Category: Meditation and Psychology
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Self Deception and the Pathological Liar
How does lying to oneself or another work? Usually, lying starts as a coping strategy. It can start at a young age to avoid a range of problems from avoiding abuse to taking out the garbage. In adolescence it is a way to get some privacy and break away from parental control. Later in life…
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Logotherapy, an Approach to Suffering
The principals of Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy came out of his personal experience and observations during his time in German concentration camps during the holocaust. We need to listen to the insights that come out of such unimaginable physical and emotional pain. Wisdom that addresses the helplessness and emptiness that many feel today. Frankl’s principles were…
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A Brief Overview of Gestalt Therapy
There are many schools of psychology. We hear a new spin on therapy, psychology and spirituality on a regular basis. Some of these ideas for healing body, mind and spirit are ancient, others are specific to the needs of our present cultural situation. We find many of these psychological theorists appeared in the western world…
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A Brief Explanation of Existential Therapy
Everyone is faced with their experience of existence. It is wonderful, emotionally painful, beautiful and sweet, traumatic and tedious, ecstatic and depressing, meaningful and meaningless at times. What are we to do with these opposites? Repress the dark and only think good thoughts? That works temporarily but doesn’t offer a way to face these extremes…
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The Meaning of Group Culture
We are born into a family, a community, a country and the larger group of humans inhabiting the earth. We begin with a given set of groups, each with all of their particular cultural values. The need for kinship is such a powerful force of nature that finding our way with various group cultures can…
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How to Make Use of Dark Feelings and Dixon White’s Example
There is an unexpected freedom that arises as we acknowledge the dark parts of ourselves; defensiveness, judgement of others, exaggerated entitlement, and participation with the “isms” racism, sexism, etc. This freedom comes about because it is exhausting and poisonous to defend a belief that is not true. It is poisonous to others and poisonous to…
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Hypnosis Therapy and the Trance State
Hypnosis therapy is a method of communication with deeper parts of ourselves. Commonly, hypnosis is used to change behaviors that our conscious mind cannot change, such as, smoking cessation, weight loss, and fear of flying. How does hypnosis work? Hypnotherapy is a way to bypass our everyday consciousness that is busy with surface details. The…
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Multiple Personality Disorder and the Lost Self
How Does Multiple Personality Disorder Develop? “Going somewhere” in the mind is a natural defense for a child when they sense danger. When a child is severely harmed their “self” often dissociates, “goes somewhere,” for protection. The self hides in the unconscious and other parts of the personality take over when there is no self…
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Why is Dialectical Behavior Therapy helpful?
Webster’s Dictionary defines dialectical: a method of examining and discussing opposing ideas in order to find the truth. Dialectical behavioral therapy was adopted from the mindfulness meditation traditions that go back thousands of years. It has been very effective in treating those with symptoms of borderline personality. In the previous post, Fear of Abandonment, I…
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The Art of Communication with the Inner Self
What the Art of Communication with the Inner Self Requires The Art of Communication with the inner self involves the imagination. For this reason, we refer to communication as an art form and not a science. We are talking to ourselves or someone in our head all the time anyway. Why not listen to…
