Taking Personal Responsibility Has Become Personal
Posted on January 31, 2025
by Lesley Wirth, MA
I’m just going to say it: The self-help world needs to reconsider the phrase, “Take responsibility for your life.”
Why?
It rarely works.
It is usually the wrong medicine, offered at the wrong time, to the wrong person.
When someone has suffered from loss, injustice, or trauma, telling them to “Take personal responsibility for their reality,” is not helpful. It is damaging.
Maybe you've been there: you lay your heart bare to a spiritual coach you believed you could trust, only to have them dismiss your experience by telling you to let go of your "victim consciousness."
If you are really lucky, they will ask you what part of you attracted your situation so you could learn from it.
I understand people mean well, but words like these can feel like...
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