Stepping Into a Picture
BY ARLENE HARDER, MA, MFT
Is there a line between the therapy of a humorist and the therapy of a humanist? This stand-up comic has some ideas.
Have you ever watched a movie in which someone looks steadily into a picture hanging on the wall and suddenly is able to magically move past the frame and become part of the picture? They mysteriously find themselves walking along a stream or entering a cottage on a hill. Ever wonder what that would be like if it could happen?
Yes, I know. It can't. But suppose it could. Suppose you could enter a picture. It might be fun. It might be scary. If nothing else, you would be able to see things from a whole different experience.
Imagine, for example, that there is a person with whom you're having some problems. For some time you've been going 'round and 'round trying to resolve issues, but you're both stuck. You keep coming back to all the "reasons" why the other person is wrong. That's the left brain talking. But wouldn't it be great if you could engage another part of your brain, the creative right brain that isn't so stuck with "logic" and could possibly see things in a different way that could resolve the issue?
If that sounds like something you'd like, how about trying the enter-a-picture technique? Look at a picture, like the one above, and imagine you and the other person are able to enter it and have a discussion without the distraction of the real world. Things will look different from the other side of the frame where you can very possibly experience a more holistic approach to your situation.
I speak from experience, for I stumbled upon this technique many years ago on a day when I was suffering great emotional pain, as I describe in my book Letting Go of Our Adult Children: When What We Do is Never Enough. In the chapter titled "The Heart Slowly Heals" (under the subheading of A Comforting Picture of Peace) you can see how this technique eased my heart and opened my mind to a different way of viewing my difficult situation.
Since you are already in the "creativity" section of Support4Change, you are probably the kind of person who would appreciate a creative way of resolving problems. So why not use this creative method to see if it might work for you as you explore a situation with another person—or within yourself?
I suggest you experiment with this technique by using on of the pictures on this page on the right. Click on a picture and you'll go to a page with an enlarged picture. Then do the following:
 Imagine you step into the picture, with or without another person.
What happens?
What what you say?
What would you do?
Let your mind be open to what might happen. Open your unconscious to the delight that can be found on the other side of the frame.
If you'd like, use the Contact Us form to let me know what happened.
© Copyright 2007, ARLENE HARDER, MA, MFT
Picture by Lynne Fearman, All rights reserved |
