Elliott Connie
Founder/PresidentElliott Connie, MA, LPC is a Psychotherapist that practices in Arlington, Texas. He has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and families applying the solution...
Regardless of how your client walks through the door, it is your biggest responsibility to have this belief about your clients.
I’ve enjoyed my time teaching in Okinawa, Japan! Enjoy the beautiful scenery at Maeda Escarpment, which is featured in the movie Hacksaw Ridge.
I’m standing at the top of the Maeda Escarpment, and I’m thinking about faith. You might know the Maeda Escarpment as Hacksaw Ridge. Right there is the ridge where Desmond Doss saved a bunch of American soldiers. They were climbing up this ridge. They kept getting chased back down by the Japanese resistance. And right here was where the battle took place. And Desmond Doss was saving lives, dropping them down there.
In the movie, which is actually a true depiction, there’s an interview of Desmond dawn saying, he kept praying, “Lord, just let me get one more.” And they would go off and get one more soldier and save one more life. I think about that, and I think about the power of faith.
Not just in the religious sense, but faith in the stubborn, unstoppable belief that something can happen. If you’re practicing as a therapist, your responsibility is faith.
You have to believe that your client can change. You have to believe that the next thing you say might completely change their life.
You can never believe that “My client doesn’t want to be here.” Or, “They’re struggling.” Or, “They don’t want to change.” You can’t believe those things. That’s a loss of faith.
Without faith, this whole (Hacksaw Ridge) story would not exist. Without that one man’s faith, we wouldn’t be standing here thinking about all the lives that were saved in this kind of hallowed ground that we stand on.
And the same thing, without faith, your clients will not change.
So your responsibility when you go into every single session is to control that one variable. As a therapist, I can’t control all the variables. The attitude client shows up with, or so much stuff is out of my control.
But my faith, my belief that something good can happen as a result of this conversation is fully within my control.
One of my favorite things about this movie is it depicts the power of faith. And I think therapy is our ability to put faith into action in every single conversation.
I cannot believe I’m standing here. This is an incredibly surreal experience, to be on this land where this battle happened and to be looking at that cliff, which you can’t really tell how much of a cliff it is, but it’s a very steep cliff. There’s now a whole bunch of brush and bushes and trees that have grown. This is amazing experience.
When you go into every single session, make sure that you are in control of your faith. Make sure you believe that good things can happen.
Elliott Connie, MA, LPC is a Psychotherapist that practices in Arlington, Texas. He has worked with thousands of individuals, couples, and families applying the solution focused approach to help them move their lives from the current problems towards their desired futures. As well as being the Founder and President of The Solution Focused Universe, he is recognized around the world speaking at national and international conferences and events throughout the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, England, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, Holland, Canada, and Asia training practitioners to apply solution focused questions and techniques in their work. He has authored or co-authored 4 books including “The Art of Solution Focused Therapy”, ‘Solution Building in Couples Therapy”, ‘The Solution Focused Marriage’, and ‘Solution-Focused Brief Therapy with Clients Managing Trauma’.
