One of the most important stages in therapy is to understand that you are not your problem. No matter how pressing the difficulty, however long you’ve lived with it, or what beliefs you have built up around it over time, person and problem are separate entities.

Confusing the problem with your own identity makes it impossible to attack the problem and change.

Whether you are formally engaged in therapy with professional help, or you are seeking healing change through your own efforts, understanding that you exist independently of the challenges you face is the key that unlocks the first door to the positive changes you seek.

Only when you can separate yourself from the problem and put a little distance between you and it – even if only momentarily – will you have a space to work on change. It is in that space that both potential and creativity can be realised.