The Three Key Pillars That Support the Adult Learning Process

Abstract

This reflective essay was written within the context of tertiary study and scholarly practice, reflecting on the similarities noticed between what supports and encourages an adult’s capacity for learning, and the prerequisites, circumstances, and environments which facilitate individual therapeutic healing. In this essay the author reflects on three key pillars which have most supported her own learning process through an undergraduate subject studied at Ikon Institute, while also making connections to how these pillars served as foundational to the author’s capacity to be with her own growth and therapeutic healing process – a process which is hypothesised to be is deeply intertwined with the adult individual’s capacity to learn. The essay synthesises several key concepts and related themes (nervous system regulation, metacognition, and deep listening) within mental health fields and therapeutic practice and presents a coherent exploration of how these concepts intertwine to best support the learning process.