Carl Jung wrote, "Wholeness is not achieved by cutting off a portion of one's being, but by integration of the contraries."

This is never more apparent then when shopping for Halloween costumes with kids. Much to my surprise, my four-year-old daughter insisted that the princess tiara and feather boa were needed for her vampire costume. I never would have put the costume together quite like that, but I don't think my sparkly, feathered, bloody ghoul is going to have any problem getting candy.

I was thinking about her costume while I was in session with a client later that day. I was sitting across from a successful professional women who refused to discuss her love of romance novels. Which of course made me want to tell her the story of my daughter's costume but as a therapist I withheld that part of myself. I feel like she saw that I wanted to share something with her but instead I talked about the above Jung quote. How exactly that's different than cutting off a portion of myself, I'm not quite sure.

Happy Halloween,
Dr. (yippee!) Kristi Pikiewicz