Lessons from the OH Cards
I’m constantly reminded by the cards that perception is an interpretation, not a fact. The cards with their images and words are facts but what we see is up to us. Take the clown card. I had one client who drew that card and then gave herself permission to put a smile on her face even if she was not feeling happy. She told me that eventually the act of smiling would spread to her actually being happy.
Yet another client who had insistently reported that all was fine with her, she didn’t really need counselling. Still, every week she made and showed up for her appointment with me. In frustration I used the cards with the hope that they could help her to verbalize whatever was causing her pain. And she drew the clown card. Only then was she able to speak of the abuse she had suffered as a child by people wearing masks. These were not happy memories but a shift had happened and she was ready to work through her pain. We always used the cards after that in our sessions.
And then there was my handsome client who some perceived as arrogant and having everything he wanted in the world. Others claimed he had to be shallow since he seemed to enjoy a life without pain. He drew the clown card and the word card “NAKED.” Smiling, he nodded his head and commented without hesitation, “This is obvious. It is easy for me to be physically naked before others. It is much harder for me to be psychologically naked so I wear a mask.” All I could say was, “Wow!” We have our own answers inside us. And others, books, movies, and yes cards can inspire us to go within and rediscover our own truths.
Dawn Brown, M.Ed. (Counselling) has over 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist, teacher, and trainer specializing in life transitions. In addition, Dawn is an international speaker and the author of That Perception Thing! She heads Perception Shift, a company dedicated to creating a healthy approach to living.
Excerpted from original material for the book Strawberries Beyond My Window: Games of Association for Opening the Door to Creativity and Communitcation, 2nd German Edition, by Waltraud Kirschke.
