If you understand your patterns but still can’t change them, that’s not a failure of insight. It might just mean your brain needs a different kind of help.
I’m a big fan of talk therapy and I do a lot of it, but sometimes a different approach is needed. The majority of my clients are highly creative individuals and couples. Many of them are smart, self-aware, and feel completely stuck. They’ve done the journaling.
Are there certain things you consistently avoid because you don’t like doing them? Seems normal to me. But what if avoiding them causes problems in your life? Why do we continue in those cases?
After attending a lecture presented by Sue Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, I couldn’t stop thinking about one phrase she used:
“Avoidance is the kryptonite of mental health.”
Although I was never a big superhero fan, even I know that kryptonite is a powerful substance from Superman’s home planet which can weaken him and disable his superpowers.