The 9 Best Phrases Of Virginia Satir To Reflect On
Virginia Satir’s phrases speak of change, affection and relationships. They are a gift full of love and warmth for anyone who wants to reflect on the importance of connecting with oneself and others.
Virginia Satir was a former American social worker, psychotherapist, and writer, best known for her focus on family therapy. In 1959, he joined Don Jackson, Jules Runkin, and Gregory Bateson to start the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, one of the most iconic psychotherapy institutions in the United States and the place where the systemic model was conceived. There she was the director of training and participated in the creation of the first formal family therapy program.
Whoever met her defines her as a woman of special warmth, very concerned about deep issues, such as human communication and self-esteem, and for incorporating feelings and compassion in the therapeutic relationship. For Satir, care and acceptance were fundamental elements to help others face their fears and thus facilitate them to open their hearts to other people. Without a doubt, he perceived love with greater healing potential in therapy.
His most famous books are Step by Step Family Therapy, Peoplemaking, In Intimate Contact and All Your Faces: Steps to Love and Be Loved. In addition, it is also known for its model of change processes. Here is a selection of his best phrases to reflect on from his theoretical perspective.
The importance of attitude towards life
Sometimes life does not match our wishes and expectations, quite the opposite. But for this reason we must not abandon our struggle or the path of our path. Although we cannot change what always happens, we can choose the attitude that we are going to adopt to face it.
Thus, life emerges, happens and continues without asking our permission. The way we choose to travel it will determine our state of mind and, of course, the overall experience of our different paths.
The courage to define yourself
Every day, others offer us their advice, opinions and even demands. They often try to define us and say what we can and cannot do based on their perspective. The problem occurs when we give his words the nature of absolute truth and settle for them. In this way, we live according to their thoughts, without giving ourselves an opportunity to know who we are.
Now, why define ourselves according to the vision that others have of us? What they tell us cannot have more power than what we think about ourselves. Your vision is limited by your history, by your beliefs, by your fears and fears. They cannot know more than we do about our identity, capabilities or the great potential we have and, of course, much less about our limitations and fears.
The great value of hugs
This is one of Virginia Satir’s phrases that best describes the importance she attached to affection and caring for relationships with others. Hugging is a small gesture, but full of warmth when it is born and given from within. It is one of the great emotional supports when we are small and a beautiful way to caress the soul of others when we are adults.
A hug is a powerful emotional nutrient that everyone needs to strengthen their relationships. An excellent means of communication and a wonderful way to give love to the people we care about.
The power of believing in yourself
Learning is linked to the belief of being capable. Because if we deny ourselves the possibility of learning something, of being able to pass an exam, give a talk or simply drive or cook a dish, we will hardly achieve it.
The most necessary ingredient to achieve what we set out to do is the belief that we can do it, most of the time. Because if we do not support each other, if we are not on our side, how are we going to achieve it? And even when an objective is not achieved for whatever reasons, we must be there to look for alternatives.
Authenticity as a fundamental pillar
This is one of Virginia Satir’s phrases that we need to keep in mind every day. We are all different. Each of us travels a path and has a story. Hence, comparing is useless: we are not on an equal footing. The beautiful thing is to appreciate the authenticity that we carry inside and that, when we value ourselves, we are able to show.
The change from the inside
Forcing others to change, demanding that they behave in another way, that which we consider the best, does not usually work. The true change is not out of obligation or to please others, but because it is felt from the inside, because there is a real need to change.
Often, we go around demanding that the other behave as we wish, but most of the time all we do is disregard their authenticity. Because, in healthy relationships, the norm is not to change the other, but to accept. And in the event that there is any behavior of the other person that irritates us, the option is to communicate it so that later she can decide if she has to change.
Difficulty as opportunity
Another of Virginia Satir’s phrases to take into account in our day to day life. A difficulty is always accompanied by an opportunity for growth. We may not see it at first, but as time passes, we can always learn a lesson about the situation and our way of dealing with it.
Often, a problem is nothing more than a situation in which we do not see clearly what to do, how to deal with it, or in which we may think that we do not have enough resources to act. Hence, exploring how we are going to do it is an opportunity to create something new and learn from it.
The practice of conscious love
As a final touch to this article on the best phrases of Virginia Satir, we want to leave one of her reflections on sincere contact with oneself and with others from her work In intimate contact. Through it, he expresses the way to feel loved and valued both by oneself and by the people we most appreciate.
As we can see, Virginia Satir’s phrases are a call to love as a pillar of self-esteem and relationships with others. A powerful legacy to consider for our personal and social growth.
