The concept of “insight” has become very popular lately. It is found in books and articles, in various training videos, courses, and events. And clients often use this word - at group meetings and transformation games, in individual consultations. People often consider the insight that happened to them to be a very important, significant result for themselves. Let's figure out what “insight” is, how it is born, what its benefits are and whether it is exaggerated. Wikipedia gives the following definition: Insight, illumination - a sudden conscious finding of a solution to a problem, which is the result of prolonged unconscious mental activity (see eureka). In psychotherapy, insight refers to a person’s awareness of the causes of his condition or problem, accompanied by insight and catharsis. Insight is similar to the “eureka” familiar to us all and means that a person suddenly understood something important for himself. Consciously or unconsciously thinking about his problem, being in search of an explanation and solution for a long time, perhaps “stalking” for a long time, suddenly it “gets” to him... From the inside, insight looks like a flash of awareness, a thought that unexpectedly highlights something hitherto incomprehensible, but extremely important. Remember how, while swimming, I enthusiastically shouted “Eureka!” Archimedes, when, when immersed in a bathtub, water began to pour out onto the floor. He realized that the volume of displaced water is equal to the volume of the body immersed in water. But it wasn’t just the fact itself that made him so happy. With the help of this discovery, he was able to solve a completely applied problem entrusted to him by the Syracusan king. The king suspected his jeweler that he had added silver to the golden crown, that is, he had made it not from gold, but from an alloy. And the discovery of Archimedes helped prove these suspicions. Another eureka (or insight) in history can be considered the way Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation. An apple fell on his head, and here it is, insight! Some sources believe that the apple did not fall on the scientist’s head, but simply on the ground while walking in the garden. But this does not change the essence. Later, the law of universal gravitation was described using formulas and began to serve humanity. These examples are not psychotherapeutic insights, however, they suggest an interesting idea. If these insights were not followed by stages of evidence, derivation of formulas, practical confirmation, experiments - how useful and lasting would these discoveries be? Psychotherapeutic insight has a similar meaning. Sometimes it is provoked by some event, like an apple on the head. It can be useful to see your situation with different eyes, as if from the outside, from a meta-position. Sometimes insight happens when a person sees a similar situation in others and is able to analyze it without being involved. Many insights come from participating in transformation games, and, of course, in individual consultations. It is insights that are the beginning of changes in life, the starting point. For example, a person suddenly understood the reason why his family relationships were not working out. Perhaps the roots go back to his relationship with his parents, to what attitudes were laid down during his upbringing, or to past unsuccessful relationships. Or a person realizes that the reason for certain events in his life is a family scenario that is repeated from generation to generation. These are very important realizations from which changes in life can begin. In addition, insight is often accompanied by the release of feelings and understanding of one’s internal conflicts. But is only insight enough for life to change? I think not. Life will not change if you don’t act - don’t change your behavior, don’t do something in a new way, or don’t give up your usual actions and ways of reacting. Of course, not everything is so simple with our mental processes, with changes within us. But the point is clear. Insight for the sake of insight is a completely useless thing. Therefore, if you feel this insight within yourself, suddenly understand something about yourself and your life - record it on paper,.