Observations | Recurring Patterns Seen In Client Work and Case Studies
Early Signs Of Patterns In Presentation And Process
After working with hundreds of individuals, I have seen recurring patterns in both how they present and how the process unfolds for them.
My first clients were those who were directly impacted by the COVID pandemic. These were women who had lost a parent or partner to COVID and were suddenly the sole breadwinner for their extended family at a time when most workplaces were shut down.
Since then, I have served clients with a wide range of circumstances and challenges, all related to the failure of our systems to support community connection, physical wellness, mental health, safety from harm, affordability, and access to education and meaningful work.
Emerging Patterns
People rarely transformed because they became more informed.
They changed because something reorganized their attention.
They shifted from focusing on what made them feel anxious, angry, or sad to directing their attention toward the elements they wanted in their lives.
These almost always included a sense of belonging, deeper relationships, and meaningful action alongside others.
Once they started seeing their repetitive emotional loops as habits that can be changed, they began to feel a sense of possibility.
The early transformations included movement from:
- despair to participation
- overwhelm to agency
- isolation to reciprocity
- abstraction to place
- longing to lived experiments
As these became apparent, I began to offer support for each of these areas through a progressive process.
The first step was essential to shaping the following steps.
In each case, after sharing their current circumstances, concerns, and coping behaviors, they began by becoming clear about what they longed for.
Their next steps became predictable based on their choice to fully embrace and explore the previous one.
First, they clarify what they long for.
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Then, their attention reorganizes.
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They notice affordances (invitations and opportunities) they had overlooked.
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They take one small social or practical step. (This is often phrased as a ¨promise¨ they make to themselves.)
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Their habits begin changing.
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Their habitat changes as they act upon it.
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Their relationships deepen as they engage more fully and consistently.
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Their sense of agency grows as they see the results of their choices.
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Their lives become more participatory, meaningful, and joyful.