Many, but not all, therapies are based on concepts of pathology, correcting personality deficits or fixing problematic aspects of a person’s thinking and supplying missing experiences often with the goal of helping them cope or restoring functionality in a society that is, quite often, dysfunctional. Some are indeed geared toward these goals with the underlying assumption that “something is wrong” and needs to be corrected, developed or supplied. To be clear, when a person comes to therapy they are often not functioning well and lots of things appear dysfunctional. The “already whole” perspective is not suggesting that nothing should change, rather it rests very deeply on the humanistic understanding that the qualities and resources one needs are readily available at all times. This is not to say that skills do not need to be learned, new ways of communicating or behaving are not acquired, patterns changed, and mental, emotional and behavioral habits reconditioned, but the client relies on their innate wisdom to guide them to the resources they need and their intuition about what they need when options are available. Self-guidance in healing IS the healing: Wholeness takes the hand of what is broken and leads her back to the wholeness of Self.

- Monique M. Verrier, from "A Psychospiritual Exploration of the Transpersonal Self As The Ground of Healing": https://rupertspira.com/non-duality/blog/philosophy/a-psychospiritual-exploration-of-the-transpersonal-self-as-the-ground-of-healing

The Native American cultures, like those of all primary peoples, revere Nature and perceive humanity as co-creators in a vast web of life. Not only the creatures who share the Earth with us, but also the Earth herself is seen and experienced as a living being to be honored and with whom to live in harmony. This intention is given voice with a traditional prayer of blessing addressed to "all our relations."

In contrast, the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries seemed a more realistic idea at the time. In fact, it came about piecemeal as entrepreneurs and inventors tried to solve problems and create or respond to opportunities in a time of huge cultural changes that, like a tidal wave, engulfed everything in its path. From religious beliefs to social structures, ideas about the universe and our place within it underwent upheaval as the so-called age of reason was birthed. As the new worldview grew to maturity, it came to consider humanity as the pinnacle of creation and science as the emerging orthodoxy, where human ingenuity could - and indeed was viewed to have the right to - tame and control a separate, passive and limitlessly resourceful Nature.

The scientific methods of this revolution were, however clever and expedient in the short term, profoundly limiting and ultimately dangerous. For in perceiving the world as merely a mechanistic backdrop to human activity and a resource to be plundered, technologies and industries separated us from Earth and our fellow creatures. At a still increasing pace, the systems of production spawned by this approach continue to deplete the Earth's natural resources; destroy Her ecosystems; and spill vast amounts of toxic materials into the atmosphere, oceans, and soils. The associated economic system stubbornly proceeds in the view that the Earth's resources are effectively limitless. It not only accepts but industrially designs for huge amounts of wast on the mistaken assumption that her resources are unlimited. And by economically counting pollution and warfare as viable contributors to national activities, it support vicious rather than virtuous ongoing cycles of development and behavior in contemporary societies.

- Ervin Laszlo and Jude Currivan, "CosMos, A Co-creator's Guide to the Whole-World"

Nobody has all the answers. Knowing that you do not know everything is far wiser than thinking that you know a lot when you really do not. The wise person has learned how painful it is to fake knowledge. Being wise and not wanting the pain, the wise person does not indulge in pretending. Anyway, it is a relief to be able to say: "I don't know."

If there is to be peace in the world,
there must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations,
there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors,
there must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home,
there must be peace in the heart.

- Lao-tzu, Chinese sage

One change gets piled on top of another,
and we lose our balance.
One thought leads to another,
and we forget our Source.
This Source is at the center
of this spinning wheel of life.
It is the womb from which we came,
the home in which we live,
and the haven to which we journey.

As we return to this Source
our obsessive thoughts fade to silence
and our fear gives way to trust.

A counselor provides a safe place to spill out the secrets and pain - and the hopes - that have been held inside. And in that sharing, a transformation takes place:

Some people think a therapist will try to fix them,  like an auto mechanic - tinker here, adjust there, change a part - and this will feel disruptive and invasive and troubling. But if it's a good therapeutic relationship, it's not like that. Ultimately you do get healed, but in the places you need to be and in a way that feels right. It's comforting and it's a relief.

In a strong therapeutic relationship, a special kind of magic takes place. Feelings are reclaimed, ancient hurts resolve, lives are re-envisioned, and the future opens up with possibility. Therapy can be a powerful vehicle for change.

- The Courage to Heal, Ellen Bass & Laura Davis

And in the end
The love you take
is equal to the love you make

- The Beatles, British rock and roll band

Expecting life to bring us what we want
and to deliver us from what we do not want
is to suffer needlessly.
Finding that we are adequate
for everything that happens
is to be at peace.

Preferring some things
and avoiding others,
we struggle through life.
Sitting quietly and breathing deeply,
we find renewal within ourselves.
Sitting quietly with another one
we watch her find renewal
within herself.

- The Caregiver's Tao Te Ching

As we willingly enter each place of fear, each place of deficiency and insecurity in ourselves, we will discover that its walls are made of untruths, of old images of ourselves, of ancient fears, of false ideas of what is pure and what is not.

- Jack Kornfield, American Buddhist writer and teacher

The wise person establishes a clear and wholesome climate in the presence of others. In the light of awareness, others naturally act in a wholesome manner.

When the wise person practices silence, others remain focused. When the wise person does not impose, others discover their own goodness. When the wise person acts unselfishly, others simply do what is to be done.

Wisdom consists of doing less and being more.

- The Universe