I opened up the online papers this morning to "CIA ON GROUND IN LIBYA". My first reaction was "Yup! Git 'er done!" (This "done" part, I might add, easily rides along side my peaceful, loving nature. And I fully embrace it!!!) At the same time, I can count on one hand the number of times I have specifically chosen to give this side a well-deserved "15 miutes" of mental attack mode!
I had many clients, generally women, who would say, "Oh, I could never be that mean (as someone in the media we discussed)....I couldn't kill anyone .... blah ... blah ... blah!" My next question would be speculative, and along the lines of asking, "what if someone were to come along, when we were out with our child or grand child, and physically threaten them in front of us .... to punch them .... to try to kill them? "
Well, thus began some work on the dualities of our human natures....the Jungian shadow side, would now became available to the client for her own scrutiny. I had extra therapeutic fun in asking the client, hypothetically, what they would actually do in that situation.
I might then even say, "Is that all?"
Or if the person would reply that they are not physically strong enough to help, I might then query, "Well, let's just suppose you were very strong ... even stronger that the attacker ...what might you imagine you might do?
(Let the games begin, folks! )
The client's ability to "draw blood" started to become apparent. In the end, the lesson was that we don't want to 'stamp out' that fierce side of us, but to honor, train, and respect it.......for future possible use if the occasion arises!