Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trust. Show all posts

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Trust in a benevolent universe is a key to spiritual health.

 

Even if your spirituality does not include a Supreme Being, children need to feel that the universe smiles on them. Einstein said that the most important decision each person makes is deciding whether or not this is a friendly universe.

Dr. Laura Markham, Great Spiritual Lessons Every Child Should Learn

Laura Markham is no relation to me and I don’t know her. However, I admire her work.

As I read and think about this quote, it seemed to me that this is an important decision for adults as well as children. To what extent is one of the foundational purposes of psychotherapy to help people shift their perception from a world of malevolence to one of friendliness?. How do we help our clients shift their perception from a malevolent universe in which they feel victimized to a benevolent universe in which they are loved unconditionally?

Trust, the developmental psychologists have discovered, is developed in the first year of life. Are the child's needs consistently met? Is the caretaker there for them. Do the people on whom their life depends interact with them in ways that are reliable, dependable, nurturing, and empathic?

Throughout our lives we are looking for people who we can depend on to be there for us if needed. If they are there for us we feel secure, valued, and trusting. If not, life is much harder and fraught with distress.