Internal vs External Resources

Many people seek out therapy because they are struggling to deal with the stress in their lives. This stress may be due to unresolved childhood trauma, a demanding career, difficult life transitions (having children, moving to a new city, etc.), communication breakdowns in their relationships… the list goes on. In working with these people, I find many of them are needing more resourcing in their lives.

Resourcing is how we cope and get through difficult emotions or situations. In my work with clients, we explore what resources and tools are already in a person’s metaphorical backpack that they reach for when they are feeling dysregulated or overwhelmed. Oftentimes these coping skills and resources are lacking, so a big part of the work is adding to this backpack. There are two categories of resources, external and internal. 

Some examples of external resources are:

• going on a …