Thursday, February 13, 2003
"...It's one of the hardest parts of this job -- to learn that you're not going to change someone's way of thinking overnight -- much of what he believes is because that's how he was taught. I'm glad he chose to come to me about it, because it means that there's something rattling in his head, and he's not quite sure he believes what he's saying. It's about opening their eyes to other ways of thinking, planting those seeds in their heads, helping them question what they believe and letting them find their own answers."She's talking about counseling a young man of a different cultural background who feels his girlfriend is now "dirty" or "worthless" because she had recently been raped. How do you change someone's mind, when you passionately feel the other person is wrong? Arguing or pushing never seems to do the trick. Something valuable to stay aware of whenever you feel like at loggerheads with a person who doesn't share your beliefs. You go, 'kat.
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." - Carl Jung (1875 - 1961)
