…a psychotherapeutic process. This is because it involves putting words to inner experience rather than actions that use the body for a curative effect. For instance, a patient I have been working with for two and half years came to therapy hoping to lose weight prior to a big event in her life. It was not easy for her to accept my idea that a diet and a food plan would do her in. It did not come easy for her to attend weekly sessions and talk abo…
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…ser we get to someone, the more we can expect to face our own defenses, an inner resistance we have to getting too close or caring too much. Feeling love from someone else can be the best feeling in the world, but it can also challenge us on a deeper level, going against negative beliefs about ourselves we hold at our core and forcing us to face the pain of feeling deeply for someone else. What we often do to protect ourselves against the challeng…
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…r boy turned to a gang for companionship and violence as an outlet for his inner turmoil. This combination of trauma and neglect, though unintentional, became a breeding ground for violent behavior. Without a constructive outlet (like school, counseling, or an available parental figure) one of her sons faced a heavy social and emotional struggle and followed a path toward violence and crime, while the other was able to channel his struggle into so…
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…ive; a person who had a strong sense of values; a person whose values were inner directed, rather than outer directed; a person who was neither defiant nor submissive, but independent. Basically, I would like them to have human qualities; the capacity to be compassionate, the capacity to deal with abstract reasoning, the capacity to be creative, to express their uniqueness as a person. Without a sense of your own values, you are like a ship withou…
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…ounds of traffic or birds outside the window. Smell the scent of rain, or dinner cooking on the stove. Taste the mint you recently finished. Experience, through your senses, the colors, shapes, scents and sounds of everyday things. 8. Now, bring your attention to the natural flow of your breath as it goes out and comes in. 9. Heighten attention on the out-breath, as you practice letting go of all thoughts and feelings. 10. At the end of the out-br…
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…nclude: rejection, non-acceptance, ridicule, and bullying. At times, their inner emotional turmoil can lead to them to feel sad and/or discouraged, turning their negative thoughts on themselves. We hear them say they hate their life and then may state they hate themselves. We have seen this type of thinking or feeling develop into depression, which can trigger suicidal ideation and attempts at hurting themselves. Due to their limited capacity for…
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…y, but working toward local and global sustainability is good for both our inner and outer environments. It is nourishing for the planet at the same time that it sustains each one of us – and all those yet to come. As Kaza found, “Thousands of people are living their own inspiring stories as they find a way to share their green ethics on behalf of a more peaceful and genuinely happy world.” So, as Kermit the Frog realized, being green is important…
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…ther, they may indulge in destructive thoughts about themselves, “critical inner voices” that tell them they are bad or “fundamentally different” from other mothers. They may punish themselves for not experiencing the “joys of motherhood” that they imagine all other women are experiencing. The reality is, many mothers struggle with a degree of post-pregnancy blues, and one in five women experiences depression at some point in her life. Some mother…
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…treating to a cave, most of us find ourselves blind, deaf, and dumb to our inner worlds, emotionally paralyzed and unable to fully celebrate what should be the most valuable and enriching aspects of our lives. The cold days of winter could grow warm in the light of deeply felt appreciation, rather than the whole of the holiday season reduced to a countdown calendar of shopping days left ‘til… Viewing the holidays as a time to honor loved ones, fri…
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…ck. It is possible to talk to one another about our feelings without being critical or complaining. Someone as close to us as our spouse may not be entirely right about us but rarely are they entirely wrong. By staying open and vulnerable to feedback, we can respond sensitively to our partners while learning more about ourselves. We are also more likely to entice an open reaction from them when something bothers us, and we can both benefit from ha…
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