Chapter 5: Three goals

And I believe that this is the great thing

to understand: that awareness per se

– by and of itself – can be curative.

    ~ Frederick S. Perls 

This book has three goals. 

Actually they’re three facets of the same goal, which is to help you better understand how your childhood conditioning shaped your emotional life as an adult, and how you can move beyond that conditioning if you wish. 

In the language of the three metaphors, that means discovering

1. what your Plan A is and where it came from,

2. how your Inner Kid functions and what he or she needs,

3. what triggers you into compulsive controlling and what you can do instead.

You will know you’re approaching these goals when the day comes that you encounter an emotional problem and — instead of getting scared, angry, confused, guilty or ashamed – you find yourself able to shrug and say,

Oh. There I go again.