Case Study: Resistance to Change – From UnConscious to Conscious Awareness

Rebecca (not her real name/photo) is in her late 20’s, and she is in a long-term relationship. She grew up with 5 siblings; she is the second child. Her parents are now divorced. She witnessed the challenges of her family situation growing up.
It was during this time that she took on a role of looking after her younger siblings as her mother had been struggling.

She recalled that from early on in her childhood she learnt to fend for herself, she suffered neglect, received no emotional support or encouragement.

She ended up leaving school early due to health concerns and started working.
During the initial sessions, she was feeling conflicted about staying in her job. She was feeling overworked and had a lot of demands placed on her. In her role, she tended to nurture, protect and put others first.

She later made the decision to walk out of her corporate job after being there for 10 years. She took 6 months off to take care of herself for the first time in a very long time.

She has also struggled with her relationships. Her first relationship was abusive. She is in another relationship now and but she was feeling conflicted due to trust issues with her partner. She was going back and forth in her mind about past issues and not making up her mind about what she wanted to do.

Her early life experiences influenced her working model of relationships. With guidance, she drew on those experiences so to understand how she related.

Up until this time she tended to sacrifice herself, prolong moving on from dealings that no longer served her, including friendships and described that she was very forgiving. She often felt ‘used’ by others. She felt uncomfortable and believed in such cases it was a sign of weakness and failure to move on.

We brought her unconscious beliefs to the surface so that she could change them and replace them with self-serving ones. We worked on her dissolving her mental conflict and gain insights about her relationships experiences.
She provided feedback that a shift occurred for her when she learnt that she was responsible for creating the results she had in her life.

She is settling into healthier ideas about herself, setting boundaries, and is taking responsibility for her emotional well-being.
She recently started working part-time, with flexible hours. The current work arrangement gives her time to consider her future career goals and options.