Therapy has evolved quite a bit since the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Even at that point psycho-analysis no longer had a monopoly on therapy. While John Bowlby had already introduced his work regarding parent-child attachment, its significance was not yet recognized. Back then, behavioral therapy and CBT had come to dominate the field. The assumption was that by rewarding positive behavior or using logic and rational approaches it was possible to get people to change their behavior and thinking. While this had an effect on more superficial cases, there were many clients who did not benefit from these approaches.

However over the years, the importance of Bowlby’s work became more evident as to the impact of attachment and disrupted attachment (aka: trauma) had on influencing child development. We now understand that untreated trauma does not simply go away, but rather influences the personality into adulthood. As a result our awareness of trauma related issues, the underlying question in therapy is no longer "What's wrong with you?" but rather "What happened to you?"

Fritz Perls of Gestalt Therapy recognized that blockages in people’s daily lives were caused by early forms of trauma. He called these blocks ‘unfinished business’.  In today’s podcast we will discuss what needs to be done to address unfinished business and how far we need to dig.