Helping our patients to clarify their values and principles in order to guide them better

Have you seen patients who have done things that go against their values or principles just “to fit in”, or to make things work?

When we do this, we lose “authenticity”, and it can show up as inner conflict or inner emotional discomfort. It can be very emotionally draining. When suppressed long term, this can be quite problematic.

Part of counseling is to explore ways to follow one’s values/principles and still able “to fit in”, or make things work without compromising too much on one’s values/principles.

Either way, we try to help patients clarify their values and principles in order to guide them a bit more.