The presence and personhood of the practitioner seen as the single most important element in successful therapy, aside from the readiness and willingness of the client herself. Ron Kurtz has stressed the importance of the practitioner being warm and accepting, caring and gentle, patient and understanding. He has reminded us that, with the client before him, a master practitioner rests secure in knowing that there is no real problem. The client is not a problem waiting to be solved by some clever therapeutic intervention or interpretation, but an able-bodied soul merely needing some kind of recognition or encouragement or clarification.
So we give our attention to the whole person who is there before us, whose struggles and pain are in many ways peripheral to the actual capacity and vitality of this evolving, embodied being who has come to see us. We look deeply enough at the person before us to feel inspired and nourished by the beauty or courage or shared humanity we behold.
What exactly does that mean ? Well just imagine for a moment a world where you were automatically treated as if you are a good person simply doing the best you can. In your interaction with people you felt seen, heard, accepted as you are, respected. Worthy of love but also that you are already a whole person and don’t need to be fixed. What would that be like ?
So Loving presence is an attitude, an openness, a willingness to be intimate with life as it is.
Yes I know it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to walk around innocently open to everyone and and therefore vulnerable to bringing preyed upon by the unscrupulous but, a bit more loving presence would be nice wouldn’t it ?
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