"If my artist life didn't work or if I needed to work in some capacity part-time in something, I knew I'd have a real life skill [become a therapist]."
About Kelly Carlin-McCall
Kelly Carlin-McCall — Life and Legacy
Kelly Carlin-McCall is a prominent comedian and writer, recognized for her sharp insights into truth and identity. As the daughter of legendary comedian George Carlin, she has carved her own path in the world of comedy, often drawing from her personal experiences and struggles. Her work reflects a deep understanding of how identity is influenced by both personal history and societal expectations. Carlin-McCall's quotes often reveal her belief in the power of truth as a means of liberation. She has stated that embracing honesty can lead to authentic connections, a theme that resonates throughout her performances and writings. For instance, she discusses the importance of confronting uncomfortable truths, suggesting that this confrontation is essential for personal growth and understanding. Her perspective challenges the norms of comedy, which often shy away from deeper emotional truths. By blending humor with poignant reflections on identity, Carlin-McCall invites her audience to reconsider their own narratives. This approach not only entertains but also encourages introspection, making her work relevant in today's discourse on authenticity and self-acceptance. In a world where many struggle with their identities, Kelly Carlin-McCall's insights continue to inspire individuals to embrace their truths, fostering a sense of community and understanding through shared experiences.
Quote collection
Kelly Carlin-McCall quotes (page 1 of 2)
34 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"I have known know many therapists who come out of Pacifica Graduate Institute and love being both artists and therapists at the same time, like Maureen Murdock. They are photographers and dancers and other kinds of things and therapists at the same time. I think it really makes them a much more interesting therapist because they're so engaged with the imagination and the creativity and the depths of who they are."
"When I am ever in any situation that's getting too heavy, I lighten it up with humor."
"You will be faced with facing all the things in yourself that keep you from knowing who you are, you'll have to stand up to roles and definitions that your family and culture have given you."
"Working with the body and the imagination - non-verbal ways especially - tap into our deepest wounds and our highest potentials as humans."
"My mother used to say, "When you can learn to laugh at yourself, a lot of healing comes from that.""
"Being a therapist can be very serious though. There are people's lives in your hands. For me, it was too much."
"I took everything really seriously and was overly sensitive about things, and I think that's rooted in perfectionism."
"There's a grip we sometimes some of us get on our pain and suffering and our past and our wounding that we over-identify with it. If we laugh at it, we're saying, "Oh, I'm laughing at myself, which means my victimhood isn't all of who I am.""
"Going through these academic programs, your job really is to learn how to be a therapist. They're training you to sit in front of clients and it's a serious matter. You're holding people's psyches."
"[Humor] could be dicey for a therapist and needs to be used very deftly."
"I remember going on vacation for two weeks once and one of my clients who was very clinically depressed really could not handle it, really unraveled himself. That scared me. I didn't want to be in that position."
"Being successful as a creative person is a crapshoot, but it's essential if you feel drawn to being creative that you express it."
"Coming into Pacifica I knew that I wanted whatever I was going to learn there, I knew I wanted to integrate that into my art no matter what."
"If you can see yourself more than just a victim, aha, now you've got the place to move into that is much more vital and creative and is resourceful than being a victim."
"The unconscious mind is way bigger than the conscious mind. Using tools to access its wisdom and self-organizing features is powerful medicine."
"The work is important and essential and I've had a therapist myself for decades and it's important work, but I knew that I wanted to work with people who are more functioning and that's when I decided to pursue my performance career full-time."
"I was supporting other people's creative dreams and I wasn't supporting my own. I didn't feel like I could really serve people having that kind of process within me."
"There's a real careful line you have to walk there because your first job [therapist] is to create safety for the client to feel safe enough to turn their vision in towards themselves and their experience in the moment and to reveal things that usually carry a lot of shame or that kind of stuff around."
"I used to be a person that wasn't able to laugh at myself easily."