Personal Growth

There is no one way or one program to help a person grow emotionally and personally. It may involve periodic counseling or it may involve a much longer and more intense type of therapy. The approach to help must be individually assessed and applied on an individual, personal basis. The work may include a variety of interventions, ideas, skill-building, and/or behavioral techniques. In personal growth work, the most important component is the relationship between therapist and client, determined not by the therapist’s credentials or theoretical background, but rather by the client’s ability to relate to the therapist.

One component of personal growth work is identity development. The essential question of identity is “Who am I?”. It is rarely asked casually in public, but almost always comes up during times of great personal challenge. Throughout one’s life, it is common to define and redefine who one thinks one is. One’s identity, or self-concept, is crucial for positioning oneself in life. It is the center of how one views others and the world around them.

Ask yourself this question: Who are you?

When asking “Who am I?” or “Who are you?”, responses typically come in the form of roles and/or demographics like age, gender, race, occupation, marital status, organizational memberships, etc. Answers may also be in the form of individual qualities such as how one thinks, what one believes, or how one feels. But, is one’s identity really defined by the collection of one’s roles, demographics, attributes, and individual qualities? Is it possible that one’s identity is greater than the sum of these characteristics? Is it possible that the complete answer to the question “Who am I?” transcends language altogether?