Rehearsing or Releasing?

Paul Bishop

Director Bridge of Hope

MA, LPC, LPC/S

1/17/2022

As a counselor sometimes I have to encourage people to address things that are painful.  It would be easier to ignore, deny and push it all aside.  That approach, however, would not solve the problem long-term and unresolved issues tend to come back up every time they are triggered.  On the other end of the spectrum, I don’t recommend just talking about something without the goal of releasing it and moving past it. Sometimes, especially when there is bitterness and anger, we can just get better at rehearsing the pain and regurgitating the injustice until the anger grows larger and the reactions become stronger.  The goal of good counseling is not to rehearse something just to get better at talking about it, but to release those things so that they no longer have a hold on us.  Make sure that you know the difference and remember that identifying those painful experiences and memories leads us to freedom from them and not into bondage to them.  Psalm 30:2 says “I cried to you, Lord, for help, and you healed me!”  Healing comes when we identify it and then let it go!