Welcome to The Psychiatry Blog!
The Psychiatry Blog is a forum for the integration of psyche, soma and spirit. Topics addressed will range widely, including the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. Recovery from trauma and from addiction will be explored as well. Sport psychiatry is an additional area of interest.
The credo of this blog, as of my clinical work, is that effecting positive change is contingent on psychological work, somatic awareness and spiritual development. For more information regarding my clinical practice, please visit my website at JohnDeriMD.com.
The mode of this blog is interactive. We are all interdependent. Discussion is encouraged. I will respond to all comments and queries.
Welcome to the formation of an emergent community, in statu nascendi.
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How Does Psychotherapy Heal? Part III – Psyche, Soma and Spirit
Psychological growth and spiritual development are mutually contingent on one another.
This week, I would like to share with you a case that illustrates the interdependence of psyche, soma and spirit in the healing process.
Sophia is a 70 year old member of a religious order. She and I have been meeting in twice a week psychotherapy for the past four years.
Sophia’s father sexually abused her from her early childhood until puberty. Sophia’s mother was hypercritical, perhaps envious, of her. At age 20, following one abortive relationship with a man, Sophia decided to enter a convent.
During her early adult life, Sophia turned to alcohol to drown her sorrow. Some years later, she developed a bipolar affective disorder. More recently, she was diagnosed with insulin dependent diabetes, as well as with Parkinson’s Disease.
1. Psyche: Healing Early Trauma
Donald Kalsched, a Jungian analyst, has written a trenchant book called “The Inner World of Trauma.” In describing the work of recovery from trauma, he suggests “where there is an affect, look for an image. Where there is an image, look for an affect.”
With this advice in mind, I encouraged Sophia, a talented artist, to create artwork that would give expression to her childhood memories and feelings. She took to this process readily, with great creativity. There ensued an extended period during which Sophia would bring drawings, watercolors, paintings or poetry to each session. Through giving form to her experiences, Sophia was able to access and to express her feelings at a deep level.
These feelings included shame, rage, terror and sadness. She ultimately reached an experience of genuine compassion, for herself as a little girl, and finally even towards her parents. Her repertoire of emotions expanded dramatically. She came to revel in her own sensuality and sexuality. She came fully alive, before my eyes.
2. Psyche and Soma
Diabetes and Parkinson’s Disease have profound emotional effects. Reciprocally, emotional states have a major impact on the manifestations of these physical conditions. Much work in the therapy has had the goal of helping Sophia to maintain her physical and emotional homeostasis.
At times, I coordinate her care with other treating physicians. Doing so is both good medical practice as well as an opportunity to model appropriate symbolic parenting.
Psychotropic medications are utilized to stabilize Sophia’s mood.
3. Psyche and Spirit
Sophia’s sexual abuse, and more specifically her father’s perversion, led her to question her faith. She felt abandoned by God, the Father. She underwent a protracted “dark night of the soul” (St. John of the Cross).
As she healed her psychological wounds, Sophia’s spiritual life, has blossomed. She has developed a vivid, direct personal relationship with Jesus and Mary (the Divine masculine and feminine principles).
Sophia has internally reaffirmed her vows. She has rededicated herself to minister to those in need, within her community. She has found and is maintaining an appropriate balance between nurturing herself and caring for others. She experiences the indestructibility of her own spirit.
Last week, Sophia said to me, “Thomas Aquinas wrote that contemplation yields illumination only when one gives to the world.”
It was in this context that Sophia decided to authorize the dissemination of her life story. She prays that doing so might illuminate the path of healing for others.
Blog Talk Radio Show: How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part II
Thank you to all my loyal Blog Talk Radio listeners for your ongoing support. Our show “How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part II – Psychotherapy and Dependent Origination,” that was scheduled for January 27, 2010, will now be aired on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 8:00 PM PDT.
Due to technical problems on the Blog Talk Radio Show website this week, we had an unanticipated rerun of a recorded episode: How To Identify And To Deal With Emotional Trauma, in place of the live show that had been scheduled.
During my show on February 3, 2010 I will present and discuss a clinical case. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my patient for graciously permitting me to make use of our work in the context of this radio show. It is her intention to help to relieve the suffering of others through the sharing of her story.
To listen to the episode you can:
Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body
Blog Talk Radio Show: How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part II
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 from 8-8:30 PM PDT.
The topic of the episode will be: How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part II – Psychotherapy and Dependent Origination
The Buddhist theory of dependent origination will be discussed as a perspective on transference and countertransference in psychotherapy. These psychological phenomena will be explored as a medium for the healing of early childhood trauma in psychotherapy.
During the Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body, Dr. John Deri will present a clinical case as an example of the work.
To listen to the show you can:
Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body
How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part II
Psychotherapy and Dependent Origination
The Buddhist theory of dependent origination states that all phenomena are contingent on antecedent conditions. The tree is contingent on the seed, the valley on the glacier and so forth.
This perspective is an extremely valuable lens through which to view the emotions experienced in psychotherapy. A patient responds to a remark of mine with a mixture of pain and anger. She has interpreted her therapist’s comment as a callous attempt to exclude her from his inner world.
The therapist knows from previous work with this patient that she had been severely abused by her father throughout her childhood. Her mother had been completely ineffectual at protecting her daughter from her husband’s rage. Neither parent had the slightest capacity or inclination to allow their daughter into their minds. Children will always try to see the parent as “good,” even at the cost of believing themselves to be “bad”. So, this little girl gradually developed a view of herself as deficient and unworthy.
In her psychotherapy, much work has been devoted to a reconstruction of her memories of this early life trauma. The terrifying effects of the physical abuse had been greatly compounded by her rage and panic due to her “solitary confinement”. She had lived her entire childhood utterly alone, despite the physical proximity of her parents.
Freud’s conception of therapeutics had a somewhat cognitive bent. Remembering the original trauma would afford the patient insight into his own woundedness. This insight would constitute the vital element that would enable the patient to heal.
Freud’s younger contemporaries, Sandor Ferenczi and Otto Rank, held a very different viewpoint. They believed that only a repetition of the original trauma within the psychotherapy relationship would have the power to heal the patient. They felt that only through repetition would the patient’s original memories be reactivated with sufficient force and feeling to break through the barrier of dissociation.
The aliveness of the feelings associated with early life trauma, reexperienced within the transference, allows these feelings to be revised and reworked within the context of a caring therapy relationship.
This healing is never a one time process. In the case of my patient, we repeatedly respond to each other in ways that leave her feeling hurt and excluded. Each time this occurs, we struggle together to delineate her process from my process. Each time, we view and review the relationship between the present and the past. As we do so, she has come to recognize that she does have access to my mind, and to my feelings. My positive regard for her is genuine and deep.
With each repetition, she emerges stronger and healthier. The perseverative reenactment of her original wounding, through the shadow play of the transference and the countertransference, engages a gradual but inexorable healing process. The critical difference between the past and the present is the outcome of the traumatic clash. In the here and now of the psychotherapy relationship, each repetition of the crisis resolves with enhanced mutual trust and deeper closeness between us.
In her parenting and in her work, this lady has become a beacon of hope and an agent of healing for others. Within her psychotherapy relationship, two wounded healers have been brought together for the purpose of mutual healing.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to my patient for graciously permitting me to make use of our work in the context of this essay. It is her intention to help to relieve the suffering of others through the sharing of her story.
Blog Talk Radio: How To Identify and To Deal with Emotional Trauma
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 from 8-9:00 PM PST.
The topic of the episode will be: How To Identify And To Deal With Emotional Trauma
Emotional trauma can impact and alter all aspects of your life. Trauma tends to constrict our patterns of behavior and ways of being in the world. How a person manifests the effects of emotional trauma varies widely. The same trauma can produce very different effects from person to person.
When you learn how to identify and to deal with emotional trauma, you will be able to form better relationships. Healing the wounds of trauma will help you to overcome addictions, panic attacks, depression and anxiety.
Dr. Deri will share with us:
➢ The definition and causes of emotional trauma
➢ The emotional effects of trauma
➢ The physical impact of trauma
➢ How to heal from trauma
To listen to the show you can:
1. Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
2. Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body
Blog Talk Radio Show with Brant Secunda and Mark Allen: Fit Soul, Fit Body
Dr. John Deri’s Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will air on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 from 8-9 PM PDT. Dr. Deri, a Psychiatrist in Mill Valley, CA interviewed Mark Allen, a six-time Ironman and Brant Secunda, a Shaman and healer.
Mark and Brant know how to get people into the best shape of their lives- both mentally and physically. They have been motivating and inspiring people for decades. Brant and Mark continue to work together at events and retreats teaching a unique roadmap for fostering optimal health, happiness, and wellbeing. Many people around the world learn from them how to live a healthy life filled with lasting joy, happiness, and contentment.
During the show they discussed how:
➢ Fitness is not just for elite athletes, or even for people who regularly work out. It starts with emotional and spiritual wellbeing, which provide the foundation for attaining a fit body.
➢ You can improve your diet, fitness, and strength, and find a renewed connection with the environment and the natural world.
➢ To manage stress successfully, to replace negative qualities with positive ones, and to make a spiritual connection to both your inner and outer environment.
➢ Anything is possible when you discover the power to heal.
Brant Secunda is a shaman, healer and ceremonial leader in the Huichol Indian tradition of Mexico. He completed a twelve-year apprenticeship with Don José Matsuwa, the renowned Huichol Shaman who lived to be 110 years old and who adopted Brant as his grandson. Alongside other dignitaries including President Jimmy Carter, Brant cofounded the Peace University in Berlin, and is a founding member of the American Herbalists Guild.
Mark Allen has been called “The World’s Fittest Man” by Outside magazine and “The Greatest Triathlete of All Time” by Triathlete magazine. He attributes his success to his ongoing studies with Brant Secunda, who showed him how to find fitness not only in physical strength but in the power of personal spirit and balanced living.
To listen to the recorded show you can:
Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body
Dr. John Deri
Psychiatrist, Mill Valley, CA
http://www.JohnDeriMd.com
Blog Talk Radio Show: How Does Psychotherapy Heal?
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 from 8-8:30 PM PDT.
The topic of the episode will be: How Does Psychotherapy Heal?
Psychotherapy is a wellspring for new beginnings. At the beginning of a lifetime, the infant forms its first relationship with its mother. The quality of this first human bond will profoundly influence the nature of the child’s subsequent relationships. This assertion is a central tenet of the school of psychology known as attachment theory.
During the Blog Talk Radio Show Dr. Deri will discuss:
(1) The four distinct patterns of attachment: secure, anxious, avoidant and disorganized.
(2) The effect of an infant’s mode of attachment to its mother on the quality of that individual’s subsequent relationships.
(3) How trauma and neglect lead to disturbances in attachment.
(4) How the mother’s own early life attachment history serves as a medium for the transgenerational transmission of trauma.
(5) How does psychotherapy heal?
To listen to the show you can:
Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body
How Does Psychotherapy Heal?
As we enter a new year, I am thinking of psychotherapy as a wellspring for new beginnings.
At the beginning of a lifetime, the infant forms its first relationship with its mother. The quality of this initial human bond will profoundly influence the nature of the child’s subsequent relationships.
This assertion is a central tenet of the school of psychology known as attachment theory. This theory was formulated by John Bowlby, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.
Subsequent observational research on infants and mothers established four distinct patterns of attachment: secure, anxious, avoidant and disorganized. Long term follow up study of these infants validated the predictive value of their mode of attachment to their mothers, with regard to the quality of their relationships in later life.
Trauma and neglect are the two most powerful forces leading to disturbances in attachment. Another significant determinant of the infant’s mode of attachment is the mother’s own early life attachment history. This influence undoubtedly accounts for a great deal of transgenerational transmission of trauma.
Environmental influences, however important, are never the whole story, where human development is concerned. Genetic factors may render an infant more or less vulnerable to the effects of early parenting.
Most people seek psychotherapy due to suffering caused by their relationships with others, and/or with themselves. The most important healing influence in psychotherapy is the experience of a healthy, trusting relationship. This environment provides the patient with a “secure base”. This safe haven offers the freedom and engenders the courage for a person to explore and to expand the realms of relationships with others and with the self. The medium of this secure base is the emotional bond between patient and therapist. In therapy as in life, people don’t care what you know unless they first know that you care.
Blog Talk Radio Show: Seasonal Affective Disorder
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 8-8:30 PM PDT.
The topic of the episode will be: Seasonal Affective Disorder
Seasonal affective disorder (also called S.A.D or Winter Depression) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. Some people experience a serious mood change when the seasons change. If you are like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months. It affects many of us during the short winter days and long winter nights.
Nearly everyone gets the winter blues at some time or another, but for some, they are actually a serious medical disorder. Seasonal affective disorder can lead to sadness, lack of interest, withdrawal from friends, family, and social activities, lack of energy and overall depression. With the right treatment options you can combat these symptoms.
During the Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body, Dr. John Deri will discuss:
➢ The definition of seasonal affective disorder
➢ The symptoms of seasonal affective disorder
➢ The causes of seasonal affective disorder
➢ Seasonal affective disorder treatment options
To listen to the show you can:
Dial the phone in telephone number at (347) 989-0560
OR
Tune in to our online channel at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Healthy-Mind-Body
The Outer World Is a Projection of Our Own Mind
Our outer experience is a mirror of our inner world. Our internal emotional “weather” will invariable provide an accurate forecast for outer conditions. As Norman Vincent Peale wrote,
“If you have zest and enthusiasm, you attract zest and enthusiasm. Life does give back in kind.”
Our most characteristic moods are a residue of our early life experience. People who experienced abuse, neglect or emotional deprivation tend to be sad and in low spirits. This low energy vibration will tend to attract others who themselves are vibrating at the same low frequency. As a result, our early life experience is perpetuated in present time. We take these conditions to be “reality”. The world seems to be populated by wounded, downbeat needy people.
Living in such a world is demoralizing. Life becomes “stale, flat and unprofitable.” Under such conditions suicide may become an increasingly compelling option.
It is vitally important to recognize that the outer world is nothing other than the projection of our own mind. “Reality” is a highly subjective construction, “like a dream, like an illusion” (Milarepa 11th Century Tibetan Yogi). Once we grasp this truth we can change our world by transforming our mind.
How to Transform Your Mind
1. First, you must become aware of your current state of mind. Keep a journal of your recurring thoughts and feelings.
2. As you identify characteristic negative thoughts, train yourself to “stop!” every time you notice such a thought occurring in your mind stream. Replace the negative thought with a positive thought, or affirmation (self statement).
3. Look at yourself in a mirror. Do you see a scowling face looking back at you? Make a conscious effort to change your facial expressions. Make it a practice to smile at people. You will be amazed at how powerfully a smile evokes a responsive smile from others.
4. Open your heart. Make genuine positive emotional connections with as many people as possible. Raise your emotional state from sullenness to love and compassion. You will be responded to in kind.
5. For those of you who are open to visualization, try the following experiment:
Visualize your crown chakra* (at the crown of your head) glowing at a bright, gold color. This corresponds to the highest frequency of emotional vibration. With practice, you can learn to transform yourself and your experience using this technique.
If life is “like a dream,” make it a happy one! Learn how to liberate yourself from the nightmare of bitterness and sorrow.
Please feel free to let me know how you are doing. If you need some help along the way, I would be delighted to assist you.
*Chakras are energy centers. They are considered to be the focal points for the reception and transmission of energies. Seven major chakras or energy centers are generally believed to exist, located within the subtle body.