"Play is not simply a reproduction of what they have experienced, but a creative reworking of the impressions they have acquired."
GROUNDING
Beliefs
Magic Moments specializes in fostering a space where emotional processes can be explored. Our mission is to provide children, teens, adults and their families with the opportunity to build communication, create connection, overcome fears, and trust the intelligence within themselves so that when it comes time to handle life's challenges, they can be confident both socially and emotionally.
The Process of Transformation
Model inspired by The Bridge Center for Play Therapy
Transformation is all about the process rather than the end goal. When we are working with human behavior and the subconscious mind, it requires us to go inward in order to balance our perceptions. In the same way that a caterpillar liquifies in order to transform into a butterfly, the journey takes time & space for rebuilding rebalancing & recalibrating. Life is getting ready to look different. Through growing pains, life is also going to teach us the "opposing" view of our own so that we can create a more sustainable life. Transformation allows us to discover hidden insights about ourselves and bring greater awareness to behaviors surrounding perceived challenges. Transformation is subtle, profound and more understandable in the small magic moments. During our journey together, we will navigate through five primary stages of transformation:
Discomfort
Discomfort is the thought, belief, feeling, or sensation that creates distress and a sense of urgency for change.
Symptoms or unwanted behaviors often emerge or erupt to compensate for the distress response.
Over time, the intensity increases and discomfort ultimately becomes the catalyst for the desire to do something differently.
Challenge
The challenge focuses on the emotional intolerance to feeling mad, sad, or scared. We can often determine the "challenge" within the first few sessions based on how we are being "set up to feel." This is our baseline marker for where we are starting and the roadmap for where we are headed.
Awareness
This is where the majority of the process occurs. Awareness is forward movement towards the challenge and building greater understanding and acceptance as we peel back layers to reveal more truth. Awareness allows an enhanced sense of self trust.
Integration
Integration happens with pressure over time. We are rewiring and building new highways in the brain. Because these new pathways are the roads less traveled, it takes repetition after repetition to create a new pattern. It is an expected part of the process to experience non-linear leaps and bounds. We are creating space for these glitches to arise and work themselves through. To integrate is the willingness and courage to be vulnerable and to feel the challenge and let it move through, even when discomfort is present. Discomfort is the ticket to seeing our challenge all the way through. We know we are integrated when unwanted symptoms and behaviors start to decrease naturally as a direct result of increased tolerance to the presenting challenge. We can now tolerate what used to be intolerable.
Transformation
This is the ability to minimize distress through self-soothing strategies and better handle things that once felt impossible. What we know about transformation is that we have graduated to the next level of self. Like transitioning from kindergarten to first grade, we know ourselves a little better and can move through a cycle at a different pace. When we are ready for the next "challenge" we can embrace whatever we are stepping into with confidence.
Resistance
Resistance is the brain's last ditch effort before surrendering to the idea of doing something different. Like building a muscle, the weight that goes against us is what propels change. Feeling sore, tired, exhausted and ready to quit are all normal responses in this phase. However, we are going to keep doing this over and over again until it gets easier and we adapt to the stress of the change. Resistance happens when we are right around the corner from feeling capable of managing and dealing with what used to feel impossible. We see best results when we push through this phase together as a team.
Transformation
Integration
Challenge
Awareness
Discomfort
Resistance
Mantra of Resistance: