Category: Psychology and Relationships
These are very personal questions: What is spiritual to you? When and where do you feel spiritual? How do these spiritual feelings get blocked or expanded?
We can carry these questions throughout our lives. Spiritual practice aims to refine and deepen our understanding of them.
I will focus on three specific spiritual practices: psychological relationships, meditation, and psychedelic plant medicines, including cannabis.
Spiritual practice is about psychological relationships because if our spiritual practice doesn’t improve our relationships with others, what’s the point?
The practice of psychological relationships with others and with one’s inner life is a personal experience with spiritual meaning. This involves experiences of vulnerability, hurt, and confusion that teach us the depth of human love and kindness.
Spiritual practice is not only personal but also universal and objective. We need to look at our minds as they are, our human instincts as they are, and our relationship with the natural world. We are born, go through all the developmental stages, and then die. Life is both precious and painful. We cannot change most of life, but we can learn to connect with it gracefully, little by little.
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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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Sand Tray Therapy, An Overview
Sand Tray Therapy : A Powerful Play Therapy Technique for Kids Sand tray therapy is one of the most powerful play therapy techniques for children. For the play therapist, it is comparable to an X-ray or MRI because it provides the unconscious symbols and their relationship. This gives the therapist the information needed to guide the therapy,…
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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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Family Counseling, an Overview
I wrote in the last post: The primary objective of marriage and family counseling is to improve relationships. There is a method to having satisfying relationships. It is not just a free for all. There are particular skills and guidelines just as there are skills and guidelines for driving a car. You don’t get to…
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The Objectives of Marriage and Family Counseling
Marriage and Family Counseling for Satisfying Relationships The primary objective of marriage and family counseling is to improve relationships. There is a method to having satisfying relationships. It is not just a free for all. There are particular skills and guidelines just as there are skills and guidelines for driving a car. You don’t get to…
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Addictions and Substance Abuse Counseling
Addictions and substance abuse are self abuse and those in close relationship are collateral damage. Alcohol, prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, sugar, and food can all be instruments of self abuse, leaving loved ones lonely, hurt and angry. Amount, amount and amount All of these substances can be very pleasurable, medicinal, recreational, fun and necessary to…
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Trust Issues in Marriage, Simplified
Most of the arguments and distancing that happen in couples’ relationships will have something to do with trust. It could be trusting the fidelity of the other, trust with money and children, or trust wounds that began in childhood that are getting played out in the marriage. As a marriage and family therapist, I look…
