From Terror to Elation

In turning the corner in the emergence from a chronic pattern, there is often a feeling of imminent death. It is actually the chronic pattern that is dying, not the person. The person is regaining health. But since one has “adjusted to” the chronic, the feeling is often that one is giving up an existence one knows. The terror (which does not always occur, but often does) is succeeded by a feeling of great elation when the person realizes that they didn’t lose their life but instead lost their prison.

Harvey Jackins*
From a letter written in 1975


* Harvey Jackins was the founder and first International Reference Person of the Re-evaluation Counseling Communities.


Last modified: 2022-12-25 10:17:04+00