ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how to gently connect clients with the sometimes existentially bewildering notion of the “self as context”. The fact is that we have been raised to conceive of ourselves as essentially an amalgam of our thoughts, feelings, memories and experiences – the “self as content”. The idea that there might be more to us than this – that there is an Observing Self to sit alongside the Thinking Self – can be a tricky one for clients to connect with, especially those who have been raised or exist in environments that prize the intellect and the concrete and pragmatic outputs of intellectual endeavour. This chapter outlines how to gently and introduce the idea of a different type of consciousness that can actually help people to live more effectively and with greater fulfilment. This is done through creative use of metaphor and guiding the client through experiential exercises.
