Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 55 Works of the Subconscious
There is a principle in psychological counseling called "helping people help themselves".

This means helping clients enhance their independence and reduce their dependence on counselors, so that they can solve problems independently when they encounter difficulties in the future.

After a period of adaptation within the industry, psychological counseling has gained an unspoken, implicit principle called "helping oneself to help others."

It means: only help those who will seek help for themselves.

As for those who don't even want to help themselves, they simply ignore them.

—Suicide-related illnesses are an exception, as they require strong external intervention.

In the industry, the standard for judging whether a person has the "willingness to help themselves" is mostly "whether the visitor is willing to come to the counselor on their own".

If they come, I'll help; if they don't, I won't.

This is a rather time-saving and labor-saving one-size-fits-all approach.

However, not seeking counseling does not mean there is no willingness to help oneself.

That day, after Nan Zhuren and Wang An had a heated argument, Chen Ting, who was originally by Wang An's side, did not leave with him immediately.

Even when Wang An first urged her, Chen Ting ignored him.

He simply made eye contact with Nan Zhuren.

But what Nan Zhuren read in those eyes wasn't emotion, but three words.

—【Help me.】

Therefore, a series of events followed.

However, given Nan Zhuren's identity, including his various legal identities, it was not appropriate to directly and violently intervene. Therefore, he needed to guide Chen Ting to help herself.

Getting Chen Ting to come for consultation through private contact was a major breakthrough.

The next breakthrough Nan Zhuren sought was to have Chen Ting recount her traumatic experience herself.

But now, it seems we've hit a bottleneck.

it's fine.

Psychological counseling often encounters clients who have the desire to help themselves and even the will to survive, but who deliberately avoid talking about their situation and find it difficult to speak up.

They were either held back by the realities of life, or they lacked the energy to resist.

After they cried out "Help me," they probably exhausted all their strength, and even if a pair of hands reached out in front of them, they wouldn't have the strength to catch them.

it's fine.

What a counselor needs to do is to cut off those dark burdens and empower the client.

……

Nan Zhuren had anticipated that Chen Ting wouldn't want to talk about her traumatic experiences.

I was also prepared.

Here's a little tidbit that can help you screen for qualified therapists: If a therapist is helpless when faced with a client who refuses to talk, or even uses this as an excuse for poor therapy results, then that therapist is definitely a quack trying to scam you out of money.

A good counselor can guide the client to speak, or even not at all.

Sandplay therapy is one of the counseling techniques that Nan Zhuren mastered, designed to get clients to "speak."

It belongs to one of the earliest schools of psychology: psychoanalysis.

The most important proposition of this school of thought is to study the human subconscious!

When Nan Zhuren first came to Yan Nuo, she also used sandplay therapy to examine and heal herself.

Seeing Chen Ting looking over, Nan Zhuren explained:
"Now, this sand table, and all the model sand objects around it, belong to you."

Nan Zhuren pointed to the 50cm*70cm*7cm single-person sand table in front of him, and then to the models nearby. These models covered a variety of themes, including plants, animals, humans, architecture, tools, and so on.

"You can start by touching the sand with your hands and feeling the sensation it gives you. You can then shape the sand into whatever shape you like. Once you feel comfortable with the sand, you can go to the sandplay stand and choose a model. Take one or a type of model at a time and place it anywhere in the sand tray, however you like."

"Use these models to build the world you want."

Chen Ting stood up and examined the sand table in front of her for a while, then looked around at all the models.

After Nan Zhuren finished explaining, he slowly put his hand into the sand.

Nan Zhuren's lips curved into a slight smile. Chen Ting's cooperative demeanor contrasted sharply with her earlier reticence.

This perfectly confirms his conjecture: Chen Ting was actively seeking help, but lacked the strength to do so herself.

A key characteristic of this type of visitor is that they don't like to talk, but they respond very quickly when asked to do tests, games, or other activities.

Nan Zhuren looked at Chen Ting.

The sand in the sand table is all carefully selected fine sand, which is soft and delicate to the touch, even more tender than the hands of an eighteen-year-old girl.

Chen Ting buried her hand in it, then took it out.

I grabbed a handful of sand and felt it slowly slipping from my fingertips and between my fingers.

She unconsciously used the back of her other hand to catch the falling sand, feeling it splashing across every receptor on her skin.

The fine sand hits and rubs against the grooves on the skin.

Then it turned into tiny, sandy waves that receded below.

Chen Ting involuntarily got goosebumps; she felt as if the sand was touching her, not the other way around.

Or rather, to comfort her.

Nan Zhuren stood directly in front of Chen Ting, and from that moment on, he stopped moving, ensuring that he remained within Chen Ting's line of sight, even turning himself into an "object" to give Chen Ting a greater sense of security.

In his field of vision, Chen Ting's body was constantly sending him signals.

[The shoulders begin to drop from a shrugged position, the eyebrows relax, and the nostrils no longer flare.]

Perhaps feeling hot, she unbuttoned the top button of her down jacket and zipped it up to her neck.

The absence of pulsating meridians in the head and neck indicates a relaxed state.

"Can I choose anything?"

Perhaps because there were too many models around, Chen Ting didn't know where to start, so she involuntarily looked back at Nan Zhuren to confirm.

"You can choose anything."

Nan Zhuren repeated Chen Ting's words with an affirmative tone, a smile on his lips and an encouraging look in his eyes.

Chen Ting walked up to a skull and stopped.

Nan Zhuren pursed her lips, her heart pounding in her chest.

Chen Ting touched the skull's head and walked away.

Instead, he picked up a small shovel used for shoveling sand and began to slowly dig in the upper right corner of the sand table.

The sand was quickly shoveled away, revealing blue paint underneath. This was the color that represented life.

Chen Ting drew a circle with her wrist holding the shovel, and a blue circle appeared in the sand table.

In a field of thick sand, a splash of blue suddenly appeared, connecting end to end, enclosing another field of sand within it.

It's like a deserted island.

(End of this chapter)