An important aspect of this work is dealing with destructive emotions. The harm of negative emotions isn’t that they exist, it is that we deny them. Because they are not compatible with the image we have of ourselves.

Seeing the Lower Self in action

As Helpers, we won’t be much help in identifying the Worker’s Lower Self if we haven’t faced our own. This is important.

We can’t give what we don’t have. We can’t identify in someone else what we haven’t yet met in ourselves.

That said, no one needs to have “gotten rid of” their Lower Self before helping someone else. As if that was even possible.

Helpers are people who have invested significantly in their training. This can only begin after we have made significant progress in doing their own work. In seeing how our own Lower Self operates.

The Lower Self is here now

The Worker must learn to accept the reality of who they are, right now, in their Real Self—which includes their Lower Self. Once the Worker decides to face themselves, they will already start to feel better.

They will learn to experience their negative emotions in a way that promotes growth, not conflict. The Worker will gain insight from them.

In our sessions, then, we need to help the Worker understand and release their inner anger in a constructive way. In the beginning, they must uncover the preposterous demands of the inner child, and the blame they put on the world for not letting them have their way.

These are what our defenses are supposed to address. Instead, destructive emotions just go underground, where they smolder and do their damage. That is why it is so important in this work to bring emotions to the surface.

Because the Worker can’t transform hate if they are not aware of it—if they can’t feel it. It’s the same with their defensive wall.  The more these come up in our sessions, the more progress the person can make.

The place to start will be with whatever is already closest to the surface—typically hate, fright and anger.

Connecting with unhealthy anger

When difficult emotions are consistently suppressed, they erupt into life in inappropriate ways. When the Worker learns to do their work, they are learning to surface destructive emotions in their sessions, so they can understand them and transform them.

The anger we will work with in session is old anger—unhealthy anger. There is, of course, a form of anger that is healthy, which comes up when justice is at stake. The difference between unhealthy and healthy anger is the way they make a person feel.

Healthy anger causes a person to assert themselves. They then fight for what is good and true, whether it’s their own issue, someone else’s, or a principle. This adds strength and brings freedom.

Whereas healthy anger is a direct emotion, unhealthy anger is always a displacement of an original emotion. In other words, when a person has unresolved inner problems and contradictions, unhealthy anger will be present.

The work we do on this path involves uncovering the unresolved problem by expressing negative feelings such as old anger. To do this, the Worker must learn to feel their feelings and express them, which does not mean they must act them out.

This means the Worker learns to feel and express violent feelings, within the safety of our session container. But they do not actually become violent. They learn to release their outrage, but not go into a rage. The boundaries of the Helper are both respected and protected.

Inviting anger forward

If we are going to help our Worker, we must not only tolerate their anger, but also invite it forward. We do this by creating a safe container with the Worker so they can feel their anger. For under the anger there is often a deep rage at living on this harsh dualistic plane.

Until the Worker breaks through into these destructive feelings, they will remain stuck behind the mask of their ineffective defenses.

In the early decades of Core Energetics, large full-body movement was used to loosen up the body’s tight energetic holdings. Doing this together with strong verbal expressions worked to free up painful feelings. Today, it’s more common to do the work in a more subtle way.

People no longer need to beat a pillow with a tennis racquet. Now, people can access feelings of anger just as readily by twisting a towel. It seems people have collectively matured in this area. This is likely the effect of people doing decades of deep healing work.

A key advantage is that working in more subtle ways is safer for everyone. Large movements sometimes led to injuries for the Worker due to accidents.

When the Worker is sharing their story with us, we can notice if they are feeling angry as they speak. We can then offer them a towel to twist in their hands while they continue to talk.

We encourage them to stay grounded and connected with their body, possibly by standing and stamping their feet. We can also encourage the Worker to make sounds—especially guttural, growly sounds. This opens the jaw where anger and tension are often held.

The power of strong language

It can be difficult to access deep-seated anger without swearing. Sometimes ordinary language isn’t enough to give the feeling enough traction to emerge. Stronger language, including profanity, can help some Workers make contact with what they actually feel.

As the Helper, even if we don’t typically swear, consider feeding phrases to the Worker that include the curse words necessary to gain traction.

We can invite them to aim their anger directly at us—to pour out their hate through their eyes. It helps for them to direct this toward us by looking directly into our eyes.

Encourage the Worker to keep their eyes open, directed at the floor if necessary. They may have a tendency to dissociate in the presence of strong feelings, and this keeps the Worker in the room and in their body.

As Helpers, we may find ourselves doing these same movements with the Worker, such as stamping our feet or growling. This offers a demonstration of what to do and, at the same time, eases the shame of feeling these intense feelings in front of someone else.

Shame is related to how we think others perceive us. As the Worker takes steps to reveal and resolve their inner problems with their Helper, the shame lifts off. But we may need to help them over this hurdle.

Working in groups is also tremendously effective in dissolving shame. And it facilitates other anger-releasing exercises, such as having someone stand in for the person the Worker is in conflict with.

Once the Worker can begin to feel and express their destructive emotions, we can look more deeply at what is generating them. Beneath the anger, hate and resistance is a fundamental inner No—a part of the personality that says no to life, love and the fulfillment of the Higher Self.

Transforming the inner No

The yes-current is the part of the Worker connected to supreme intelligence and the creative forces of the universe. It strives toward union and wholeness, longing to live in harmony and to be fulfilled. It may be helpful to remind the Worker that this part of them exists, especially when it is being hidden by their overactive no-current.

The no-current works in the opposite way from the yes-current. It is ignorant and blind, lacking in awareness and fearful of the truth. This distorted aspect of the Worker is what we are most concerned with.

This is where the Worker needs our help.

The no-current is built on hate and is therefore the opposite of love. It leads the Worker into conflict and isolation, as its distortion leads them to more errors and half-truths. It puts the emphasis on the wrong things, so that even if the Worker does the right thing, the results won’t lead the way out of the no-current.

We need to help the Worker see that they have such a life-defeating, destructive attitude. There is nothing negative about discovering their No.

We cannot transform what we refuse to know about ourselves.

The Worker must come to understand why their hidden concepts are untruthful, so they can then set about replacing them with truthful ones. Because if they don’t see the destructive nature of their own Lower Self, they will have no motivation to change it.

Seeing the truth

One aspect of doing this work is having a clear understanding of Pathwork concepts. Vague notions are not adequate for transforming a deeply imprinted no-current. They must realize what is actually happening.

The Worker must also discover how they specifically say no to whatever it is they desire and don’t have. What is the Worker’s No? Where does it show up? Seeing this will have a profound positive effect on their work.

For they will see that it’s true, what they believe. They are not a persecuted victim in an unfair world, after all. This world is not a chaotic, lawless place.

Such awareness will help the Worker resolve their God-image. This is the foundation of mistaken beliefs. There is no punishing deity who rewards and withholds in whatever frustrating way the Worker’s parents did.

Once they see that a No exists, the next area to explore is why. What misconception is it based on? How does the Worker think their mistaken belief keeps them safe?

When the Worker finds their no-current—when they see where and how they say no to life—they will see the divine order of things. They may lose this thread and need to find it again. But each time, their grasp will be extended just a bit.

This painstaking work must be done through small steps. The Worker does this by examining every emotional reaction. Once the Worker begins to observe the most mundane and seemingly insignificant details of their life, they will start to see their No in action.

By realizing their inner prison is made from Lower Self chains, the Worker’s self-responsibility will shift. Then life’s unfolding events won’t defeat them but instead give them hope. Slowly, they will develop a more positive attitude toward life.

The Worker will envision the possibility of changing.

Making a new choice

Along the way, the no-current of the Worker will intensify, as it attempts to thwart further discovery and change. They may develop a strong negative attitude toward the Pathwork Guide and these teachings.

They may turn their negativity toward us, their Helper.

This resistance corresponds to their No toward life, in general. At the same time, there may be a pseudo-yes-current on the surface, frantically clamoring for help.

This is a battle that the Worker must go through.

During this crucial point of transition for the Worker, their memory of prior success will evaporate. The way forward involves prayer, meditation and the willingness to note what goes on in their emotions throughout their day, which the Guide calls a Daily Review.

The Worker needs to ask for help, search for clarity, and pray to see the truth about the matter.

Opening to truth will bring the Worker into alignment with their yes-current. To get there, the work must involve a two-part process. First, the Worker must come to realize the truth. This includes the reality that if they are not living in harmony, they are not in truth.

Second, they must pray for the strength and stamina to change. The Worker must, at a certain point, apply their healthy will to give up their Lower Self habits and make new choices in the details of their daily living.

The Worker must make an effort to align with their Higher Self and God’s will. Eventually, this will be what emanates through them.

As Helpers, we carry the wisdom in these teachings, and we offer help to guide them on their spiritual journey. But in the end, it is the Worker who must courageously work to transform their no-current into a solid Yes toward life.

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