Self-hatred is something we’ve all had to face at one time or another, particularly when we feel like we are powerless to change qualities that we don’t like about ourselves. And if we begin to confuse the parts of ourselves that are causing us pain with the whole of the self, that pain can quickly become unbearable, making it easy to feel trapped or claustrophobic in our own skin as we fall through a downward spiral of self-loathing, self-abuse, and for some, self-annihilation. How can we prevent ourselves from slipping down that downward spiral and succumbing to these incredibly powerful and often destructive feelings of self-hatred? How can we actually use that self-hatred as a leverage point for our own ongoing development and transformation? I myself have begun to relate to the transformative potential of self-hatred as something like a “path of Thanatos
”, where pain traces a path leading out of the darkness, and where these self-destructive emergencies can actually clear a path for new kinds of emergence, opening us up to a greater source of empathy, clarity, and self-love. In this discussion, Dr. Keith and I explore how these feelings of self-hatred and self-loathing, when combined with compassionate self-awareness and the natural resilience of Witness
consciousness, can help us overcome our resistance to change and put us back on the path of increasing wholeness, happiness, and self-acceptance. It’s an incredibly powerful discussion that we hope will help you better navigate some of these darkest corners of your own psyche. —Corey deVos