Envy
An uncomfortable feeling about what someone else has — and often a precise indicator of what you want yourself.
How it shows up
Envy is one of the most hidden feelings, because we’re ashamed of it. So we often dress it up as criticism: that person isn’t really successful, they were just lucky.
What we do with it in therapy
We treat envy as information. The question isn’t how to get rid of it, but what you want and have forbidden yourself. Beneath envy there is almost always an unspoken wish.
See also
Learned helplessness
The belief that you can't affect the outcome — formed through repeated experiences in which you genuinely couldn't.
Post-traumatic growth
A change for the better that appears in some people after a severe experience — neither inevitable nor expected.
Countertransference
Everything a therapist feels, thinks and experiences with a client — once seen as a disturbance, now one of the most valuable tools for understanding the relationship.
