What does it mean to be in control of our lives? Is it at all possible, or desirable? Is it a better idea to try and let go of our need to control, or to find a way to exert influence at least over the meaning of our lives when bad times hit?
Will we turn around one day and discover that the way of life we have created, with all its individual freedoms, is totally unsustainable? Will we come to agree with most of the societies who have ever lived on Earth that interdependence is the only way to go on a planet as small, and yet incredibly diverse, as ours?
One of Carl Rogers’ most important contributions to counselling theory and practice was to give up the idea of having goals, and be open to following whatever direction the client might uncover, wherever it might lead. What about Item 4, then: “It is important to discuss your goals with you. What brought you here? What do you hope to achieve?”
“Everything happens for a reason”, they say, and “their” opinion has become pretty mainstream. This supposedly positive thinking is an undeniable part of how we human beings are; we’ve been making myths and stories and religions out of reality for as long as we have been human. I nonetheless want to scream “oh no it doesn’t!”
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