Therapist Shari B. Kaplan explains why she became a therapist: witnessing others' pain. She distinguishes between struggle that clarifies what you want and suffering without relief. Her meditation practice since age 11 gave her an anchor that sustained her through hard times.
I'm driven by people's pain and suffering. I, I think that no one should have to suffer and not have help that they need. And I think struggling in life is necessary because it's how we decide what we want, is by experiencing what we don't want. But suffering and not knowing a way out is not necessary. Like I said, I've been meditating since I'm 11, and I don't know how I would have survived this long in life without without knowing how to connect internally to myself and how important it was to connect to others and be a part of something bigger than I am.
