New Year’s Resolutions: Yay or Nay?

New Year’s Resolutions: Yay or Nay?

I was talking with some people the other day and all I could keep thinking about was transitions, especially as we all transition to this new year of 2019. What are transitions? When are we in transition periods? Well, one is the new year. We think about how our past year has been and what we hope for the new year as it begins. Basically, we transition any time there is a change (and this happens more often than once a year!). During the new year, we all start thinking about whether, or not, we will make a New Year’s Resolution. I am curious about why we do, or do not, make them. Regardless if you are one who does make New Year’s Resolutions or not, how do you feel about them? How do you feel about them now? How do you feel about them in the past? How will you feel about them in a month? Six months from now? At the end of the year?

               Have you ever wondered if you are ready to make the changes on your New Year’s Resolution list? I ask because it doesn’t matter what time of year it is, when we are ready, we will just do it (such as starting to exercise, cleaning out our clutter, starting that new business, working on our relationships etc). Until we are ready, it isn’t going to happen because there are things we still need to work through and let go of thinking we can control them. For example, maybe we want to control our kids, our parents, our relationships, etc. Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but there isn’t much we do have control of in this world. And when I try to control my actions, and it isn’t something I want to do; I am going to not do it, basically giving my middle finger to the world. And then what do we do? When we do not complete or finish our list, we can sometimes beat ourselves up about not completing our goals. BUT! Not to worry, you are among friends, less than 1% of people are still working on their New Year’s Resolutions in the first 2 weeks of February. Yes, you heard me correctly, less than 1%. Why? The answer is simple, because people don’t want to, which is totally fine! We do what we want, not necessarily what we need to do. Oftentimes I think about trying to hold onto something because it gives me the illusion of control over something that I don’t really have control of. Okay, so what can I control then? Myself. Sometimes.

               Okay, well, now I possibly know I am not ready for the things on my New Year’s Resolution list, now what? Well, now we can talk about what are the things that are bothering you, poking you, peeving you off (perhaps this blog?). What is holding you back from doing what you truly want to do and not beating yourself up about it? We can do that alone, but sometimes it is easier looking at those things with someone who isn’t also going to beat us up about not finishing every, last thing on our New Year’s Resolution list. So, I’ll ask again, how do you feel about New Year’s Resolutions?

Thank you for reading and I truly do hope this is a wonderful, peaceful year for you!

Beautiful Sorrow

I have been looking at photography pictures and different photographers the last few weeks, which I love because each of their perspectives on people, things, animals, settings, etc. are all different. I found a project that involved filling people’s physical scars, from surgery, from stretch marks, etc. with gold paint of some kind. Similar to an ancient art of filling cracked pots in with gold to showcase their beauty.

I have been thinking about this idea of scars and suffering being filled with gold. I struggle with the idea that gold (or anything) has to fill, or cover, those scars or suffering. Because what is a scar? It is a healed wound. What I see instead of covering up those places of suffering and grief is allowing those places to be seen and the beauty that there is in our hurt places and not just our physical scars. This makes me think about an idea that there is so much beauty in our sorrow, if we will allow ourselves to experience our sorrow and grief because on the other side of it, we can see how it has helped us to grow. And, oh, if we can hang on through that type of journey, there is so much peace and joy there.

Why do we want to cover up? We want to cover up because the world has taught us that we aren’t worth it, that no one wants to be with us, that we can’t ever get to that place of being okay. And our wounds may be deep, or too raw for us to handle appropriately. And so, we cover it up, we pretend we are okay on the outside, when inside we are screaming out in pain (and sometimes that pain lashes out at other people), and sometimes we don’t recognize it. We think about what horrible people we are, or what horrible people others are, or maybe both, or how horrible this world is.

We all carry our own grief and sorrow with us; it doesn’t mean we have experienced a deep trauma like physical abuse, sexual abuse, loss of a loved one, been in a traumatic event like a car accident, etc. (although those hurt us deeply as well). We are truly still all little kids inside who are hurting and seeking attention. And we think that if we must experience pain and loss one more time, we won’t make it; so we cover it up, we hide, we seek attention from other people. When, really if we experience that grief, sorrow, and pain, then we can start to see the beauty of ourselves. Then we can begin to experience who we truly are, then we can start to heal those places.

Think about how much resilience and strong each of us has in covering up our grief, sorrow, shame, and abandonment.  We tend not to think of ourselves in that way of resilient because it may mean how we have been in past relationships, or how we have been with our parents, or how we cope, but that is where the healing begins. It starts by recognizing how we have made it to where we are and why. The journey begins by figuring out the TRUTH about who we are, and that doesn’t mean platitudes, it means finding truth in what we believe. It means recognizing where our lashing out in relationships comes from, recognizing where our hiding from relationships comes from, where our anxiety comes from. It doesn’t come from this idea that we are weird, or not normal. No. It is because we are hurt creatures walking this world with other hurt creatures. It isn’t about covering up the pain with gold and pretending it didn’t happen. It is more about seeing the beauty in our wounds. So, if you are tired of covering up the pain, and want to seek out some true healing, then seek help with the person that is right for you. And if you don’t want to, then don’t! You get to decide and do what is right for you.

Healthy Conflict

I know, right?  What a yucky topic: conflict.  You might be saying, “I don’t like conflict!”  Not many people do.  It’s just uncomfortable and many folks are straight-up conflict avoidant.  Besides, how could conflict be healthy?  Isn’t conflict bad, and aren’t we all supposed to want to achieve a state of no conflict?  Well, truth is, there really is such a thing as healthy conflict, and that’s the topic for today.  Ready to tackle this one?  Here we go.

We all know that none of us are perfect.  Narcissists especially, (and the rest of us most of the time too), would love to have you believe they are perfect, but it simply isn’t true.  It is inevitable, then, that we are all going to get our feelings hurt from time to time, by our imperfect friends, coworkers, significant others, etc.  It’s gonna happen.  We’re going to hurt them sometimes, too, no matter how hard we try not to.  We have a unique opportunity to gather information during this kind of event though, and can use the information to either perpetuate the hurt and further damage our relationship, or actually help our relationship.  That’s right, I said that we can use the inevitable hurts in our relationships to make them better and stronger.  This is achieved through the process of healthy conflict.

To demonstrate healthy conflict, I am going to take you through the process in a very typical scenario.  I’m also going to point out along the way how each person has the opportunity to change hurtful, damaging conflict into healthy conflict.  Let’s take a look at our example couple, John and Anna.

In the first step of healthy conflict, one person says “ouch.”  This is a necessity in any healthy relationship.  If there is going to be true intimacy and safety in a healthy relationship, each member must know that their feelings are important to the other person and will be heard, especially when those differences or imperfections jump up and bite us in the proverbial rear end.  So we’ll begin with Anna, who softly and humbly says “ouch” to John: “John, that behavior you did really hurt my feelings.”  John now has the opportunity to grow, learn, understand, and change. This is John’s first opportunity to encourage healthy conflict.  He can say, “I want to understand your feelings, tell me more, your feelings are valid, I’m sorry, I will not do this behavior again,” and then John does everything in his power to never do it again. If John does receive this humbly, the conflict ends here.  Increased safety in the relationship ensues, Anna feels heard and validated, and John grows.   This is the healthiest scenario, both people have done their part.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  This is possible…however, it pretty rarely goes down that way, right?

It is, after all, extremely difficult and against our natural ego-filled, prideful state (especially for the shame-filled and counterdependent among us) to have the humility to say “I’m sorry” or “I screwed up.”  That is paramount to admitting our worst fear:  that the person we hurt will now think we really are the bad person we always believed down deep we were. So instead of humbly saying “I’m sorry”, we instead say “you need to change how you feel about this” or some other version of “this is your problem, not mine.”  It is very minimizing of the other person’s feelings and completely valid world view, and usually comes out extremely defensive.  This kind of response usually causes major damage to the relationship, and hurts the other person’s feelings and triggers their pain even further.  They now will likely feel unheard, not understood, like the other person doesn’t care about their feelings, and abandoned.  John has just missed his first chance to help heal the situation, and instead has potentially made it MUCH worse.  Anna likely feels abandoned and withdraws love and acceptance, John fulfills his lying ‘self truth’ that he is “not worthy of being loved.”

So then what happens?  Anna at this point has her first opportunity to have an effect on the dance they are doing. Now this is truly difficult because Anna has made herself vulnerable by saying “ouch”, and in response she has gotten an arrogant and minimizing response.  Not exactly a safe situation.  And now she is supposed to change her natural response?  What is her natural response? It is going to be right in line with John’s worst fear of course…thinking he is a piece of crap and not worthy of being loved. Am I right?  After all, John just treated Anna extremely poorly and pridefully…he IS a piece of crap, right?  Anna feels justified in thinking as much.  While it is true that John did just react with his issues and did not handle it well at all, there is another choice to be made here for Anna, too. Not gonna lie, it’s not easy and it’s going to take some extreme self-control and having your own issues settled down quite a bit. The name of this intervention is GRACE AND DIFFERENTIATION.

Not for the feint of heart, Anna will have to stare her fears of being abandoned and unheard square in the face in order to pull it off.  And not only for a minute.  She is going to have to hold this discomfort likely for some time, like days.  What does this “grace and differentiation” intervention look like?  I’m glad you asked.  It is understanding John when he gets angry, knowing he has issues biting him in the rear and giving him grace because your issues bite you sometimes, too.  Not taking it personally when he cuts off, (and if he is reactive like this, he will).  Not chasing him down and insisting we talk about this right now, and letting it percolate, if necessary.  (Read my blog about “The Myth of Urgency” here) Holding her ground that she is allowed to feel and think differently than he does, while allowing him to think and feel differently than she does.  Now here’s the big one, folks….You Don’t Have To Agree.  Oh, we get caught up on this, don’t we?  The fear is that if the other person doesn’t agree with us, then they might not love us.  It is enmeshed, it is relationally unsafe, and it is unrealistic!  But we get caught in this power struggle hell all the time until we let go of the notion that the other person has to agree with us.

So Anna can keep herself safe, stay non-reactive, hold her own opinion about the situation, give John space to come back toward her or not (that’s the hard part where she has to risk and really feel her abandonment), and keep…oh, this one is hard…loving and accepting him for where he is.  If John continues to act the same way time after time, every time Anna says “ouch”, their relationship will suffer tremendously and it will eventually end.  And vice versa.  If Anna were to react with the attitude of “get over it” every time John says “ouch”…same thing.  Most people really don’t expect their partner to be perfect when it comes down to it, but they do need to see genuine sorrow at, and a turning away from, the behaviors that hurt them.  They need their partners to have humility, and grow.

There is a major pitfall to avoid, and it needs to be addressed.  Sometimes, people will take on too much and become a doormat.  This is equally unbalanced with being too prideful.  I am not suggesting this over-correction, or co-dependency.  What I am suggesting is an acceptance by both people that they each have a different view, both are valid, and they don’t have to agree.  They do, however, have to learn where their partner’s pains are and be sensitive to them, if they want their partner to stay in relationship with them.  If we play that out, it looks like this:  John says “I understand this behavior hurts you, but I’m going to keep doing it anyway because in my world view, I’m right.” and Anna will go on her way, eventually.  She does not agree that the behavior is OK with her, and she doesn’t have to agree.  Is the behavior in question a deal breaker for either person?  Then they will likely not have a relationship for long.  That’s OK, and they can each go on their way agreeing that neither is going to change.

The alternative is that John, in this case, says “I understand that this hurts you, how can we do this differently, with me understanding your pain, and you understanding what I need, too?”  Now there is a mutual humility.  All of you Anna’s out there, wouldn’t you respond favorably to THAT?  Anna agrees.  That is a safe relationship.  Anna can realize John’s reasons for his behavior and any fears that may drive it so as to not take his behavior personally, and John can work on becoming softer and more careful with Anna’s feelings.  John grows in sensitivity, and Anna grows in grace.  Now the relationship is doing it’s job:  refining them both.
If your partner can’t quite do the humility thing, yet, you can change the dynamic anyway.  And if they refuse to find some humility, you can have the strength to eventually locate the door to the relationship as well.  If you are the one that can’t do the humility thing yet, I pray that you can soon.  All of your relationships will suffer and ultimately likely end if you cannot find some.  Humility is the life blood of good relationships.  If you want to be able to pull off the grace and differentiation intervention, you are going to need help getting your own issues under control.  I can help you with that.  Email me at neisenmanftca@gmail.com  Let’s get started.
Thanks for reading!

Nancy Eisenman, MSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.

©2014, Nancy Eisenman

©2013, Nancy Eisenman

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone:  317.605.7015

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

©  2017 Peace Counseling Group. All rights reserved.

Confident Humility

Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?  How can confidence and humility live together in the same phrase?  That is exactly what I want to discuss today.  Make yourself a cup of your favorite beverage and let’s tackle this unusual, seemingly oppositional idea.

I want to start by breaking this down into two halves.  Let’s start with “Confident”.  What does it mean to have confidence?  I think we can begin by describing the difference between confidence and arrogance.  There is a huge difference, although many folks use these terms interchangeably.  To me, confidence doesn’t have anything at all to do with being arrogant.  Arrogance is ego.  Arrogance is the attitude that “I’m all that and a bag of chips, and my you-know-what doesn’t stink.”  Confidence is believing in yourself and your abilities, but more importantly, in your worthiness to be loved.  Arrogance and ego cannot exist in the presence of humility.  Confidence can.  Arrogance is about pride, and humility is the opposite of pride.  Confidence is a belief that I can be the recipient of grace.  I can attain the radical acceptance of my worthiness of being loved not because of what I’ve done, but because I am.

What if we explain “worthiness of being loved” like this:  think about a baby who has just been born.  Are they perfectly lovable?  Yes.  Why?  They haven’t done anything good or bad.  They just are.  They are lovable because they are…they haven’t earned love or worthiness.  Yet we love them so very much.  The fact that we are worthy of love does not change with our age or falterings.  We are still completely lovable because we are.  We can have confidence in this fact. I have come to find, and I know this feeling personally, that people who have grown up with shame have a deep belief that they are not good enough.  When did we start to believe this lie?  Usually when we’re kids and we, quite arrogantly, take absolutely everything personally.  Then we take that belief into adulthood.  But is that really true…are we really not good enough to be loved?  We are not perfect, that is true.  I would like to suggest that we can be both imperfect and perfectly lovable simultaneously.  This is the heart of Confident Humility.

Having the confidence that we are worthy of being loved will sometimes feel like arrogance, but it is not if your heart is in the right place.  It is believing a truth about ourselves as a human being.  If you have spent your life as a “shame-ite” as I lovingly refer to them, (and myself, too!), you have spent your life having forgotten the truth that you are lovable simply because you are.  THAT is actually arrogant.  Shame is arrogant.  It insinuates a self-importance that is prideful.  Confidence that you are lovable, not because of anything you have done, is receiving grace.  You cannot earn grace, then it is no longer grace by definition.  Now, here comes the biggie…when you have the confidence that you are lovable because you are, and you have it all by yourself, you do not need it from anyone else.  You don’t have to trade to get it from anyone.  You don’t need anyone to tell you that you are good enough.  You don’t have to earn acceptance from anyone.  When you can do this, you become relationally safe.  Non-manipulative.  No trades.  No codependency.  No over-neediness.  You can let others be and do exactly what they choose without trying to change or manipulate them into giving you acceptance.  You give it to yourself by believing the truth of your lovability.

Now let’s move onto the “Humility” piece.  Now that I know that I am completely lovable because I just am, as a human being, how do I not only protect from having that grow into ego, pride, and arrogance, but also simultaneously acknowledge the fact that I am not perfect?  Humility.  Here’s what it looks like when you put it all together:  ”I know that I am lovable for no other reason than I am, but I acknowledge that I am SO not perfect, and I WILL hurt the people I love.  It is inevitable.  I cannot be perfect.  When I hurt you, I want you to tell me, because you will be helping me grow in the places where I am weakest, you are teaching me to be careful with your feelings, you are connecting with me by telling me what it is like to be you, and I want all of those things.  I never want to hurt you, so when I do, tell me so I can learn, grow, and change.”  This takes a tremendous amount of courage, because we have to admit our shadow side and our shortcomings to hear someone say “ouch” to us.

Humility must be balanced as well, same as confidence.  I do not want to become a feather at the  mercy of the wind, or a boat at the mercy of pounding waves.  I am not going to blindly accept every criticism of me that I hear as the gospel truth, either.  I am going to run it through my own truth about myself, and see if I can find truth in your point of view.  If I can look at myself humbly and see that you have a good point, I am going to integrate your feedback.  If you tell me something that is just not a part of how I see myself, I can still acknowledge your opinion as valid, even if I don’t agree.  You can still have a different opinion of me, and we may have to agree to disagree about things sometimes, but I can always connect with you and accept your truth for what it is…your truth.  I can be sensitive to that, and understand you without having to believe and change everything about me to be who you think I should be.  This is where it is so very important to “temet nosce” or “know thyself.”

So, to wrap this up, there is a balance to be had here.  Confidence that I am completely lovable for no reason other than I am a human being.  Humility to know that I am not perfect and never will be, and I will hurt the ones I am closest to from time to time.  When I do, I can apologize and grow, instead of becoming wounded that they do not see me as good enough.  I already know I am.  My confidence gives me the strength to be humble.  Isn’t that something?  It also makes me safe for others to be exactly who they are and not who I need them to be to feel OK.  Working on this in yourself will send ripples of change through every relationship you have, and draw others toward you.

That’s what I have for you today.  I wish you the confidence to know that you are loved, and the humility to realize you can be hurtful, and they both occur at the same time.  A difficult concept to grasp, let alone integrate.  Wow, is it worth the effort, though.  You and your relationships will never be the same because of it.

Nancy Eisenman, MSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.

©2014, Nancy Eisenman

©2013, Nancy Eisenman

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone:  317.605.7015

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

©  2017 Peace Counseling Group. All rights reserved.

Shut The Frau Up!

Pardon the play on words, but it really is the perfect title for this post!  I promise by the end, you will understand why I chose it.

I was thinking this week about the “voices” we humans hear in our heads.  No, this is not a schizophrenic or delusional thing I am talking about here!  I am talking about the very normal, everyday thoughts that go through our heads.  Have you ever noticed that you “talk” to yourself almost non-stop?  What do the voices in your head say to you?

  • “I look really pretty today.”
  • “Wow, that was a stupid thing I just did.”
  • “She is so much skinnier than I am.”
  • “No one loves me.”
  • “I did a really good job on that project.”
  • “I am a terrible father.”
  • “I forgot to pay that bill.”
  • “I’m an idiot.”

Pretty much non-stop chatter in there, right?  One time long ago, I had a therapist explain it to me like this…”we all have numerous ‘people’ and ‘personalities’ in our head, so to speak, it’s just a matter of which one steps up to the mic to be heard.”  When it’s time to pay bills, the responsible financial analyst steps up.  When in an argument, the angry teenager inside may come out to protect.  When looking in the mirror, there may be more than a few choices as to who steps up to put their two-cents in.

And have you ever noticed that they don’t always agree?  What if I can’t decide between breaking up with my boyfriend or trying to work it out?  One part of me talks me into it, and another part of me talks me out of it.  One part tells me I look great in my new jeans, and another part tells me I couldn’t look good in ANY jeans.  One part of me knows that I am worthy of being loved well, and another part tells me that no one could ever love me.  Catch my meaning?

So in my own recovery work, I have been thinking a lot about the voice in my head that tells me very mean, negative things.  It is a very shaming voice, and this part of me absolutely excels at finding every single flaw about me, big or small.  In order to name it, pay attention to it, and realize it when “she” steps up to the mic, I have given “her” a name…Frau Hitler.  (I am German, and “frau” means “wife”, so it seems quite fitting.)  She is just straight-up mean and nasty.  I was telling a friend of mine about this idea, and she said, “when you talk about her, the picture of her that I imagine she would look like is Edna Mode from the movie, The Incredibles.”  Hysterical!  I assured her that the Frau is not like the cute and funny spitfire fashion designer portrayed in Edna.  She is actually a shaming bully on steroids.  She is the voice of damaged self-image and shame; and at times, it can seem as though she is screaming into a bullhorn!

I know this is a very common problem, in fact I think everyone has a Frau Hitler of some kind and to some degree running around in their head.  Some more than others, and some folks give their particular “frau” more mic time than others.  I have often wondered the best way to deal with this issue of damaged self-image and negative self-talk (shame), as a therapist-in-training.  Warm and fuzzy audio tapes in the ears?  Pasting affirmations to every mirror?  Hypnosis?  I mean seriously, what is the best way to build a positive self image?

Intuitive thinking would say “well, just start talking to yourself nicely.”  Ya, like that’s super easy…right?  I’ll just conjure up someone in my head who thinks I’m beautiful and lovable and the best thing since sliced bread and let HER/HIM have the mic…after all, she can take on this powerhouse that has ruled my thoughts about myself since I can remember…piece of cake.  Um, no.  Doesn’t work that way.  Why?  Because it feels like a lie.  We can conjure it up, but we won’t believe it.

So instead, how about we take the back way in…the paradox, the counter-intuitive?  Shut the Frau up!  Commandeer her bullhorn immediately!  You’ve heard the phrase, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”  EXACTLY.  Just do it in your own head!  Let her take a nice, long vacation in Siberia, like for the rest of your life.  Then, when that’s done, find out why she was created in the first place, and grieve the pain that made her.  Work through it, feel it, process it, sit in it.  Realize that she came from a lie:  a lie you heard when you were little.  Who insinuated, or straight-out TOLD you, that you were not good enough in some way?  That person, or those people, became the voice of your Frau.  When you stop listening to the lies and deal with the pain, the truth will begin to come into your thoughts naturally and start to heal you.

Who gets the most mic time in your head?  My hope for you is that you can see the beautiful creature you are.  Inside and out.  To give the mic only to those parts of you that love, care for, and nurture you; and to take it away from any part that doesn’t.  It may feel like doing so will give you permission to make mistakes or become arrogant, but that too is a lie.  Keep hold of your conscience, let go of the shame.  Learning to give this love and grace to yourself will help you see the world completely differently, create a peace in your mind that you’ve been dreaming of, and help you love others easily.

There you go.  Now, affectionately and with all the love in my heart…..shut the Frau up!

Nancy Eisenman, MSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.

©2014, Nancy Eisenman

©2012, Nancy Eisenman

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone:  317.605.7015

Peace Counseling Group

Contact Me

©  2017 Peace Counseling Group. All rights reserved.

Chameleons

Chameleons are probably not a subject you would ever think I would blog about, right?  No, I’m not taking a turn for veterinary science or lizardology.  I mean, what is a therapist wannabe gonna say about chameleons or anything else in the wild kingdom?   Today we are going to discuss a type of personality that has been termed “chameleon.”

Chameleons are lizards that blend in and adapt to their surroundings so as not to be readily seen.  Do you know any people who seem to exhibit this kind of relating to others?  Have you ever met anyone who could adapt to any situation and seemingly thrive in any setting?  Maybe the chameleon is with someone who likes to be the center of attention at a party. They come out of their shell and become more outgoing to match the other person.  Perhaps they are in a setting with a very somber group. They become quiet and subdued.  Maybe in another setting the chameleon will act very religious or chaste, while the next moment becoming vulgar or mean.

Why do chameleons blend into their surroundings in nature?  It is a defense mechanism. It’s no different in the case of the chameleon personality.  An intense fear of abandonment or shame for example can cause people to adapt to whatever situation presents itself in order to preserve perceived connections with others. The chameleon doesn’t have a strong sense of self. They borrow the “self” or personality of others to gain attention and acceptance.

This is actually a lonely and anxiety-filled way of relating to others.  What fears does the chameleon face?  They fear being their authentic selves because they might be abandoned if the others find out who the chameleon believes they are on the inside.  On the inside, the chameleon believes he/she is not lovable.  They fear the aloneness and rejection they will face if someone sees them, really sees them for who they are, and doesn’t like what they see.  Having these scary feelings…it literally feels like it would be worse than death.  Therefore, adapting to situations by giving up “self” to be acceptable becomes necessary for their very survival.

When it comes down to it, they end up giving up who they are, trading peacefully living as the beautiful person they are on the inside, for the anxiety of trying to belong.  The voice in their heads constantly tells them that no one will accept them for who they are.  It is a private hell of their own making.  They refuse to believe how breathtaking they are!  (And not because they’ve earned it, but because they ARE.)  Each person is a unique and beautiful creature, lovable for exactly who they are.  Many of us don’t believe it.  We tell ourselves the lie that all of the painful times we experienced anything that resembled rejection in our childhoods were reflections of how lovable we are.  I would invite you to stop believing this lie.

If we look a little bit deeper…and if you see yourself as a chameleon, this feedback might sting a little bit…chameleon behavior is also actually controlling of others.  Attempting to control others is about making your own environment safe for yourself.  If I can control others, I don’t have to be afraid of them, right?  So as a chameleon, I am going to attempt to control your perception of me, in essense attempting to force you to accept me and pay attention to me.  When it comes down to it, this is an invasive way of relating to others.  It is also ultimately a temporary illusion at best, because we can’t really control how others feel or think…not in the context of a healthy relationship, or with any kind of long-term efficacy.  Eventually someone you are trying to “trick” will catch on, and the chameleon can be seen.

Taking the risk to love yourself for who you are is a dangerous and scary notion, but it is the truth, and it is the growth we must pursue if we are going to have a mind filled with peace and self-acceptance.  We will also no longer need to control or invade others, making us safer for them to choose to connect with us.  When you can accept yourself, you can give acceptance to others most freely too, not codependently or in a controlling way, and not in an unbalanced “I’m-going-to-trade-my-self-for-your-acceptance” way.  Think about accepting yourself more completely, with all of your beautiful, breathtaking, and brilliant colors.  Risk letting the world see who you REALLY are, because that authentic self inside of you is AMAZING!

Thanks for reading!  Have a beautiful day!

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LSW is an individual, marital, and family therapist. She specializes in couples and marriage counseling, individual counseling, group and family counseling. Nancy serves the surrounding areas of Carmel, Westfield, Zionsville, Fishers, and Noblesville. E-Counseling available for residents of Indiana.

©2012, Nancy Eisenman

Nancy Eisenman, MSW, LCSW is a therapist at Peace Counseling Group, serving the greater Indianapolis area. Surrounding communities include Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, Geist, Noblesville, Brownsburg, and Avon. For more information, please use the contact form or call Nancy directly at 317.605.7015.

Address: 9640 Commerce Drive
Suite 413 Carmel, IN 46032

Phone:  317.605.7015

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