Posts Tagged ‘Trauma’
A Buddhist Perspective on Healing: Wisdom and Compassion
My immersion in Tibetan Buddhism has influenced my perspective on the healing process. The central tenets of Tibetan Buddhism are wisdom and compassion.
Wisdom in Healing
From a conventional point of view, phenomena are incontrovertibly how they appear. At this level, healing in psychotherapy includes the kinds of work that I have described in previous blogs and radio shows. It is essential to bring dissociated feelings and memories into conscious awareness. Doing so in the context of a caring psychotherapy relationship allows the “working through,” the integration and the release of these emotions. Mourning is central to this process: mourning for both what was wounding and for what was lacking in the patient’s early life.
Another key component of the healing process is working on the patient’s “shadow” side. Trauma propagates through identification with the aggressor. It is a painful, but vital, step to recognize one’s own propensity to hurt others.
From an ultimate point of view, all phenomena are inherently “empty.” I am not qualified to discuss the Buddha’s teachings. So, for our purposes, let me just say that healing is facilitated by the cultivation of the awareness that all of our perceptions, all of our experiences, are like a mirage, like an illusion. We all construct our own “psychic reality.”
This realization is very powerful. It gives us the freedom to construe the past from multiple vantage points. We can achieve release from an identity as a perennial victim of circumstances. We can develop the capacity for what Carolyn Myss has called “symbolic sight.” We can learn to “learn from our experience” (Wilfred Bion). We can develop the potential to do things differently, to experience transformation.
Viewing life as an open field, rather than as a constellation of solid figures, liberates us from fixity, from the unconscious compulsion to repeat the past.
Compassion In Healing
Compassion for others is the antidote for narcissism. Narcissism is the root of all suffering. When we fixate on an “I,” we experience ourselves as fundamentally disconnected, constricted, anxious and depressed. When we cultivate our compassion for others, we feel alive, related and infused with life energy.
Wisdom and compassion are inseparable, like the two wings of a bird. In conjunction with one another, they liberate us from suffering, allowing our spirits to take flight. The darkness of our delusions is dispelled. The radiance of our innate nature shines forth unimpeded. We are free.
Blog Talk Radio Show: How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part III – Psyche, Soma and Spirit
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 from 8-9:00 PM PDT.
The topic will be: How Does Psychotherapy Heal, Part III – Psyche, Soma and Spirit
Psychological growth and spiritual development are mutually contingent on one another.
This week, Dr. Deri 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 Dr. Deri have been meeting in twice a week psychotherapy for the past four years. Sophia decided to authorize the dissemination of her life story. She prays that doing so might illuminate the path of healing for others.
During the show Dr. Deri will discuss:
Psyche: Healing Early Trauma
How Sophia reached an experience of genuine compassion.
Psyche and Soma
How our therapy helped Sophia to maintain her physical and emotional homeostasis.
Psyche and Spirit
Sophia 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.
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: The Shadow Side of Human Nature
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 from 8-9:00 PM PST.
The topic will be: The Shadow Side of Human Nature. It will be a rerun of a recorded episode.
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” (Carl Jung, Psychology and Religion, p.131). All too often, we turn a blind eye to the shadow side of human nature. It is only with an enormous effort that we can acknowledge this side of ourselves. In the context of trauma, we invariably have to deal with a considerably intensified shadow. If such a person wants to be cured, it is necessary to find a way in which his conscious personality and his shadow can live together.
During the show Dr. John Deri will share with us:
➢ Why we turn a blind eye to our shadow side
➢ How we become aware of our shadow side
➢ How to integrate our shadow side.
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
.
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 Show: The Shadow Side of Human Nature
Dr. John Deri’s next Blog Talk Radio Show: Healthy Mind and Body will be on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 from 8-8:30 PM PDT.
The topic of the episode will be: The Shadow Side of Human Nature
“Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” (Carl Jung, Psychology and Religion, p.131).
All too often, we turn a blind eye to the shadow side of human nature. It is only with an enormous effort that we can acknowledge this side of ourselves. In the context of trauma, we invariably have to deal with a considerably intensified shadow. If such a person wants to be cured, it is necessary to find a way in which his conscious personality and his shadow can live together.
On Wednesday, November 18th at 8 PM PDT, Dr. John Deri will share with us:
➢ Why we turn a blind eye to our shadow side
➢ How we become aware of our shadow side
➢ How to integrate our shadow side
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 to Be Delivered to the Promised Land of Vibrant Life
The secret is to get out of your “Comfort Zone”. 
All human beings seek a balance in life between safety and novelty. Clinging to the known, the familiar, is to live within our comfort zone. Opening the door to new experiences requires a willingness to move beyond our comfort zone.
One of the reasons why people are hesitant to move out of their comfort zone is because of early life trauma. Trauma can cause chronic anxiety. This anxiety can inhibit our openness to new experiences. We cling to the known, the familiar, even if this means living in psychological pain. Compulsive repetition of routines can drain life of its sense of adventure. New adventures in your life will enhance your energy and lift your spirits.
Another reason why people are hesitant to move out of their comfort zone is because of fear of the unknown. This fear can cause us to raise the drawbridge, and to retreat within a “fortress self.” In the extreme, life can become a self-imposed sentence of solitary confinement.
To be delivered to the promised land of vibrant life, it is necessary to get out of your comfort zone. As T.S. Eliot wrote, in his poem East Coker:
In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.
How to Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
➢ If you are introverted, seek out the company of others.
➢ If you are extraverted, give yourself the gift of solitude.
➢ If you are active, dedicate some time to rest and reflection.
➢ If you are inactive, engage in some physical activities.
➢ Alter your routines. If you are an evening person, try getting up earlier in the morning (and vice versa).
Novelty literally “perks up” the brain. Sameness puts the brain into a state like “sleep” mode on your computer. Waking up and opening up to new experiences is to feel fully alive. Getting out of your comfort zone will free you from the bondage of repetition compulsion, and deliver you to the Promised Land of vibrant life.
Healing Occurs Through Relationship With Others
Trauma causes psychic wounding. The wounding takes the form of a two part complex. This complex is comprised of a two person template: the abuser and the abused. Both roles are stamped on the psyche of the survivor. This is the legacy of trauma.
This relational template of abuser and abused gets endlessly replayed throughout the life of the trauma survivor. He alternately plays the role of the abuser or the abused. The complementary role is projected onto his partner. For example, a patient of mine was habitually put out in the backyard, whenever he cried as an infant. In his adult life, he was perennially absent to his wife and children, due to workaholism and alcoholism. He unconsciously abandoned them, much as he himself had been abandoned.
Become conscious of the role that you play
In order to heal wounds, it is necessary for the survivor to become conscious of her potential for playing both roles: the abuser and the abused. This process of discovery unfolds within the psychotherapy relationship. The patient’s early life trauma is unconsciously reenacted and reexperienced in her mode of relating to the therapist. The therapist, over time, becomes conscious of the congruence of the dynamics of the therapy relationship with the structure of the patient’s original traumatic life experience. This awareness can gradually, tactfully be shared with the patient. The past comes to life through a vivid, emotionally charged experience in the present.
Healing can occur only when one becomes conscious of one’s own shadow side (the dark side of one’s personality). As Carl Jung wrote, “Enlightenment [or healing] occurs not through envisioning figures of light, but through making the darkness conscious.”
This process can occur only through relationship. Examine your current relationships from the vantage point of your early life experience. As George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” Try to discern the ways in which you are recreating and reliving the past in the present. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” (John 8:32).