The Power of Witnessing One Another

What happens when we stop and look?
Published on June 7, 2010 by Alison Bonds Shapiro, M.B.A. in Healing Into Possibility
Originally published online by Psychology Today

Two people looking at one anotherOne of the greatest gifts we can give one another is to truly "look" without judgment or criticism, at who the other person is. I have met many people with serious injuries whose appearance may be different from what is considered "normal". These differences so often result in the injured person being judged. What is seen is the surface, the disability. The surface is not the person.

Some of the most difficult disabilities for us to respond to may be difficulties with speech. When a person has trouble forming or finding words and is unable to communicate clearly, so often other people experience him or her as mentally deficient. We fail to stop and realize that the inner person is whole even if the outer person appears impaired. The inability to speak does not necessarily mean that the words are gone from a person's mind. No more than the inability to move a leg means that a person has forgotten how to walk.

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