2 Tips To Foster Change in 2022

The new year is traditionally a time to take stock of one’s life. As part of my inventory taking for 2022, I am pondering what actually occurred during Freudian psychoanalysis that helped wake me up.

I am aware that using the phrase ‘waking up’ is not using authentic psychoanalytic lingo, rather it is mimicking language I’ve heard from Buddhist friends. My understanding is that Buddhists believe waking up is a synonym for learning about the art of living. In this post, I’m not claiming that Freud wrote about waking up nor am I referring to the current political language of being woke.

I’m speaking of the phrase ‘waking up’ as a description of working towards well-being. Here are 2 components of change!   (My first memoir, Fear, Folly & Freud: A Psychotherapist in Psychoanalysis provides more information if you want more detail.)

1. Insight – during analysis I was able to get in touch with psychological patterns that were below the surface, patterns I usually ignore or don’t see. An example: the analyst would challenge me when she believed that my habitual need for comfort was a reason behind my problems. This was a new insight for me as I always thought that being comfortable was an admirable goal. Now I am beginning to notice when my need for comfort interferes with having a new experience.

2. New experiences, it almost goes without saying, improve our well-being. One of my strengths is that I am usually enthusiastic about trying something new, but a shortcoming is that if I am not successful at the new endeavor immediately, I want to give up. It was amazing to me that my analyst never gave up on me and because of her persistence, I learned how to persevere longer at things I wasn’t good at.

As an example, I heard on a podcast about Exersliders – poles for walking that help osteoporosis. I ordered them but when I took them out of the box and onto the sidewalk, I couldn’t do it right away. Luckily, a combination of watching the instruction video a couple more times and my husband’s encouragement and patience led to learning the rhythm needed to make them work. I love using the poles on our walks now – it really is a new experience.

As 2022 begins, and I am no longer in analysis, how can I continue having insights so that I can continue to have new experiences?  I want to be more awake/have well-being and try new experiences. What gives you insight into your well-being or how do you wake up?

Image: Me worried about our environment.