📅 Thought for today:
‘Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings — always darker, emptier and simpler.’
— Friedrich Nietzsche
#thoughtfortoday #thoughts #feelings #shadows #darker #groups #groupthink #involuntary #psychology #WilfredBion
I finished “In Love with Supervision”, and in the final chapters marvelled at the description of a study group that went awry.
I too have witnessed the strange dynamics of groups.
I remember a retreat when I was training as a mindfulness teacher that went quite pear-shaped and it is only now, years later and after much reading and studying, that I can start to understand what happened.
And to some extent, why.
We humans have a tendency to look for (and find) things that we categorise as problems, threats or evoke fears.
We can also believe that our thoughts are facts, they represent “the truth”.
I have had clients say, “I cannot lie to myself”.
Exploring the emotions, the feelings, is part of my work as a therapist.
And sometimes, explaining how our thoughts are influenced by the emotions of a group without us really realising it.
Groups need outlets for their collective emotions, and sometimes we are chosen to be that outlet without wanting to be or knowing our role.
At this point we might recognise that our “thoughts are not our own”.
As a result we find ourselves acting, or saying things, “out of character” and yet not understanding why.
I am starting to understand some of the events in my past much better than I ever did.
