Insights abound but breakthroughs are rare. An insight is like a light going on. For example, you go on a ten day Vipassana retreat and leave feeling cleansed and peaceful. This is an insight. You have had an experience and realise that such a state is very good and desirable. However, for this insight to lead to a breakthrough you will have to work really hard until you can attain that peaceful state on your own without the structure of the group or the inspiration of the teacher. The same can be said of the insights provided by therapy. They are just the beginning of a long and arduous journey which will, in all likelihood, never be embarked upon because the subject thinks that because they have had an insight they are already there.

As kids, my father was very abusive. He would beat my mother until she was so swollen and discoloured that I didn't recognize her, and he would beat us until we bled. Once, when we were all grown up, my eldest sister, always the pluckiest of the bunch, decided she couldn't bear the tension any longer, and drove round to have it out with him. She screamed and yelled, as only she can, and my father broke down, admitting his abuse and promising to mend his ways. After that, we all expected a miracle, but none came. He had had an insight but refused to work with it, and so no breakthrough came. In fact, if anything, it made matters worse. He just cut off from it all. It is now a no-go area.