The most fertile ground for therapy is the place where comfort and challenge blend harmoniously.
Comfort is an essential component of therapy. Without security and trust there is no safe place to open up and explore. But comfort alone invites stagnation. If I’m perfectly happy and cozy right where I am, why would I move?
Challenge is also essential to therapy. Without impetus and goals there will be no progress. But challenge alone invites resistance. I can only be pushed so far before I push back.
Comfort and Challenge. Both are needed. Neither is enough.
Good therapy finds a balance where each invites the other. That place where there’s enough comfort to accept challenge and enough challenge to launch from comfort, thus creating the best opportunity for personal growth.
The optimal setting for therapy is where comfort and challenge achieve symbiosis.