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The Arena

(Resolving Stuckness)
by Don Hadlock

Attachment creates injury.

Injury creates conflict.

Conflict creates stuckness.

Acting out this conflict is an attempt to resolve stuckness.

Stuckness becomes the game (played out in the Arena). Identifying with this game entrenches stuckness.

Resolution is movement beyond stuckness, which is beyond conflict, which is beyond injury.

Resolving stuckness

1. Find the characters in the conflict:
A protagonist and an antagonist. Both are internal characters)

2. Set up an enactment arena where the conflict is to be played out
The client always does as much of the work as they can first, then you help.
The therapist always respects the resistance at any point, it tells us what client is ready for.

Play out the conflict in any of 6 directions

1) antagonist defeats protagonist
2) protagonist defeats antagonist
3) protagonist and antagonist defeat one another
4) antagonist liberates protagonist
5) protagonist liberates antagonist
6) protagonist and antagonist liberate one another

Example:

Event: I get bullied.
Decision: I am unworthy. Something is wrong with me.
Characters: bully and worthy
Arena: bully and worthy fight for dominion

Let the games begin

A) bully defeats worthy
B) worthy defeats bully
C) bully and worthy defeat one another
D) bully saves worthy
E) worthy saves bully
F) worthy and bully save one another

One of these scenarios will usually lead to resolution of the conflict. That is up to the client.

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