Feeling uncomfortable can be an integral part of healing, growth, and liberation! In our work on ourselves, and in our work with the people we counsel, when someone starts to get uncomfortable, you know something important is happening. The discomfort can be like a big, flashing, neon arrow saying, “Put some attention HERE!”

Because of discomfort’s essential role in creating change, it’s a good idea to get comfortable with discomfort, yours and others’. What causes discomfort, and how should you work with it when it arises?

Thanks to Ash, Karim, and Marielle for braving the cold with me to make this video!

About the Author

Steve Bearman, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He founded Interchange Counseling Institute in 2002 and is the lead teacher of Interchange's San Francisco-based year-long counseling and coaching training. When he's not counseling people, leading workshops, and advocating for social justice, Steve climbs mountains, adventures in the urban wilderness, explores the edges and limits of what's possible, deconstructs everything, and finds new ways to put it all back together.