Virginia Satir’s 9 best phrases to reflect on

Virginia Satir’s phrases talk about change, affection and relationships. They are a gift full of love and warmth for anyone who wants to reflect on the importance of connecting with oneself and others.

Virginia Satir was an American social worker, psychotherapist, and writer., known especially for its focus on family therapy. In 1959 she joined Don Jackson, Jules Runkin and Gregory Bateson to start the Mental Research Institute (MRI) in Palo Alto, one of the most emblematic psychotherapy institutions in the United States and where the systemic model was developed. There she was training director and participated in the creation of the first formal family therapy program.

Those who knew her define her as a woman of special warmth, very concerned with important issues, such as human communication and self-esteem, and with incorporating feelings and compassion into the therapeutic relationship. For Satir, care and acceptance were fundamental elements to help others to face their fears and thus make it easier for them to open their hearts to other people. Without a doubt, she perceived love as having greater healing potential in therapy.

His most famous books are Step-by-step family therapy, Peoplemaking, In intimate contact and All your faces: steps to love and be loved. Besides, She is also known for her model of change processes. Below we leave a selection of his best phrases to reflect on from his theoretical perspective.

The importance of attitude towards life

Sometimes life does not coincide with our desires and expectations, quite the opposite. But that does not mean we should abandon our fight or the journey of our path. Although we cannot change what always happens, we can choose the attitude we will adopt to face it.

Thus, life emerges, happens and continues without asking our permission. The way we choose to travel through it will determine our state of mind. and, of course, the global experience of our different paths.

The courage to define yourself

Day after day, others offer us their advice, opinions and even demands. They often try to define us and say what we can and cannot do based on their perspective. The problem occurs when we give his words the nature of absolute truth. and we settle for them. In this way, we live according to their thoughts, without giving ourselves an opportunity to know who we are.

However, Why define ourselves according to the vision that others have of us? What we are told cannot have more power than what we think about ourselves. Your vision is limited by your history, by your beliefs, by your fears and fears. They cannot know more than we do about our identity, capacity or the great potential we have and, of course, much less about our limitations and fears.

The great value of hugs

This is one of Virginia Satir’s phrases that best describes the importance she gave to affection and caring for relationships with others. Hugging is a small gesture, but full of warmth when it is born and given from within. It is one of the great emotional supports when we are little and a nice way to caress the souls of others when we are adults.

A hug is a powerful emotional nutrient that everyone needs to strengthen their relationships. An excellent means of communication and a wonderful way to give love to the people we care about.

The power of believing in yourself

Learning is linked to the belief of being capable. Because if we deny ourselves the possibility of learning something, of being able to pass an exam, give a talk or simply drive or cook a dish, we will hardly achieve it.

The most necessary ingredient to achieve what we set out to do is the belief that we can do it, Most of the time. Because if we don’t support each other, if we aren’t on our side, how are we going to achieve it? And even when an objective is not achieved for whatever reasons, we must be there to look for alternatives.

Authenticity as a fundamental pillar

This is one of Virginia Satir’s phrases that we need to keep in mind every day. We are all different. Each one of us travels a path and has a story. Hence, comparing is useless: we are not on equal terms. The beautiful thing is to appreciate the authenticity that we carry within us and that, when we value ourselves, we are able to show.

The change from within

Forcing others to change, demanding that they behave in a different way, that which we consider the best, does not usually work. True change is not out of obligation or to please others, but because it is felt from within, because there is a real need to change.

Often, we go around demanding that others behave as we wish, but most of the time all we do is disregard their authenticity. Because, In healthy relationships, the norm is not to change the other, but to accept. And in the event that there is some behavior from the other person that irritates us, the option is to communicate it to them so that they can then decide if they have to change.

Difficulty as opportunity

Another of Virginia Satir’s phrases to keep in mind in our daily lives. A difficulty is always accompanied by an opportunity for growth. Maybe at first we don’t see it, but, as time passes, we can always learn a lesson about the situation and our way of dealing with it.

Often, a problem is nothing more than a situation in which we do not clearly see what to do, how to deal with it, or in which we may think that we do not have sufficient resources to act. Hence Exploring how we are going to do it is an opportunity to create something new and learn from it.

The practice of conscious love

As a final touch to this article about the best phrases by Virginia Satir, we want to leave one of her reflections on sincere contact with oneself and with others from her work. In intimate contact. Through it, it expresses the way to feel loved and valued both by oneself and by the people we appreciate most.

As we see, Virginia Satir’s phrases are a call to love as a pillar of self-esteem and relationships with others. A powerful legacy to take into account for our personal and social growth.

You might be interested…