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Virginia Satir Biography -

When Virginia Satir talked about her life and who she was, it was usually to make a point in her teaching. This was because she genuinely enjoyed talking about herself and incorporated this into what she was doing most often: working. Her work was such an integral part of her life that inevitably she acted as if the two were one. Virginia shared herself and her stories with great feeling and enthusiasm. In her book Your Many Faces Virginia spoke of the diverse makeup of human beings, emphasizing the importance of accepting all of our diverse characteristics as who we are. She taught that by embracing what we see as our negative traits, we can effect transformation. To illustrate this point, Virginia shared her characteristics, associating them with historical and fictional figures. This is how she explained it:

When I divide these adjectives into positive and negative, the positive list comes out compassionate, sexy, wise, loving and funny, all faces I would be proud to claim to the outside world. The adjectives selfish, overburdened, and stubborn would be those faces that I would label negative. Formerly, before I understood what I know now, I would try to banish all traces of those characteristics I considered negative.

What I have learned is there is a germ of usefulness in each negative part as well as a germ of destruction in each positive part…

Since all of these parts reside in me, then I can say that inside me I have my Eleanor Roosevelt, my Marlene Dietrich, my King Henry VIII, my Old Woman in the Shoe, my Aristotle, my Jesus Christ, my Groucho Marx and my Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. (Your Many Faces 81)

Virginia’s openness about herself demonstrated a profound awareness that how people perceive and represent themselves affects how others see them. Thus, Virginia endeared herself to others by first being endeared to herself. In addition to talking about her many "parts," Virginia also spoke about her height as an important characteristic. She claimed that her five feet and ten inches allowed her to see the world: "I was this size by the time I was ten. I haven’t grown any since I was ten years old. That put me in a place where I never got into competitiveness; rather, I felt free to observe anything that went along" (Russell 4). Virginia’s awareness of her own height combined with her emphasis on eye contact in a creative way. Often, when working with trainees, couples, or children and adults, Virginia would use a stool or chair to bring two people to the same eye level. This way, she argued, the taller person was no longer in a position of power over the shorter person, so the two were better able to communicate.

Virginia’s efforts to bring people to the same eye level reflects that in some ways her height had a more complex effect on her than just enabling her to see the world.

I don’t think that I move-in and take over people at all. I think I feel free to look at whatever I want to look at with confidence. And it’s possible to understand. You see, that’s another piece of it. I don’t get shut out. I think that’s why I could take people that nobody else would have anything to do with, because they were so high risk. They would say, Oh no, no one can do that—and wonderfully work with them.

Persistent, I am not really persistent in one way. I just know that it will happen; I don’t have to be persistent. I just move until it happens. I am not putting energy in there; I just know it will happen. It’s, "which door should I open now? Which piece should be lifted up now? And, where can we go in this little piece"? It’s more like a puzzle and a detective story than it is about working against the tide. And, that I also got very early. That’s been with me all my life. (Russell 4)

In the above quote we see Virginia speaking with self-affirmation and confidence about her work. She intended her faith in her work to be contagious, to seep out of the page, or whatever medium she was using, and into the heart of her audience. In her revision of Peoplemaking she wrote,

The New Peoplemaking is one of my efforts to make a positive difference toward enabling congruent adults. Using many experiences with families all over the world, I have written this book to support, emphasize, educate, and empower the family. We know there are better ways to deal with ourselves and each other. We have only to put them into practice. Each of us who does contributes toward a stronger, more positive world for all of us.

Each of us can make a difference; each of us is needed. The difference we can make begins when we develop high self-esteem as individuals. A big hope I have for this book is that it will help each of us empower and commit ourselves to congruence. Our congruent experiences and modeling will lead to creative ways to understand each other, care for ourselves and each other, and give our children a sturdy foundation from which they can develop strength and wholeness. (X)

Continues on:

Snap Shots of Virginia

Family of Origin

Education

Teaching Career

Marriage & Children

Graduate School

Virginia's Career in Therapy

Virginia's Philosophy

The Pioneer

Illness & Death

The Legacy

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