We live in a society where there are many good reasons to be enraged, yet as practitioners of health and healing, we are often uncomfortable in the face of rage-our own and that of others. In our fear we may add to the problem by becoming frustrated, self-righteous, defensive, frozen, or indifferent. In these forms, we are unable to intervene with our clients or ourselves skillfully and may even utilize our power to punish those who express rage, especially if it is directed toward us.
I've found in my work with practitioners that the antidote to our discomfort with rage and other intense emotions is in cultivating self awareness, where we nurture a sound mind, moral consciousness, humility, and an ambition that leaves a good legacy. This requires an inner inquiry that becomes the foundation of human service.
By doing our own healing around rage, we recognize the more subtle Disguises of RageTM in our clients-Dominance, Defiance, Devotion, Distraction, Dependence, and Depression. We know from our own experience that when we are in the face of a raging client that rage is not the deepest truth that wants to be told. The deeper truth is more a disguised request to stand in the fire and not be frightened by the wrathful display of raw radiance. Your confident stance allows for a deeper investigation of emotional pain and wise action.
As practitioners and leaders, when we can accept personal rage and tap its wisdom-Discernment, Truth from the Heart, Compassion, Creative Freedom, Originality, and Solitude, we ripen our ability to allow transformation in our client work while also dignifying the humanness of those who are suffering. This I call HUMAN services!
Leave a comment! Consider:
- What happens to you when someone becomes enraged?
- How aware are you of your internalized rage and its impact on the services you provide?
- In what ways do you perpetuate the oppression of rage?
- How does rage affect your personal relationships?
My rage……….has shut down relationships…………I get so angry I am afraid I may get so out of control……….I may get fired…………in addition………I have for many years worn the diguse of the “nice lady”repressing my rage………….but last week for the first time…….I vented my rage at a group meeting refusing to cower………..my boss backed me……….but my colleagues are now ignoring me and taking swipes………to put me back in my place……….but I will not go back…………since I go to work specifically to be a professional and to get a paycheck…the lost of these relationship’s is no loss………as long as we can all maintain…….professionalism.
As I read within the post, that rage is not the deepest truth to be told, tears welled up in my eyes. I grew up in what I now understand was a closed family system and for years I have not understood my own emotional patterns or that of others. I was invisible – I don’t ever remember anyone asking how I felt.
Twenty years after being diagnosed with CFS, I have learned that I was diagnosed with mild, global profusion deficits and that this means the blood flow globally within my brain was not flowing as it should have been – slowing my mental processing -how do I embrace my anger/rage – I’ve sought for years …I have come to believe that there are no good or bad feelings, the bad feelings that I don’t express for whatever reason are the ones that I repress and make me sick. I long for the freedom to be angry about some of the things that have happened. I had to pick up a book to learn about anger because no one ever helped me to understand why it was wrong/bad to be angry.
How I wish I could attend one of Ruth’s retreats.