Talking About Yourself
Now that you know you’re a fit and you’re taking control of your narrative, it’s practice time. Another quote coming your way: “Practice makes perfect”. Interviews are often a nerve-racking affair. However practice is the proverbial shot of Vodka to interview anxiety. It makes things a bit better. You’ll know what to expect and how to answer. Use the list of common interview questions below to make flashcards or have a friend interview you. Research by Rice University and Michigan State University shows that "deliberate practice” or “engagement in structured activities created specifically to improve performance” as the biggest predictor for success and performance improvement.
What is deliberate practice?
Deliberate practice is purposeful and systematic; it requires focused attention over a period of time. A famed golfer, Ben Hogan, broke down each section of the golf game and studied how to master each section.
Similarly, deliberately break down each step of the interview process:
the introduction/overview,
insight into skills and experiences
the “challenges” faced
odd-ball questions (questions about industry, position, random trivia)
availability
closing questions.
DURING THE INTERVIEW
Show up on time.
If you’re a person that has a habit of arriving late. Make it your goal to get there 30 minutes beforehand. Being late to an interview puts you on the weaker foot; remember YOU’RE the prize—finding dedicated and skilled talent these days is getting tough. When you’re running behind schedule, you forfeit that hand. Now you just look like the genius who is a jerk. Avoid being late at all costs. If you're lucky enough to be having a video interview (video interviews means worrying less about road traffic), still make eye contact and be on time.
Always Call Casual Cannibals Into Pink Washpots
Don’t worry, you won’t have to call a cannibal anywhere—it’s a pneumonic device to help you remember 8 essential characteristics to exude in an interview: be authentic, concise, confident, interested, passionate, and warm. The (video) interview should be a pleasure to hold, both for you and your interviewer(s). These traits are guideposts in what important feelings to project, from the moment you shake their hand till you send a follow-up email. With a video job interview, you may want to emphasize body language, eye contact, or vocal pauses or a bit more. In video interviews, sometimes the camera may disengage, so be sure to make the potential employer can see you emotionally connect with questions.
Authentic
No need to be anyone else but you, boo. Really. You got this interview, so be the best version of yourself. The real “you” may be a person who prefers to observe and stay silent or be a slob at home. At an interview, you’re showcasing how you’ll be at the workplace, what kind of colleague you’ll be. Remember, job interviews are meant to assess fit between the organization and employee. This experience, an in-person interview or video, should be unique and mutually beneficial. Being authentic is one way to assure a match.
Concise
You’ve practiced your responses. Great. Be sure to keep responses under 90 seconds. That doesn’t necessarily mean taking the whole 90 seconds, but in general keep your answers to the point. Add emotion to them, if appropriate. In video interviews, be sure the camera is capturing your expressions.
Confidence
Keep things upbeat and positive. Remain confident in outlining how your skills align perfectly with the job requirements. Don’t feel ashamed or anxious about gaps in your resume; be confident in how you present them and how hard you worked to make up for any deficiencies. Employers want to see people who know their skillset is solid, but also confident to highlight their weak points and how they’re addressing them. In interview videos, be sure to come across sincere with marked pauses, emphatic head nods, and at least one ear-to-ear smile.
Passionate
Employers receive several applications for a position. If you’re interviewing for big corporations like Google, they receive thousands of applications. Share what excites you. Tell why this job aligns with your personal values and goals. Passion is one of those traits that’s difficult to hide or fake..
Warmth
Your hands may be a little clammy from nerves, but keep the conversation warm and easy-going. How to show warmth? When you’re doing prep work, jot down some potential warmth-inducing stories. Even if it's not in-person interview, a candidate story creates a special memory for the interviewer.
“Tell Me About Yourself”
This may be the most dreaded question in an interview. “Um…I studied Chemistry and like bread?” It’s a tough one as its encompassing and open-ended. This is simply an introductory question; as the interview progresses, they’ll be able to learn more about you from your later responses. To assist you in answering this, examine yourself:
What am I good at?
What do I enjoy?
What is the unique way I approach a problem?
Give an example of how that happened in the workplace
The Interviewer’s Secret 3 Questions
At the core, a potential employer has 3 essential questions. The questions that interviewers wish they could ask, but try to answer for themselves:
“What’s it like working with you?”
They’re trying to answer whether you’ll be a cool person to work with. Again they know they’ll be spending considerable time alongside you; they don’t want to hire a jerk or someone that doesn’t contribute to a team project. The more you share, the better picture they’ll gain about working with you.
“Are you a willing learner?”
Are you a person that is teachable? Do you have a good attitude about trying to learn new things? Or are you a person that doesn’t really value trying to learn new skills as needed? Most employers understand if you don’t have the tools necessary for the job; they’re looking for someone who is an eager student.
“Do you take the initiative?”
No one wants a team member that waits for instruction. Are you an individual that has taken on new challenges and projects because that’s what your past employer needed—even before the employer realized it? Highlight your initiate with an example or two. Show the interviewer you can “pull your weight”, while still always trying to contribute to the larger team’s success. Self-starters are a great addition to any team.
Any other special tips if it's a video interview?
Interviewing videos and in-person interviews differ by only one variable: creating the best setting for a video interview. Luckily that's one variable within your control. Video interviewing is very much a candidate-centric approach to interviews. It gives a candidate and those scheduling job interviews a range of conveniences. For a video interview, you may want to keep these key choices in mind:
Use a well-lit space
Interviewers want to see your face; video interviews with good lighting goes a long way. It’s a little odd when people’s faces are in the dark. That may be the primates in us speaking, but we don’t really tend to trust those in dark lighting. Find a room or corner that has natural light that hits your face. Be sure that the light is not behind you, otherwise your face will be in a shadow.
Eliminate a distracting background
A video interview may be an excuse to clean up your living space. Clear out any distracting pieces of artwork, clothes, or anything else that may make an interviewer go, “Wow, that’s a little messy” or “That’s a bit inappropriate”. If you have any questions, stray on the more conservative side. If your prize, mounted stuffed pig head seems a bit too much, just take down for the video interview.
Check your tools (camera, phone, connection, etc.)
Double check that your Internet connection is fast and reliable. You may want to check out Speedtest.net the day before an interview. As a broadband speed testing tool, it assists in measuring how quickly your connection is. If you do it the day before, chances that connection will crash minimizes. Be sure your camera is up and running. You may want to do a test call with a sibling or friend. If your video interview is on-the-go, make sure your phone is charged, or have a charging cord nearby.
Dress simply
In a video interview, an employer typically sees only above your shoulders via the camera. Which is great if you're just wearing pajama pants. Focus on wearing non-distracting clothing. Sometimes even the most fabulous outfits don't translate that well on video. Wear a simple blouse or collared shirt for video interviews that will allow them to concentrate on you.
Interviews, video or not, don’t have to be intimidating. It’s a conversation where you get to showcase your professional narrative and interject what makes you so special.
Retorio is a video-based behavioral assessment powered by AI. It uses facial expression, language, gesture, and voice to create a Big 5 Personality profile. Companies like BMW and Lufthansa, leverage Retorio's AI to support their own talent management teams.
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Siteground Hosting - Full-Review
9 REASONS WHY I CHANGED MY BLOG HOSTING TO SITEGROUND
I switched to Siteground Hosting over 2 years ago and I absolutely love them. I have been with 7 other hosting companies, and I can categorically say that Siteground is much, much better. They are not just better, they are at a completely different level to everyone else.
I have 23 active websites in my online business. So my customers and partners always ask me about my hosting company, because I never have any issues and I never complain. So when they start going on about the issues they’re having, slow loading times, terrible support etc, I realize time and time again how lucky I am to be with Siteground.
So in this post I am going to explain why I love Siteground so much, and I hope this can help you decide which hosting is right for you.
REASON 1 – ASTONISHING CLIENT SUPPORT
There isn’t anything more irritating than having terrible client care at your hosting organization. I have been with Hostgator beforehand, and my involvement in them was horrendous (sorry HostGator, however it’s actual!). Damaging even. I used to submit uphold tickets and afterward not hear back for 2 days. At that point I needed to present another help pass to circle back to the current help ticket. Also, again no answer for 2 days. It was driving me extraordinarily crazy.
Also, when I attempted to utilize Hostgator visit uphold, I’d need to stand by a terribly prolonged stretch of time to get somebody to talk to me. Also, more often than not they requested to present the ticket at any rate so that “the specialists can investigate it”. It actually raises my heartbeat to consider that experience. At the point when your site is down or not working as expected, and you’re losing cash and deals, you need somebody who will help you in a flash.
This is the place where Siteground truly sparkle. I will discuss it in detail beneath, however they truly are the market chiefs in client care. All issues or questions that I’ve at any point had get managed essentially immediately. Their help tickets get tackled inside 30 minutes and their visit uphold is moment – you get somebody to talk with you inside a couple of moments.
REASON 2 – CHAT SUPPORT IS INSTANT
Alright so Chat Backing at Siteground truly is remarkable. At the point when you have such an issue, or even an inquiry, you can essentially tap on Live Chat, and you get somebody to converse with right away, there is no pausing.
What’s more, after you begin chatting to somebody, they don’t simply send you off to another region. They really figure out how to help you on that chat more often than not.
Here is some information which shows how Siteground looks at to 12 other hosting organizations and I have given that beneath. So from the second you begin chatting to give goal normal turnaround time is just 5 minutes. This information is given by Siteground, however I need to say that I would say it’s right on target.
Chat answer time: instantaneously
Chat goal time: 5 minutes
REASON 3 – PHONE SUPPORT IS INSTANTANEOUS
I don’t care to call my hosting supplier all the time. I have just done it a couple of times. However, there could be individuals out there who might want to call up rather than chat or tickets.
So I can’t completely say that phone support is Consistently instant, yet in the 3 or 4 multiple times that I needed to call, they did for sure get quickly. Details from Siteground’s survey:
REASON 4 – 30 MINUTES REPLY ON TICKETS
Here and there you can’t get your issue addressed over chat. For instance, you may have to give screen captures, or login subtleties, or a record of something. In those occurrence you need to send in a ticket.
With most other hosting organizations a ticket implies many long stretches of holding up prior to hearing anything back. Once more, my involvement in Siteground has been overwhelmingly certain, in light of the fact that each ticket I have sent in the course of recent years was settled in a flash.
REASON 5 – PROACTIVE SECURITY
I don’t have the foggiest idea how to state this appropriately, so the most ideal approach to portray it that I can consider is Proactive Security.
Twice in the previous year I have been attacked through a DDOS attack, where fundamentally programmers send a large number of bot clicks each moment to your site, making it load pages at an inconceivably quick rate, and in the end cutting the worker down, which brings about your site being disconnected for quite a long time or days all at once.
Siteground, shockingly, proactively distinguished that for me, and sent me a warning message by means of email to exhort me that was going on, and that they figured out how to obstruct the DDOS attack. So my attacked destinations copped a touch of harm and were down for 10-15 minutes, yet were back online after that. The entirety of that occurred while I was sleeping.
REASON 6 – EXTRAORDINARY LOADING TIMES
As I have referenced, I have been with 7 other hosting organizations, including HostGator, Bluehost, FatCow, Namecheap Hosting, GoDaddy Hosting a few more modest ones. Siteground load times have consistently been the quickest and I have never experience any uncommon gradualness of sites.
I haven’t actually done such a time loading comparison , I can simply say that my HostGator shared hosting sites now and then required 4-5 seconds to try and begin loading. With Siteground, it’s constantly been instant, super quick.
The outcome at the bottom is with the SuperCacher enabled, which is fundamentally a choice you can turn for in you to enable caching.
REASON 7 – BACKUPS ARE FREE OF CHARGE
I didn’t understand how significant backups are. I never truly had any issues as far as the info in my sites going bad or anything like that.
However, in April this year, for one of my product item launches, my developer committed an error and a ton of campaign information that I had put away on my site got lost. There were around 15 campaigns, with designs, banners, and loads of other info. It would have taken me days to re-make.
So I went to Siteground support and got some insight about backups. I didn’t know whether they had it or not. Fortunately, they give free every day backups for free, all included for all your hosting accounts (30 days backup for Shared and 7 days backup for VPS). I figured out how to get my info reestablished, and it was a monstrous help.
REASON 8 – MIGRATION SERVICE
If you ever need a migration service Siteground offers that as well. Once you have selected a domain, you can easily migrate an existing site to SiteGround on step 2 of the Website Setup Wizard. To initiate a site transfer, click Select under Migrate Website.
Then, you have the option to choose between an automatic migration available for WordPress sites via our Migrator plugin. For detailed instructions, check out the WordPress Automatic Migrator tutorial.
REASON 9 – COST
I put this at the extremely base, on the grounds that genuinely cost isn’t the greatest factor while picking your hosting supplier. The main things are client service and website loading speed.
In any case, Siteground additionally follows through on cost. Their common hosting begins at simply 3.95/month which is just about as modest as some other modest organization out there. Hostgator plans are about a similar cost.
What’s more, regardless of whether you could save $0.50 or $1 every month somewhere else, I truly don’t suggest picking the least expensive hosting. You may save $6 or $10 per year by picking the least expensive host, however you are probably going to think twice about it when you run over ghastly customer service.
Also, Siteground are not costly using any and all means – they are incredibly reasonable, and still exceptionally near being perhaps the least expensive organization.
GATHERING…
All things considered, there you go. As should be obvious, I truly love Siteground. Furthermore, I have no hesitation in prescribing them to anybody. They have a choice of plans which can grow with you… I began with a modest common hosting plan and now I’m running a VPS (Cloud) account since I have such countless sites. In any case, it’s absolutely adaptable and you can begin with a standard shared account and afterward go up when you need to.
Click here to begin with Siteground
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