Nancy McWilliams describes markers of good mental health that the therapeutic process aims to cultivate.
It is not uncommon for clients in psychotherapy to wonder - what's the point of self-awareness? What's the point of psychoanalysis where all you do is get a better understanding of yourself? Other therapies may make more sense since it's obvious you are correcting something that is faulty. While the work of psychoanalysis is more subtle than merely teaching people new skills, it too has its view of what constitutes healthy, mature mental health. In the above video, Nancy Mc Williams, one of my inspirations in psychoanalysis, outlines 10 markers of good mental health. The video below is a more comprehensive version of these markers of mental health (and include a bonus 6!). As clients continue through the psychoanalytic process, they will see these qualities grow in themselves.
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