On the Practice of Psychotherapy

This passage from Michael Eigen captures the spirit of dedicated therapeutic work. Whether addressing trauma, burnout, or relationship difficulties, the commitment to staying with the process is central.

“… Even if we are hard put to say exactly why this happens and not that, why or how this person benefits a lot or a little, we best follow Buddha's advice and keep practicing. Keep on doing it… more keeps happening. Paths, dimensions, experience open. There is no answer, only more to do and feel.

“No tricks. Just working, finding, feeling, thinking, communicating, keeping at it. Sometimes it feels like we're monkeying around in the basement or sometimes working with the flow the psyche is. Psychic respiration, circulation, digestion. How a person affects another or affects oneself. Quality of attunement is only a start. It's a treacherous business. So much can go wrong anytime and if we are lucky, we work with what goes wrong. I think of Asian carpets weaving errors into art.”
— Michael Eigen, *Image, Sense, Infinities, and Everyday Life*, pp. 142–143