Trust Your Instincts

Frodo:  "Who then do I trust?"

Gandalf:  "You must trust yourself.  Trust your instincts."

Turns out that's not really what Gandalf says in the first Lord of the Rings movie, but that's what I've thought he's said for the past 10 years so I'm going to go with it.  Every week for Group Dynamics, we have to write a journal entry about some aspect of the class that week - it could be reading, class discussion, or something that happened in group.  This past week, I was co-facilitating my group, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts from this week.

At some point in our group discussion, I asked the group, "What if we trust the instincts we are all having?"  A number of people had voiced that their gut was telling them to delve into a comment that one of the group members made.  But they were all afraid that this was not the "right" thing to do.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of the counseling process (group or otherwise) is about feeling it out and trusting your instincts.  I also believe that may of our instincts (though definitely not all!) are God-given, and can therefore be trusted.  I think if we had gotten out of our heads a little bit (which is so unlike me to suggest!  I'm such a rational person), and trusted our gut then we would have been less apprehensive to enter in to the hurt and mess that multiple group members were hinting at.  Our professor always talks about "taking the risk" in counseling, and I think that is what this is.  I am such a risk-averse person, and it is so hard from me to understand why my gut is telling me to take a risk.  While risks are definitely scary, I think they aren't something to be afraid of.

Anyways, it was so comforting me to end group feeling like I could trust my instincts as a counselor.  While I definitely have a lot to learn, it was nice to leave feeling like God has got my back in the counseling room.  As Dr. Zink (one of our professors) would say, "Trust God, and trust the process."  I think a big part of that is learning to trust yourself as a result of knowing that in all things God works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).