There’s a lot of ideas out there about the best way to help people, hey. Like a LOT. Some of these ideas become camps, rallying points that bond some people together. Some of these camps become forts, defending themselves and sometimes going on the attack. At their extreme they become cults, denying the right of differing ideas to exist.
There’s an irony in the way people in some camps treat people in others, particularly when it is unhelpful or even hurtful. I get it, we get attached to our approaches, we’ve invested a great deal of time and passion into learning them, they may even become part of our identity. But still. It can feel incongruent to say the least.
At the other extreme, embracing too many ideas risks becoming an undiscerning soup of fragments. A lot of energy can get lost in the many possibilities and decisions may be less considered than is ideal.
Somewhere between the two, we can look for ground. A place where we remain clear that frameworks are not facts. They are tools, a way of understanding the work so that we can free up more attention and curiosity for the person in front of us.
Instead of certainty, finding our ground offers guidance. Roadmaps rather than prescriptions. It’s where we stand, the foundation of our practice. But like any good foundation, it’s not in itself enough. We can make the most of other approaches when they have a firm base to rest on. And we have a place that is familiar and safe enough to refresh and catch our breath before venturing out again.
Helen Mentha 