Month: August 2014

Carl Jung on living an authentic life

It could be argued that at the heart of Jungian therapy is the aim of experiencing and living an authentic life. That is not the language that Carl Jung used, but it does express a central idea of his psychology, which he called ‘individuation.’ Put very simply, individuation is the process by which individuals become more fully themselves. Individuation involves differentiating oneself from conformity with collective values, which does not necessarily mean rejecting those values. Rather, it means the ability to choose the values by which one will live instead of merely living out social norms in an unreflective and unconscious way. In other words, the individuation process is a deepening and maturing of one’s individuality and sense of authenticity. … [click on title to read and view more]

WE who cannot make our peace with a social order dedicated to plunder and destruction are mentally suspect…

WE who cannot make our peace with a social order dedicated to plunder and destruction are mentally suspect, because responsible adulthood entails setting aside the childish notion that the world can be transformed into something within which a decent person would want to live, in order to concentrate on the supremely important matter of reproducing an increasingly imperiled social order dedicated to getting and spending. This is the reigning definition of sanity in our times. God help anyone who insists that social and political reality, not personal attitudes and reactions, is what needs to be adjusted. … [click on title to read and view more]

It gets better: Extreme sensitivity to noise, touch, movement, commotion etc…

solo dandelion flower that's gone to seed. for it gets better extreme sensitivity

  This is the second of the “IT GETS BETTER” series. The “It gets better” collection is a series of republished posts from when I was gravely ill from the psych drug withdrawal process and the following protracted psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome. So many folks out there are now going through the heinous process of finding... Continue Reading →

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Professionals/experts and clients/patients: as human beings we are all peers

If people could come to see that we are all "peers" (regardless of our role in any given relationship --professionals or client/patient etc)…we are, first and foremost, all members of the human race, struggling to understand this mystery called life... then professionals and experts (of all stripes) might stop imagining they are in any sort of position of “knowing” anything at all about what might be in the best interest of those they profess to want to help. Real service starts with a deep respect for the mystery of the person who is in front of you, whether it’s a friend, a child, other family member or a “patient.” Service is only truly honest and therefore effective when it is completely free of coercion...that can only happen from a deep place of humility and a surrender to the unknown. … [click on title to read and view more]

Trauma and The Soul: A psycho-spiritual approach to human development and its interruption

With beautifully synchronistic timing, yesterday, I just posted about Donald Kalsched's first book, The Inner World of Trauma. The Inner Life of Trauma was a most fundamentally important book for me and it seems many others. Today I found this lovely interview on a friend's blog about his second book, Trauma and the Soul. … [click on title to read and view more]

Twitter as therapeutic agent

Below is an interview about how twitter helped me heal and transform when I was struggling with a grave and serous long-term chronic illness. I often refer to that time of my life as a dark night of the soul. See: Monica’s story: the aftermath of polypsychopharmacology and Dark Night of the Soul posts During the period of time I'm discussing... Continue Reading →

In memory of Robin Williams…

photo of Robin williams

By Leah Harris Is it melancholy to think that a world that Robin Williams can’t live in must be broken? To tie this sad event to the overarching misery of our times? – Russell Brand, comedian/actor

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The Inner World of Trauma

I will be using the word trauma to mean any experience that causes the child unbearable psychic pain or anxiety. For an experience to be “unbearable” means that it overwhelms the usual defensive measures which Freud described as a “protective shield against stimuli.” Trauma of this magnitude varies from the acute, shattering experiences of child abuse so prominent in the literature today to the more “cumulative traumas” of unmet dependency-needs that mount up to devastating effect in some children’s development, including the more acute deprivations of infancy described by Winnicott as “primitive agonies,” the experience of which is “unthinkable.” The distinguishing feature of such trauma is what Heinz Kohut called “disintegration anxiety,” an unnameable dread associated with the threatened dissolution of a coherent self.” …

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I Was Born to Do This

I was born to do this

I was born to do this. Thankfully, a part of me knew this. But the other part of me was completely terrified. I don’t look back with disdain. Instead, I now see that I was being primed to become…a mature adult…a loving, caring human being.

It seems that I had to be broken. Not just a crack, I mean a shattering into thousands of pieces kind of break. From the outside, my family and friends could not tell that I was suffering. I looked like my normal self. However, some have told me that they “knew something was going on” but that they didn’t know how to help. What they didn’t know is that on the inside I had descended into soul-crushing chaos. … [click on title to read and view more]

Many dangerous drugs have been used to therapeutic effect

Many dangerous drugs have been used to therapeutic effect I don't ever deny that...there is a time and place for most things under the sun.

Pharma dangerously, for capitalistic purposes, pushes drugs that should be used once in a blue moon to the masses...harming 1000s and killing many as well. … [click on title to read and view more]

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