Here is a report from one of our volunteers in the third week:
During our last session at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility we looked at how to identify our values and the ways we undermine them.
It was a small but committed group. We worked in triads again (with one person as the coach, one the client, and another the observer) as we asked powerful questions about our values. Looking at values always seems to leave everyone energized and upbeat.
We then looked at “the gap” between our values and the way we are actually living our lives. We asked “What is it that gets in the way?” What are the messages from that little undermining voice that we all seem to have? Coaches would call that naysaying voice a “saboteur.” We all seem to have a saboteur, but some saboteurs are more powerful in some people than in others. Each one will say different things, such as, “You are not worthy” or “You are too old to do that.” Each one seems to have its own personality, and you can give it a name to match it. I think of mine as a vampire sitting at my neck, ready to strike whenever I make a mistake. It loves to tell me how stupid I am. Others named their saboteurs (who were not vampires but ugly blobs) and decided to send them off to the center of the earth, or to outer space. It was fun but powerful.
So, another great session—and we are barely through the program. Cannot wait for the next one, as usual.
Dido Clark, Ph.D.