Welcome back for part two of a two-part episode with Alison’s guest Michelle. In part one, Alison began a therapeutic session with Michelle in which Michelle shared that she wants help breaking the cycle she feels stuck in when it comes to relationships. She feels like she struggles to form healthy long-lasting relationships, and realized that this is an issue she needed help addressing. With Alison’s guidance, Michelle was able to see that she is relying on outside sources for her happiness and it is resulting in a never-ending cycle of unhappiness and frustration. 

In this second part of the session with Michelle, Alison addresses the importance of inner child work and making our inner child feel seen and heard. Without doing this, many people become stuck in child-like behavior because their needs were never addressed. The only context our younger self can grow in is through love and acceptance. Alison walks Michelle through a practice that can be very healing in acknowledging the inner child in us that feels as if they have been silenced and ignored for so long.

We become addicted to the feelings we feel the most, which is why it can be so difficult to stop a cycle in our lives without knowing what is fueling that cycle. Alison helps Michelle to see that part of the problem is relying on external forces when we need to be going inward and examining ourselves. Nothing outside ourselves is ever the solution, yet so many times we want to continue to blame others because that is easier and faster than actually looking at the real problem. When you decide to stop letting the outside world have a hold on your thoughts and feelings and become aware of the tendencies that keep you stuck, true change can start to happen and it will be life-changing. Tune in to learn how to break the frustrating cycles in your life.

Key highlights:

How to get out of a cycle of co-dependenceIf you keep doing what you've always done, you’ll keep getting what you've always gottenAll emotions want to be felt and addressed, and we need to address the part of us that is desperate to be seenHow do you identify the issue and determine if it is a rational thought?The biggest block to healing is focusing on something else that we think is the problemOnce we identify the problem, how do we heal?Addressing our inner childWe need to stop tinkering around on the outside when it's an inside problemWe 100% command how we should be treatedHow to focus on yourself and pivot away from the thoughts you always feel

Quote from the episode:

“Nothing outside of ourselves is ever the solution.” - Alison

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