When something hurts but you cannot put it into words: OH Cards and imagery dialogue
You may have thought about something for a long time, yet all you can say is, “I feel hurt,” or “This is bothering me, but I don’t know why.”
Having trouble explaining a feeling does not make it unimportant. Sometimes the difficult part is separating emotions, worries and hopes that have become tangled together.
A card may draw your attention to something left unsaid
An OH Card image can offer a way into a conversation. What you notice and remember matters more than what a card supposedly “means.” The same card does not give everyone the same answer. The OH Cards Institute’s guide also stresses respect for each person’s understanding.
For example, you may begin by saying that talking with your partner is exhausting. As you talk, you might realise that it is not only one argument that hurts. Each time you try to voice a need, you worry about upsetting them. “I’m exhausted” becomes an experience we can examine more closely.
Follow the image towards your experience
Combining OH Card exploration with imagery dialogue is a part of my work in which I have particular experience. When an image brings something to mind, we may notice how it connects with what you feel now, which moment in a relationship it recalls, and what you wanted to say then but could not.
The card gives us a visible starting point. Imagery dialogue offers a way to stay with the experience it evokes. The aim is not to uncover a secret answer, but to help you describe something that had been hard to express. For an introduction to imagery dialogue, see Zhu Jianjun’s explanation in Chinese.
Bring the discovery back into daily life
A conversation might help you name your hurt more precisely. You might find that you need to check something with the other person, express a boundary, or spend more time understanding a recurring worry. Before we finish, we bring what emerged back to the actual relationship and consider a step you might be willing to take.
If you often think, “I know I’m hurting, but I don’t know where to begin,” you can contact me with one recent moment that felt that way. You do not need to know how to use OH Cards or arrive with an inner image prepared. We begin with your concern and see whether this way of exploring is suitable for you.