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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Fear of Commitment in Marriage/Partnership and Moving toward Emotional Intimacy
Resolving the fear of commitment begins by better understanding what we are committing to. Sometimes we commit to or avoid committing to assumptions and expectations that we are not completely aware of within ourselves or with another. As we locate these subconscious assumptions and expectations, we can begin to free ourselves from them. Our over-controlling…
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The Reactive Attachment Disorder and How to Treat It
Reactive attachment disorder is a rare and serious condition characterized by an infant’s lack of a healthy attachment to a parent or caregiver. It can develop if an infant’s basic needs for comfort, affection, and nurturing are not met. Not having a stable, loving relationship with others can also trigger it. We’ll be covering: What…
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Situational Depression and How Can One Move on from It
Everyone experiences traumas in life, whether it’s the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship that lasted five years, or being laid off from work. These stressful experiences are sometimes very difficult to cope with and can lead to the development of a depression spectrum disorder. A common condition people may experience…
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What Is the Sensory Processing Disorder and What Can Be Done to Help?
The human body is comprised of various tissues functioning on an interrelated basis. Internal controls regulate function via the brain, master controller. It mediates all body activities, those on the conscious level and numbers operating on an non-conscious level. Connection to our world comes through sensors, classically touch, smell, taste, hearing, and vision. When these…
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The Psychological Implications of Speech Therapy for Adults
Speech impairment can be problematic for people of any age. While most speech difficulties manifest and resolve during childhood, they can continue through adulthood, and some can even manifest later in life due to injury, illness, or stroke. Whatever the origin or type of speech disorder an individual may have, speech therapy for adults can…
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The Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Its Connection to Poor Eating Habits
Body dysmorphic disorder, also known as BDD, is a relatively common mental disorder, affecting nearly two percent of the population. BDD can manifest in various forms, and symptoms typically first appear during adolescence. Men and women are equally at risk for developing BDD, and the disorder can develop on its own or in concurrence with…
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Silent Treatment Abuse or Shunning, page 2
As I wrote in the previous post page 1: “Silent Treatment Abuse” is the ancient practice of shunning using modern terminology to describe how it appears in our present relationships. It can be most confusing and frustrating because it feels like there is nothing that can be done about it. Many people have experienced abandonment, helplessness…
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Adjustment Disorder or One of the Most Common Mental Issues
Adjustment disorder is surprisingly common and can affect people at any life stage. Even people who who have had no history of mental or emotional disorders can be affected. Also referred to as situational, exogenous, or reactive depression, this disorder is typically less severe than clinical depression and tends to be more short-lived if treated…
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Integrated Behavioral Health – What It Is and Its Implications
Integrated behavioral health care is an emerging model of health care in which medical and mental health providers work together to treat an individual’s mental or behavioral disorders concurrently with any physical health challenges that he or she may be facing. This type of collaboration ensures that no symptoms are left unaddressed, while at the…
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The Meaning Behind Recurring Dreams: Why Do Dreams Keep Coming Back?
You are running on an empty street and you know someone is after you, though you can’t quite make out who this person is. Your heart is racing and every nerve in your body is tense with anticipation. You know you are seconds away from someone tapping you on the shoulder. And then you wake…
