All dreams have a protective function. The unconscious mind that produces them sends warnings, information and guidance to your human conscience, so that it may avoid the traps of the anti-conscience.

The anti-conscience is the wild side of your conscience, which remains in a primitive condition. It keeps trying to destroy the human side of your conscience through absurdity, so that it may control your behavior. This is why most dream symbols indicate danger.

Almost all dream images have symbolic meanings. The associations that gave these meanings are based on the unconscious wisdom.

For example, when you see your mother in a dream, this means that you are being influenced by the anti-conscience.

When you think about your mother you believe that she represents someone who cares about you. However, the symbolic meaning that she has in your dreams is negative because your mother represents the chaotic formation of the primitive conscience, without any organization.

You should never interpret the meaning of dreams based on your opinion. You must study the dream language, the same way that you must study a foreign language if you want to understand it.

There are seven basic types of dreams:

1. Dreams that protect your mental health – These are the most complex ones; you absolutely need to learn the meaning of all dream symbols in order to understand them.

2. Dreams that give you information about the person you love -These are the simplest ones. The person you love doesn’t have a symbolic meaning. Other people don’t have a symbolic meaning in this type of dream either. You only need to learn the meaning of a few dream symbols in order to understand these dreams, without completely studying the dream language.

3. Dreams that give you information about dead people – These dreams are rare. You will have objective information about dead people only if they were very important for you. Otherwise, dead people in your dreams represent parts of your own personality.

The symbolism used in dreams about dead people is as complex as the symbolism used in dreams about your mental health. However, you can understand the unconscious messages much easier since the dead person doesn’t have a symbolic meaning. You only need to translate the other parts of the dream.

4. Nightmares, recurring dreams, or warnings – These are the most common ones. You are in constant danger due to the existence of the violent anti-conscience that tries to control your behavior.

5. Dreams containing future predictions – These dreams help you get prepared to face future difficulties, giving you the chance to correct your mistakes and prepare the future results you desire.

6. Dreams that analyze your past – These dreams work like psychotherapy, relieving you from traumas, fears, wrong impressions, and conclusions. They correct your behavior and attitude.

7. Dreams that reflect your progress – As you keep translating the meaning of your dreams and following the unconscious guidance, there are various dream symbols and themes that indicate all the evolutionary stages you pass through.

Christina Sponias continued Carl Jung’s research into the human psyche, discovering the cure for all mental illnesses, and simplifying the scientific method of dream interpretation that teaches you how to exactly translate the meaning of your dreams, so that you can find health, wisdom and happiness.
Learn more at: http://www.scientificdreaminterpretation.com.

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The treatment is effective when it is done as a systematic process and it takes time. Patients need to encounter problem situations numerous times in order to have the opportunity to retrain their thinking and thereby change their behaviors. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been successful in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, insomnia, obsessive compulsive disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder.

Cognitive behavioral therapy had its beginnings in the 1960’s when advances in behavioral therapy, which had been around since the 1920’s, was combined with the new field of cognitive therapy. Both techniques had their strengths and weaknesses but combining the two seemed to be the best of both worlds. As long as the patient had significant cognitive functions to understand the underlying assumptions that were responsible for their negative behaviors, then they could be retrained to assess the situation more correctly and generate a different emotion or behavior as a response in place of the negative one.

Each individual creates their own unique view of any given situation. This view is based in part on our past experiences as other environmental factors. For some people, this view is distorted and that leads them to an irrational response to the situation. Given their distorted view, this response may seem to be perfectly acceptable. Therefore the first step in cognitive behavioral therapy is to teach people to view the trouble situations clearly so that they can then learn the correct appropriate reaction.

This approach which directly engages the patient’s behaviors is in stark contrast to the psychoanalysts approach like that pioneered by Freud. Freud’s techniques look backwards, searching out the root of the problem, while cognitive behavioral therapy looks forward to the end result and starts there. The theory being that if you eliminate the symptoms, then you have effectively cured the disorder. CBT requires repetition to teach patients the appropriate responses to stimuli and to help them understand how to make that right choice so they are able to apply those new decision making skills to real life situations.

In this way, cognitive behavioral therapy owes a debt to early behavioral researchers like Ivan Pavlov who among his many experiments showed that dogs could be trained to salivate at the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly associated with their mealtime. In the same way, positive behaviors are trained into patients until that hopefully becomes their natural response instead of the negative behavior that brought them to therapy in the first place.

For the therapist, the key to solving a patient’s behavioral problems lies in uncovering the underlying assumptions that the patient holds that act as a trigger for the behavior. Once the therapist has identified these flawed assumptions, they can help the patient change them. Once the patient understands that the assumptions they held were wrong, they can be replaced with ones that are correct. Once this transformation occurs, the patients reactions to situations will also change and the negative, inappropriate behavior will be eliminated.

Given the types of assumptions or even core beliefs that the therapist is asking the patient to question and ultimately change, the situation can naturally be quite volatile. For this reason the these techniques take time. A therapist does not want to shake a patient’s belief to the core without giving them something else to build upon so the therapist must move slowly in steps. Validity testing is a common first step, where the patient is asked to explain or defend his or her beliefs or assumptions. If they are faulty, then eventually the patient will see the flaws in the logic. The therapist cannot simply tell the patient this however, the patient has to learn it on their own so they understand it as well as accept it.

The results of cognitive behavioral therapy show that the lengthy process is worth the effort because in the end it is effective. That is why cognitive behavioral therapy is the number one treatment for a wide variety of disorders from bulimia to panic disorder.

Bethany Jordan is an Information Technology professional and aspiring writer who was clinically diagnosed with SAD (Social Anxiety Disorder) in 2007.

She maintains a website dedicated to sharing information on natural antidepressants, herbal remedies for anxiety and depression, and anxiety disorders in general. Everyone is welcome and invited to visit http://www.naturalantidepressants.info …

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School Psychologist- Over the last few years, this career option in psychology has gained enormous popularity. Today many schools across the world are utilising the skills and training of school psychologists. Many school psychologists go into this area of psychology as they wish to work with “early interventions with young people”.

Forensic Psychologists – These are psychologists that apply psychological principles to different legal issues. Their expertise is often vital in court. They often carry out research on jury behaviour or eyewitness testimony. These days, many forensic psychologists also train in both law and psychology. The demand for forensic psychologists is also very high.

Clinical Psychologists- These professionals generally perform their key role in mental health clinics, hospital settings or private practice. Their key role revolves around the assessing, diagnosing and treating clients suffering from psychological disorders. Today it is considered as one of the single largest employment areas within the field of psychology.

Sports Psychologists – This is another career option that has also gained in popularity and up-coming as a major career option. Their role revolves around helping athletes or sportspeople in refining their focus on competition and winning. They motivate competitors and utilise methods that assist in how to deal with the anxiety and fear of failure that can often come with sports. In the last few years, as sports become more competitive this psychological field has also become more and more popular.

Industrial-organisational Psychologists – This field primarily concentrates on workplace behaviour. Today many companies use industrial organisational psychologists to boost their employees’ productivity.

Research Psychologists – As the name suggests they primarily carry out research at corporations, non-profit organisations or for the universities. They usually look at the patterns of humans’ behaviour and try to study variations of effects of drugs, motivation, neurology, genetics and similar other factors.

These are some of the career options in the field of psychology that have gained wide popularity in recent years, so if you are looking for a career in psychology these are some of your options.

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If you want to become a competent Counsellor or Psychotherapist, you can enroll here for Psychotherapy courses Ireland.

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Feminist Therapy
Feminist psychology grew from the influences of the women’s movement of the 1960’s. This movement was a grassroots one; therefore, no one particular theorist can be named the originator of feminist therapy. Feminists tried to keep elements of other psychological theories that worked but attempted to get rid of sexist aspects of the theories. They then tried to explain some of the common experiences and difficulties associated with the social roles that women endure that may be blocking their growth and development. The focus is mainly on helping women in areas such as assertiveness, communication, self-esteem, and relationships. Feminist therapy also focuses on empowering women by helping them see the impact of gender issues. The aim of therapy is change rather then adjustment. It is important to acknowledge sex roles, minority status and socialization in society as possible sources or causes of psychological difficulties. A core concept is equality; therefore, the therapist is seen as equal in the relationship with an outside perspective who provides guidance and new information but the client is seen as having the power to create his or her own desired outcome in themselves and their lives. Reclaiming personal power is a key concept. A task of the therapist is to help individuals explore and understand what is causing dysfunction and unhappiness and then to help develop strategies to overcome these difficulties…

Feminist therapy is not just suitable for women, men can benefit from this therapeutic process as well. Men also deal with social and gender role constraints such as the demands of strength, autonomy, and competition. In addition, they are limited by the notion that they should not express vulnerability, sensitivity, and empathy. Both men and women are exploited by a patriarchal society and limited culture and gender stereotypes. Men can benefit from therapy by working on these issues and by learning new skills to help them understand and explore issues involved with emotions, intimacy, and self-disclosure.

There are four main philosophies of feminists with differing goals in therapy including socialist, radical, cultural, and liberal. First, socialist feminists emphasize the need for change in institutional and social relationships. Next, radical feminists focus on the need for change in gender relations and societal institutions. In addition, they strive to increase women’s self awareness in regards to her sexuality and her desires and views for having children. Subsequently, cultural feminists emphasize the importance of the recognition that women are devalued in society and how detrimental this is. Finally, liberal feminists focus on the individual and the biases these people face in regards to self awareness, self-respect, esteem, and equality. Many ideas and views held by these philosophies overlap and are integrated with the main focus on equality.

There are four major approaches that are unique to feminist therapy which include consciousness-raising, social and gender role analysis, resocialization, and social activism.

Consciousness-raising is sometimes held in small groups in a leaderless manner involving the discussion of women’s individual and shared experiences. Women in these groups do not have to feel that they are alone and they could listen and support others. These individuals examine how oppression and socialization contributes to personal distress and dysfunction and they talk about ways in which solutions for creating individual and social changes can be made. Consciousness-raising helps women feel more powerful to take steps against oppression by participating in social action.

Social and gender role analysis involves the evaluation of the client’s psychological distress and methods of coping. First clients will learn about the impact and affects of social and cultural norms and expectations and how negatively these issues affect society. This helps the client become aware and identify his or her own experiences in regards to social and gender role norms. The therapist helps the individual become aware of both implicit and explicit sex roles that the client may have experienced over his or her lifetime. This helps the client explore possible origins of psychological distress. Together the therapist and the client come up with ways to implement change and gain self knowledge.

Resocialization follows social and gender role analysis and involves reorganizing the client’s belief system. They learn to view things differently and they develop new coping skills and strategies. Methods are taught that increase self esteem, assertiveness, and self views. A main goal of resocialization is an overall increase in well being.

Social activism is rather controversial and not practiced by all therapists. It is embedded in the notion that “personal is political”, which is one of the basic tenets of feminist therapy. This means that there are underlying roots of client’s problems that stem from society and politics. Feminist therapy should not only help the individual but it should help all individuals. Social activism may involve participation by both the therapist and the client. This can be accomplished by speaking out, organized protests, and letter writing campaigns. Feminists agree that social change is crucial and advantageous to the mental health of all individuals.

According to Gerald Corey, feminist therapy is based on five interrelated principles:
1.The personal is political which implements social change.
2.The counseling relationship is egalitarian which encourages equality between the therapist and the client. The client should be aware that she has the power to change and define herself and the therapist is only a tool with new insight and information.
3.Women’s experiences are honored and they should get in touch with their personal experiences and intuition.
4.Definitions of distress and mental illness are reformulated involving the internal as well as external factors of distress. Pain and resistance are viewed as a positive confirmation of the desire to live and overcome distress rather than being viewed as weak.
5.Feminist therapists use an integrated analysis of oppression which means that they understand that both men and women are subjected to oppression and stereotypes and that these oppressive experiences have a profound affect on beliefs and perceptions.

These core principles set the basis for feminist therapeutic practice and it is important to acknowledge that these principles contain overlap and interrelated common ground. Additionally, Lenore Walker indicates that there are six tenets of feminist therapy theory:

1.Egalitarian relationships: this equal relationship between client and therapist models for women personal responsibility and assertiveness in other relationships.
2.Power: women are taught to gain and use power in relationships and the possible consequences of their actions.
3.Enhancement of women’s strengths: so much of traditional therapy focused on a woman’s shortcomings and weaknesses that feminist therapists teach women to look for their own strengths and use them effectively.
4.Non-pathology oriented and non-victim blaming: the medical model is rejected and women’s problems are seen as coping mechanisms and viewed in their social context.
5.Education: women are taught to recognize their cognitions that are detrimental and encouraged to educate themselves for the benefit of all women.
6.Acceptance and validation of feelings: feminist therapists value self-disclosure and attempt to remove the we-they barrier of traditional therapeutic relationships.

Feminist therapy is beneficial and needed for several reasons. The main goal is change, not just change within the individual but change in society. Gender issues need to be addressed because they can cause psychological distress and shape unwanted behavior. Our lives are affected and influenced by the stigmas and stereotypes associated with these internal and environmental pressures which can affect one’s identity. Feminist therapy recognizes this and implements these concerns in practice. Furthermore, women live in a world dominated by males and masculine patterns of thought and behavior. Until recently, psychological studies of human behavior were almost always conducted by men and on men. The results of these studies were generalized to apply to women equally. The results are biased for several reasons including the fact that men and women are not the same. They have developed differently from early childhood and they tend to view the world in different ways. The media gives young children strong gender biased messages. Boys are supposed to be independent, self sufficient, dominant, aggressive, and successful. Girls are sweet, well behaved, passive, submissive, overemotional, and attractive. There is a conflicting problem here because the same traits that are considered appropriate for little girls are considered negative and inappropriate as mature adults. Males tend to view the world in terms of competition and power, while females look at aspects of the world through relationships and connections to others. Therefore, these studies and techniques may not represent women very well.

Women’s natural gifts of being nurturing and caring do not hold much power and value in society according to our social norms. These views and norms prevent women from feeling a sense of strength and power. These characteristics should not be viewed as weaknesses yet society sees it this way. Women should be commended for all he roles that they play. It is hard to juggle a family with children and a career, then come home and do housework and errands. As society becomes more of a dual income earning community some of these issues may turn in a more positive direction. Men do not have it easy either. If a man were to stay home and raise the children and tend to the household needs, society may call him lazy or worthless. Feminist therapists recognize how these factors and they understand how much relationships, connections, and nurturance plays a huge role in individual’s lives. They consider sex bias in a male dominated society and they honor women’s experiences and instincts as being valid. Feminist therapists specifically address issues such as family and marriage relations, reproduction, career concerns, physical and sexual abuse, body image disorders, and self esteem. One of the most important concerns of a feminist therapist is the empowerment of women in today’s world. Bohan (1992) states six guidelines for feminist practitioners to follow:

1.Therapists are knowledgeable concerning gender role socialization and the impact these standards have on what it means to be a woman or a man.
2.Therapists are aware of the impact of the distribution of power within the family and power differentials between men and women in terms of decision making, child rearing, career options, and division of labor.
3.Therapists understand the sexist context of the social system and its impacts on both the individual and the family.
4.Therapists are committed to promoting roles for both women and men that are not limited by cultural or gender stereotypes.
5.Therapists acquire intervention skills that assist clients in their gender role journey.
6.Therapists are committed to work toward the elimination of gender role bias as a source of pathology in all societal institutions.
These principles are based on a gender fair ideology for counseling which may be applied to family therapists as well. These principles also apply to both individual and group therapy. The fact that many principles of feminist therapy can be incorporated into other therapies is a strength because it can broaden the theoretical base of other models and therapies. Feminist therapy aims at enriching and enlightening everyone’s lives by hopefully encouraging social activism in a positive direction.

There are some criticisms and limitations to feminist therapy. Some therapists may be too feminist and militant in their views there by persuading clients. No therapist should persuade nor tell someone the “right” way to look at things. The therapist’s task is to offer support and information to challenge the client to examine for herself which road to take. Another criticism is the biased stance that feminists take. They are not neutral. They are all for a definite change in society and they should take caution not to be too pushy with their views on clients. It is also important that clients take responsibility for actions and experiences and not just blame society. They can be aware of society’s impacts but they also need to fess up and not avoid taking personal responsibility. Another criticism is the fact that feminism originated and was developed by, middle class, white, heterosexual women. Other races and cultures were not involved. This has been brought to attention and feminists have become much more inclusive.

In summary, feminist therapy is beneficial and advantageous to today’s society. The human race will continue to evolve and new theories will also evolve to meet the needs of our unsustainable, plastic society. Feminist therapists will continue to break down the hierarchy of power by therapeutic approaches and interventions with the overall remaining goal as empowerment of the client and social positive change and transformation.

References
1.Walker, Lenore E.A. (1990). A Feminist Therapist Views the Case. In Dorthy W. Cantor (Ed.), Women as Therapists, (pp. 78-79). New York: Spring Publishing Company.
2.Hecklinger, Fred J. (2003). Training for Life: A Practical Guide to Career and Life Planning. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishers.
3.Bohan, Janis S. (1992). Replacing Women in Psychology: readings Toward a More Inclusive History, (pp. 88-99). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt Publishers.
4.Swanson, Jane L. (1999). Career Theory and Practice: Learning Through Case Studies. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage Publications
5.Benjafield, John G., (1996). A History of Psychology, (pp.321), Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon
6.Corey, Gerald (2001). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy 6TH Edition, (pp. 341-375), Wadsworth: Brooks Cole, Thompson Learning.

Elizabeth Mahaney, MA, MHC, is a Mental Health Counselor and a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Tampa, FL. Elizabeth can be contacted for questions or scheduling here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/m15_view_item.html?m15:item=elizabethmahaney%40msn.com and here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/Tampa-therapy.htm

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If we have 80 years to live instead of 40, well, then we have more time to get educated, we can wait to be married, we can pursue more than one career. Perhaps the most notable effect of our recent longevity has been the illusion that somehow life can (even should) go on indefinitely if we can only get a hold of that slippery little gene or remember to take that new antioxidant.

This dynamic – technology permuting culture – is pervasive throughout our collective experience. As our technology has changed, our lifestyles have changed. And as our lifestyles have changed our expectations, our strategies for living and our psychologies have changed. War has been no exception to the rule. The way we wage it and the battles we choose to fight have been similarly transformed. However, this time not only has the nature of war changed, but our very battlefields have been moved and we barely noticed.

New Terms of Engagement: Media-Driven Battle Grounds

For thousands of years, when one group wanted to conquer another (for whatever reason – land, power, revenge or pride) the protocol was for one group to ride, walk or run over to the desired territory and storm the castle or plunder a village. Whatever the strategies, whether the generals chose to fight with one standing army confronting another standing army or it was a surprise attack in the middle of the night, guerilla-style, it always resulted in hand-to-hand combat of some kind.

Even the Roman armies with their chariots, horses and war dogs (e.g., mastiffs) eventually met their enemies face to face. Killing was personal. Even if it didn’t start out that way, a soldier sooner or later had to use a spear, a knife, a fist or a club. The implement of death had to be wielded by hand and in almost all cases the person wielding it had to confront the grisly death of the other.

Then came gun powder and the laws of physics changed the rules of war. Now balls of lead could be hurled over or even through walls, traversing long distances to explode and expose the viscera of once impenetrable fortresses. War was still a bloody mess and a last resort for any society that valued its own, but it was now feasible to conduct one with substantially less personal involvement.

Not too long after that came the bomb. Not just the bomb, but all bombs that could be dropped from airplanes, fired from rocket launchers or detonated on delays. This once again changed war. Populations that had once been protected by flanks of soldiers who were prepared to give their lives to defend their women and children were now as vulnerable as our most primitive ancestors. We could be reached by air. There was nothing that could stop the invasion any longer.

Now, there is the danger of invasion by organism and bio-technology. We can’t see it, smell it, or fight it. But there it is, knocking on our collective unconscious, silently altering the psychological and eventually the genetic make-up of our entire culture.

The War of Words and Ideas

Which brings us to the state of war in which we currently find ourselves: the war of information in which the primary weapon used is viral fear. There are other weapons used in the information war that are no less serious, of course, such as identity theft, cyber-viruses, misinformation, EM pulses etc… But the war the average civilian is engaged in is tragically one of which he is wholly unconscious.

The war is fought in our living rooms, our bedrooms, subliminally in our movie theatres, on our phones, in our cars, on highway billboards and in shopping malls. We are utterly surrounded.

By What are we Surrounded? What’s the Enemy?

First and foremost the enemy is our own sedation. We are unconscious, made so and kept so by endless entertainment, comfort and complacency. From its inception, televised entertainment, which is intricately enmeshed with corporate and product advertising, has taken many if not most families from having dinner together at the table to dinner in shifts on the couch. We don’t face one another for after-dinner conversation or sit down for a game of chess over which we can proclaim our own world-politic. Instead we go each of us to the privacy of our own rooms, to the cyber-reality of our own headsets, to the seclusion of our own i-pods. We connect less to one another and more to electronics, conducting our lives in varying degrees of dissociative trance. We see the world (to some degree) but we are not fully there.

This is a wholly non-partisan issue. Whether one is radically right, lopsidedly left or somewhere in between, real national security is at risk and our missions will never be realized if we do not become minimally aware. And where there are real threats, America has become a sitting duck.

Secondly we are surrounded by an innumerable quantity of messages both subtle and gross given to us by the media. “Media” as I am using it here includes everything that is transmitted via newsprint, air wave, film, radio wave and optic cable. All of it, without exception, is involved in promoting an agenda. Most often it is a corporate one, even if it is embedded or disguised. (Mind you, this is not any sort of blanket condemnation on self-promotion or vigorous sales efforts. It is a commentary on our state of thoughtful awareness, or lack thereof.) Whether it is corporate or not, whether it is intentional or not, it is almost invariably fear-based and promotes a pathology of inadequacy.

In this last season, how many advertisements did you see where happy families opened lavish and glamorous gifts, where meals were presented in soft candlelight as though Martha herself were in the kitchen? I couldn’t even begin to count the ones I’d seen, not to mention the ones I didn’t. If there were one single message coming through loud and clear it was that happy families are made happy by constant and creative consumption. The irony of the way these holidays are presented is that millions are left feeling lost and lonesome. And even those who have intact families and multitudes of friends with enough money to buy gifts the way they do on television, they never, ever reach the level of perfection they see in the media. Whether we have family or not, we can never measure up. Which is both the promised land for advertisers and the problem for us.

I would like to clarify something for those who think I have an issue with shopping besides personally not loving the process of walking from store to store, sifting through too much stuff and hauling bags for hours. Philosophically speaking there is absolutely nothing wrong with shopping. So long as we exist in a complex society, we will have producers, traders, and consumers. We will always have wants and needs. However, what I do worry about is how we are unconsciously using it as a way to fill in the empty spaces in our soul or because we have nothing else to do. When we give up thinking for shopping, we are in very real trouble as a culture. And as a country at war, it is an act of suicide. It is insane.

A while back my publisher said, “When I was growing up shopping used to have something to do with comparison, with finding the appropriate item at the right price. Now it’s an automatically assumed consumption.” What an extraordinary idea. Our shopping has gone from an activity that required some consideration and thought to an impulse run wild, a substitute for self-worth or a way to shut out the world and shut off our own thoughts.

If we have gone from a production economy to retail economy as many have claimed, then consumption is indeed a critical issue. How does the media perpetuate this purchasing frenzy? The media pushes fear and inculcates inadequacy in us because in order for the economy to grow we must always need more. We must crave more, not just want it. We must not only pursue happiness, we must be willing to buy it. And, naturally, we can never really buy it either. We can only lease it. The happiness lasts only as long as the fad. And then we must have the next thing and then the thing after that and the thing after that ad infinitum.

And the fear is everywhere. This last week had an amazing roster of shows on the History Channel to celebrate the holiday season with “Armageddon Week.” A sampling: Mega Disasters, Siberian Apocalypse, Global Warming, The Last Days on Earth, Nostradamus, Meteors, Asteroids, Tsunami, Comets, Antichrist, Aftershock. And what followed this week of doom? The History of Sex.

The media’s approach to the news is not much different. It is sensational, scandal driven, high-pitched and partisan. I grew up in a home where we watched the news every evening before dinner (at which point it was turned off) and I can’t ever remember seeing people on television yelling at one another in an interview or round table discussion. When Khrushchev slammed his shoe on the table and yelled at the U.N., it was shocking as it well should have been. Now, to get our attention everything has been kicked up a notch. And the danger is that while we’re running around afraid of catching a cold or not making the perfect Christmas dinner, we’re tuning out on the issues that will profoundly affect us all. Very little is presented in a rational way about what America is actually facing and what we might do about it, only what might one day happen.

What It Does and What We Can Do.

What does a brain do with all that?

I would imagine that it starts to grow scales. Whatever it ultimately will do, we can’t tell yet, but what we do know of this endless assault of disjointed, anxiety-inducing visual and auditory stimuli is that it is lighting up certain areas of the brain more than others. The parts of our brains that respond to aggression, fear and sexuality become ignited while the cortical areas, the frontal lobes and other more sophisticated, executive areas of the brain are dimmed. What the human being has struggled to become over the course of millions of years is being reversed.

Another way of understanding this is working one group of muscles more than another. Say I go to the gym four days a week and all I do is work my upper arm muscles. I don’t bother with forearm, back, chest, abdominals, or legs. What happens is fairly obvious – one day I’m going to look in the mirror and see big arms on a small, perhaps atrophied frame.

What should we do? How can we reverse the current downward trend on the evolutionary scale?

1. Start with awareness. If we wake up and see the media’s message for what it is, we can become less susceptible, less automatic in our responses and hopefully more thoughtful. When an ad comes on or you see a product being promoted on a show or in a movie, remind yourself who and what put it there and why they’re spending so much money to do that. Awareness limits the impact of the messages that bombard us. If a sentence in an advertisement starts with “could,” “would” or “should” we can safely assume there’s an incoming fear missile. “Could it happen here?” “Could there be a bomb on New Year’s Eve?” “Should you get the vaccine now?” “Would you know what to do if…” Grammar is an extension of intent. Listen to what’s being said critically.

We can then remind ourselves that the way products and services are presented (as image, as icon, as identity or extension of self) is illusory and speaks to our fears and inadequacies more than our good judgment. They will never satisfy us in the way we are told they will. Be conscious of the truth and you will recognize the lies.

2. Do the obvious. We can limit the amount of time we (and particularly our children) spend with television, i-pods, game-boys or cyber-tennis and make a conscious effort to spend more time with one another. I do not for a second imagine that Americans will all start taking up Buddhist meditation, but having a few minutes a day without having our senses assaulted might be a good idea. The other day I met a friend at a place called the Hyatt Tamaya. It is a resort of sublime beauty, filled with roaring fires in handmade kivas, Native American artwork, sensual flute music and captivating views from every angle. I had to wait for her a while and sat near one of the fires when a man and his wife sat across from me. Presumably they’d come to the hotel together, but she sat in one corner of the couch reading a book and he sat in a chair with earphones blasting percussive music I could hear from more than 10 feet away. Why bother spending $300 a night to tune out the place you’re paying a fortune to be in doing what you do at home?

3. Ask yourself: What drives you? And spend some time with that question before you answer it. Think about what motivates you to buy, what you buy and when you buy.

4. Spend time doing things that are diametrically opposite to what is promoted in the media, such as being still, being with your family without electronic accessories, pray, walk, think, read. Live slowly, breath deeply, linger.

5. Be present. Don’t pursue anything. Especially happiness. It’s a waste of time and will only serve to make you frustrated. The only place you can really have what you long for is where you are right now with exactly what you’ve got.

Judith Acosta, LISW, is a licensed psychotherapist, crisis counselor and homeopath in private practice in New Mexico. She is the co-author of The Worst Is Over: What To Say When Every Moment Counts, hailed as the “bible of crisis communications” and Verbal First Aid for Children (Penguin 2010). She lectures around the country on Verbal First Aid, trauma, stress, and intuition development. She may be reached at http://www.wordsaremedicine.com .

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Adult pathological narcissism is no more “curable” than the entirety of one’s personality is disposable. The patient is a narcissist. Narcissism is more akin to the colour of one’s skin rather than to one’s choice of subjects at the university.

Moreover, the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is frequently diagnosed with other, even more intractable personality disorders, mental illnesses, and substance abuse.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBTs)

The CBTs believe that insight – even if merely verbal and intellectual – is sufficient to induce an emotional outcome. If properly manipulated, verbal cues, insights, analyses of standard sentences we keep saying to ourselves (”I am ugly”, “I am afraid no one would like to be with me”), inner dialogues and narratives, and repeated behavioural patterns (learned behaviours) coupled with positive (and, rarely, negative) reinforcements – are sufficient to induce a cumulative emotional effect tantamount to healing.

Psychodynamic theories do not believe that cognition can influence emotion. They believe that much deeper strata have to be accessed and studied by both patient and therapist. The very exposure of these strata is considered sufficient to induce a dynamic of healing. The therapist’s role is either to interpret the material revealed to the patient (psychoanalysis) by allowing the patient to transfer past experience and superimpose it on the therapist – or to actively engage in providing a safe emotional and holding environment conducive to changes in the patient.

The sad fact is that no known therapy is effective with narcissism ITSELF – though a few therapies are reasonably successful as far as coping with some of its effects goes (behavioural modification).

Dynamic Psychotherapy

Or Psychodynamic Therapy, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

As opposed to common opinion it is NOT psychoanalysis. It is an intensive psychotherapy BASED on psychoanalytic theory WITHOUT the (very important) element of free association. This is not to say that free association is not used – only that it is not a pillar of the technique in dynamic therapies. Dynamic therapies are usually applied to patients not considered “suitable” for psychoanalysis (such as Personality Disorders, except the Avoidant PD).

Typically, different modes of interpretation are employed and other techniques borrowed from other treatments modalities. But the material interpreted is not necessarily the result of free association or dreams and the psychotherapist is a lot more active than the psychoanalyst.

These treatments are open-ended. At the commencement of the therapy the therapist (analyst) makes an agreement (a “pact”) with the analysand (patient or client). The pact says that the patient undertakes to explore his problems no matter how long it takes (and how expensive it becomes). This is supposed to make the therapeutic environment much more relaxed because the patient knows that the analyst is at his/her disposal no matter how many meetings would be required in order to broach painful subject matter.

Sometimes, these therapies are divided to expressive versus supportive, but I regard this division as misleading.

Expressive means uncovering (=making conscious) the patient’s conflicts and studying his/her defences and resistances. The analyst interprets the conflict in view of the new knowledge gained and guides the therapy towards a resolution of the conflict. The conflict, in other words, is “interpreted away” through insight and the change in the patient motivated by his/her insights.

The supportive therapies seek to strengthen the Ego. Their premise is that a strong Ego can cope better (and later on, alone) with external (situational) or internal (instincts, drives) pressures. Supportive therapies seek to increase the patient’s ability to REPRESS conflicts (rather than bring them to the surface of consciousness). As a painful conflict is suppressed – so are all manner of dysphorias and symptoms. This is somewhat reminiscent of behaviourism (the main aim is to change behaviour and to relieve symptoms). It usually makes no use of insight or interpretation (though there are exceptions).

Group Therapies

Narcissists are notoriously unsuitable for collaborative efforts of any kind, let alone group therapy. They immediately size up others as potential Sources of Narcissistic Supply – or potential competitors. They idealise the first (suppliers) and devalue the latter (competitors). This, obviously, is not very conducive to group therapy.

Moreover, the dynamic of the group is bound to reflect the interactions of its members. Narcissists are individualists. They regard coalitions with disdain and contempt. The need to resort to team work, to adhere to group rules, to succumb to a moderator, and to honour and respect the other members as equals – is perceived by them to be humiliating and degrading (a contemptible weakness). Thus, a group containing one or more narcissists is likely to fluctuate between short-term, very small size, coalitions (based on “superiority” and contempt) and outbreaks (acting outs) of rage and coercion.

Can Narcissism be Cured?

Adult narcissists can rarely be “cured”, though some scholars think otherwise. Still, the earlier the therapeutic intervention, the better the prognosis. A correct diagnosis and a proper mix of treatment modalities in early adolescence guarantees success without relapse in anywhere between one third and one half the cases. Additionally, ageing ameliorates or even vanquishes some antisocial behaviors.

In their seminal tome, “Personality Disorders in Modern Life” (New York, John Wiley & Sons, 2000), Theodore Millon and Roger Davis write (p. 308):

“Most narcissists strongly resist psychotherapy. For those who choose to remain in therapy, there are several pitfalls that are difficult to avoid … Interpretation and even general assessment are often difficult to accomplish…”

The third edition of the “Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry” (Oxford, Oxford University Press, reprinted 2000), cautions (p. 128):

“… (P)eople cannot change their natures, but can only change their situations. There has been some progress in finding ways of effecting small changes in disorders of personality, but management still consists largely of helping the person to find a way of life that conflicts less with his character … Whatever treatment is used, aims should be modest and considerable time should be allowed to achieve them.”

The fourth edition of the authoritative “Review of General Psychiatry” (London, Prentice-Hall International, 1995), says (p. 309):

“(People with personality disorders) … cause resentment and possibly even alienation and burnout in the healthcare professionals who treat them … (p. 318) Long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have been attempted with (narcissists), although their use has been controversial.”

The reason narcissism is under-reported and healing over-stated is that therapists are being fooled by smart narcissists. Most narcissists are expert manipulators and they learn how to deceive their therapists.

Here are some hard facts:

There are gradations and shades of narcissism. The difference between two narcissists can be great. The existence of grandiosity and empathy or lack thereof are not minor variations. They are serious predictors of future dynamics. The prognosis is much better if they do exist.

There are cases of spontaneous healing and of “short-term NPD” [see Gunderson's and Roningstam work, 1996].

The prognosis for a classical NPD case (grandiosity, lack of empathy and all) is decidedly not good as far as long-term, lasting, and complete healing. Moreover, narcissists are intensely disliked by therapists.

BUT…

Side effects, co-morbid disorders (such as Obsessive-Compulsive behaviors) and some aspects of NPD (the dysphorias, the paranoiac dimensions, the outcomes of the sense of entitlement, the pathological lying) can be modified (using talk therapy and, depending on the problem, medication). these are not short-term or complete solutions – but some of them do have long-term effects.

The DSM is a billing and administration oriented diagnostic tool. It is intended to “tidy” up the psychiatrist’s desk. The Personality Disorders are ill demarcated. The differential diagnoses are vaguely defined. There are some cultural biases and judgements [see the diagnostic criteria of the Schizotypal PD]. The result is sizeable confusion and multiple diagnoses (”co-morbidity”). NPD was introduced to the DSM in 1980 [DSM-III]. There isn’t enough research to substantiate any view or hypothesis about NPD. Future DSM editions may abolish it altogether within the framework of a cluster or a single “personality disorder” category. As it is, the difference between HPD, BPD, AsPD, and NPD is, to my mind, rather blurred. When we ask: “Can NPD be healed?” we need to realise that we don’t know for sure what is NPD and what constitutes long-term healing in the case of an NPD. There are those who seriously claim that NPD is a cultural disease with a societal determinant.

Narcissists in Therapy

In therapy, the general idea is to create the conditions for the True Self to resume its growth: safety, predictability, justice, love and acceptance – a mirroring and holding environment. Therapy is supposed to provide these conditions of nurturance and the guidance necessary to achieve these goals (through transference, cognitive re-labelling or other methods). The narcissist must learn that his past experiences are not laws of nature, that not all adults are abusive, that relationships can be nurturing and supportive.

Most therapists try to co-opt the narcissist’s inflated ego (False Self) and defences. They compliment the narcissist, challenging him to prove his omnipotence by overcoming his disorder. They appeal to his quest for perfection, brilliance, and eternal love – and his paranoid tendencies – in an attempt to get rid of counterproductive, self-defeating, and dysfunctional behaviour patterns.

By stroking the narcissist’s grandiosity, they hope to modify or counter cognitive deficits, thinking errors, and the narcissist’s victim-stance. They contract with the narcissist to alter his conduct. Some even go to the extent of medicalizing the disorder, attributing it to a hereditary or biochemical origin and thus “absolving” the narcissist from guilt and responsibility and freeing his mental resources to concentrate on the therapy.

Confronting the narcissist head on and engaging in power politics (”I am cleverer”, “My will should prevail”, and so on) is decidedly unhelpful and could lead to rage attacks and a deepening of the narcissist’s persecutory delusions, bred by his humiliation in the therapeutic setting.

Successes have been reported by applying 12-step techniques (as modified for patients suffering from the Antisocial Personality Disorder), and with treatment modalities as diverse as NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming), Schema Therapy, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization).

But, whatever the type of talk therapy, the narcissist devalues the therapist. His internal dialogue is: “I know best, I know it all, the therapist is less intelligent than I, I can’t afford the top level therapists who are the only ones qualified to treat me (as my equals, needless to say), I am actually a therapist myself…”

A litany of self-delusion and fantastic grandiosity (really, defences and resistances): “He (my therapist) should be my colleague, in certain respects it is he who should accept my professional authority, why won’t he be my friend, after all I can use the lingo (psycho-babble) even better than he does? It’s us (him and me) against a hostile and ignorant world (follies-a-deux)…”

Then there is: “Just who does he think he is, asking me all these questions? What are his professional credentials? I am a success and he is a nobody therapist in a dingy office, he is trying to negate my uniqueness, he is an authority figure, I hate him, I will show him, I will humiliate him, prove him ignorant, have his licence revoked (transference). Actually, he is pitiable, a zero, a failure…”

And this is only in the first three sessions of the therapy. This abusive internal dialogue becomes more vituperative and pejorative as therapy progresses.

Narcissists generally are averse to receiving medication. Resorting to medicines is an implied admission that something is wrong. Narcissists are control freaks. Additionally, many of them believe that medication is the “great equaliser” – it will make them lose their uniqueness, superiority and so on. That is unless they can convincingly present the act of taking their medicines as “heroism”, a part of a daring enterprise of self-exploration, a distinguishing feature and so on.

They often claim that the medicine affects them differently than it does other people, or that they have discovered a new, exciting way of using it, or that they are part of someone’s (usually themselves) learning curve (”part of a new approach to dosage”, “part of a new cocktail which holds great promise”). Narcissists must dramatise their lives to feel worthy and special. Aut nihil aut unique – either be special or don’t be at all. Narcissists are drama queens.

Very much like in the physical world, change is brought about only through incredible powers of torsion and breakage. Only when the narcissist’s elasticity gives way, only when he is wounded by his own intransigence – only then is there hope.

It takes nothing less than a real crisis. Ennui is not enough.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of Malignant Self Love – Narcissism Revisited and After the Rain – How the West Lost the East. He is a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, and eBookWeb , a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory Bellaonline, and Suite101 .

Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

Visit Sam’s Web site at http://samvak.tripod.com; palma@unet.com.mk

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Today, the arena of psychotherapy encompasses a broad category of mental health professionals who help individuals and families work through mental or emotional disorders by psychological means. Though, a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker or mental health nurse can perform the role of a counselor or psychotherapist, the mental health care professional who has undertaken a degree in psychotherapy will be in ever greater demand. So, if you are really looking forward to becoming a counselor or a psychotherapist, you must earn a degree in psychotherapy. Attaining a degree in psychotherapy and counseling can be a real benefit for you. In fact, in recent times, it has emerged as the basic requirement for a psychotherapist’s license in many European countries.

Moreover, it is also important to have the proper counseling psychotherapy training from an authentic psychotherapy training institute. The correct training can help you gain various skills that are required in this profession, for example;

* The ability to recognize fundamental theories or concepts of counseling and psychotherapy that need to be followed.

* The ability to utilise different models of counseling and psychotherapy depending upon the clinical situation.

* The ability to prepare and undertake responsibility for the application of theoretical modals, via individual client care plans that can be effectively utilized in different clinical situations.

However, the key point that one needs to understand is that psychotherapy training takes a long time and you will be required to undergo your own personal therapy. Besides this, as a trainee you may choose from a range of training opportunities from introductory counseling psychotherapy courses, through advanced diplomas, Degrees to PhD as well.

Once you complete your training and earn a degree, you can become a psychotherapist, and may perform private practice or join a larger organization. Today the opportunities for psychotherapists are numerous. All you require is a good training from a good training institute. It may take anywhere from two to five years to become a psychotherapist, depending on the level of education you wish to acquire, but after you complete your education, the rewards that you can enjoy are immense.

Looking for a sound career move? Think about becoming a Psychotherapist! Browse the site for the complete guide on Psychology courses, jobs and career information on counselling and psychotherapy for aspiring psychologists.

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As we enter the dawn of a new millennium, traditional psychotherapy-and the therapist’s role-appear caught in the sort of crisis described by Denise Breton and Christopher Largent in their book, The Paradigm Conspiracy.1 The detached, analytical approach often practiced by psychotherapists since the days of Freud no longer makes people well. In fact, this strict therapist-patient/ normal-sick paradigm may actually make them worse, contributing to deeper feelings of alienation and frustration. For our own field of addictions therapy as well as other specialties, it is evident that the time has come for a “”paradigm shift”" toward a more “”soul-sensitive”" 2 approach to psychotherapy. The need for change was championed in recent statements by Dr. Patrick Carnes at the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity conference in St. Louis. Fr. Leo Booth echoed the view that spirituality has become the cornerstone of both our individual and collective healing when he stated that as therapists, “”We must open our mind to new ways of seeing our future…and bring to that the energy of creative positivism.”"3

Authentic Process Therapy (APT) represents such a paradigm shift in psychotherapy — combining the structure of the healing community found in 12-Step recovery programs with a facilitating therapist, and employing traditional as well as contemporary healing techniques to address the deeper issues that invariably arise in the course of long-term recovery. APT and its core concept of “”complete recovery”" grew out of my own personal struggle toward wholeness as an AIDS survivor, as a gay man, and as a person in recovery, as well as from my experience with clients from diverse cultural and transpersonal perspectives, and from the maturing recovery movement over the past 20 years. Authentic Process Therapy may offer an important alternative for treating addictions and compulsions. This article provides a summary of APT, its goals, methods, basic philosophy and spirit.
Incorporating Strengths and Acknowledging Limitations of 12-Step Programs

Since 1935, with the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous, tens of thousands of alcohol and drug-addicted men and women have begun the journey to recovery by turning to a compassionate spiritual community embodied in AA and other 12-Step programs. This approach has been unrivaled in its ability to help people stop active addictions. Yet, all too often, the process of recovery is limited in terms of healing the issues that underlie alcoholism, drug dependency or other life-threatening addictions. The realization of one of AA’s Promises, “”We will know a new freedom and a new happiness…,”"4 eludes many 12-Steppers who struggle between feelings of gratitude (thankful to have their lives back in control) and feelings of frustration and emptiness that something is still missing.

These secondary issues are profoundly important to complete recovery. Even individuals with years of sobriety can experience problems that threaten their continued recovery — among them: codependency and other secondary addictions; depression; self-destructive behavior; underachieving; fear of abandonment; lack of sexual fulfillment; and the array of challenges facing those who are also living with HIV and other serious illnesses. I can attest to the fact that issues regarding sexual orientation can be a particular challenge for recovering gays, lesbians and transgender individuals. All of these, and other manifestations of internalized dilemmas, can keep people in recovery from what we want the most: mutual trust, love, and respect.

To overcome these limitations, notable therapists including John Bradshaw and Earnie Larsen 5, 6 have suggested an expanded model of recovery that goes beyond coping with primary addictions. Authentic Process Therapy is one such approach. APT recognizes that recovery is a two-stage process. Stage One, the healing from a primary addiction to alcohol, drugs, food, sex, gambling or any other dependency, requires a committed, singular focus for at least 1 to 2 years-and more for many individuals. But overcoming an active addiction is only half the battle.

Whereas Stage 1 is “”recovery from”" addictions, Stage Two-the direct focus of APT-is “”recovery of”" fulfillment, wisdom, serenity, and emotional, spiritual and sexual wholeness.

The objectives of Authentic Process Therapy in Stage Two recovery are:

To identify and express complex feelings… A tendency to be overwhelmed by mixed feelings-gratitude and joy for one’s freedom from chemical dependency, and sorrow, grief, or even rage at past experiences-typically emerges with time in recovery. APT helps clients develop a vocabulary for talking about these feelings and coping skills to deal with them.

To connect in more meaningful ways with others in a community… APT is based on the healing community model of AA, but encourages those in recovery to create new “”facilitated communities”" to deal with specific Stage Two issues such as childhood trauma, sexual orientation and how one’s healing impacts and is impacted by culture.

To heal the internalized sexual-spiritual split… A major element of APT is devoted to resolving the conflict between sexuality and spirituality, an overwhelming problem for many individuals in recovery.

To disengage power dynamics… By encouraging clients to examine their own role in power structures of daily life, APT can help to resolve ongoing difficulties with authority figures and intimates, and foster free expression in all relationships.

To achieve a “”shame-free”" presentation of self… Through APT, recovering individuals no longer feel ashamed or embarrassed by a difficult personal history.

To discover an individual “”life purpose”"… Clients learn how to contribute more meaningfully to society, to give back to loved ones, and to help establish a better future.

Simply stated, the key to achieving the goals of Authentic Process Therapy is “”being real.”" The desire to be “”authentic”"-to present true inner feelings rather than a false front-is a minimum requirement for participation. Certain African tribal ceremonies refer to this as “”speaking from the pit of the belly.”"7 While it seems easy enough, it means more than merely speaking what is on your mind, because “”what is on your mind”" usually refers to surface issues that have been filtered through society’s value system. Authentic Process Therapy reaches down past the surface into the deep regions of consciousness to summon feelings that have long been suppressed as the ultimate means of achieving an integration of body, mind and spirit that is often unattainable in conventional 12-step settings, traditional psychotherapy or addiction counseling.

In attaining these goals a helpful device is the use of the The Living Map, in which the healing process is envisioned in the shape of a tree. This bird’s eye view can make the transition into the healing process less frightening by providing an overview of what to expect, and when things get tough, we can return to the bird’s eye view to reassess our position. Most importantly, clients’ trust of their intuition grows during Stage Two recovery, and that it can be increasingly relied on as a compass to guide the individual to wherever he or she needs to be on the tree, and to the people, communities and processes that are necessary for complete recovery.

APT utilizes “”Four Powers”" that dissolve barriers to complete recovery:

1.The Power of Community-based Healing
2.The Power of Shared Intentionality
3.The Power of Shared Belief
4.The Power of Authentic Process
We use the Four Powers to move through various stations of experience toward fulfilling the constellation of shared desires that are inherent in the human condition. Along the way the Tree of Awareness blossoms, producing wonderful and sometimes totally unexpected fruit.

The Role of the Therapist in Authentic Process:

APT is a psycho spiritual approach, meaning that it integrates varied addiction psychology and psychotherapeutic principles merged with modern day and indigenous applications of spiritual wisdom. In spirit, the role of the therapist in APT is much like a shaman. He or she must act as a facilitator, guide, role model and force for healing in both individual and group settings. As such, the therapist is not a removed, clinical authority figure but a special member of the type of therapeutic community defined by M. Scott Peck in his book, A Different Drum as:

“”…a group of individuals who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other, whose relationships go deeper than their masks of composure, and who have developed some significant commitment to rejoice together, mourn together, and to delight in each other, make others’ conditions our own.”"8

Authentic Process Therapy has its roots in the power of the healing community described by Peck, embodied in the 12-Step model and further developed in the concept of “”wisdom circles”" proposed by Charles Garfield, Cindy Spring, and Sedona Cahil.9 In APT, the therapist’s province is defined in large part by the group. A 1993 survey of 130 Stage 2 clients and workshop participants found that the most prominent needs and expectations that recovering people have of their therapists were as follows 10:

•To encourage the client to take healthy risks
•To give feedback, without which therapy would be frustrating
•To provide a role model of what a fuller recovery might look and feel like
•To be interactive and help illuminate dynamics that are debilitating
•To compassionately include and have understanding of the “”shadow self”"
•To understand that therapy is ineffective if a client is suffering an active substance addiction
•To recognize that a new approach/ strategy is required if the process becomes stagnant
•To be confrontational in a respectful manner and in the spirit of illumination

In contrast to traditional psychoanalysis, the community dynamic requires that the client view the practitioner as an advanced traveler or someone who is specially educated in this adventure of life — never as someone who is “”normal”" while the client is “”sick.”" For recovering people, a clinical setting eliminates the spiritual nurturing that leads to healing. Furthermore, the therapist’s removal of the “”self,”" as practiced in traditional psychotherapy can create a painful re-enactment of dysfunctional childhood deprivation. While this might be a treatment goal in psychoanalysis, it can be counterproductive for people in addictions recovery. Instead, in Authentic Process Therapy, therapists and clients work together without hierarchy towards mutual authenticity and community. Everything is discussed, nothing is hidden. APT is not esoteric in nature and is not elitist. People are simply encouraged to speak from the heart.

The Authentic Process approach also eschews transference, the substitution of the therapist for the object of repressed emotions and impulses, such as a parent or authority figure from childhood. This type of relationship makes recovering people feel manipulated, often clouding their continued growth with confusing power dynamics. In APT, therapists are also participants who are encouraged to share their own experiences and life challenges, when appropriate, in order to promote their clients’ progress, either by creating a natural and real relationship, reducing shame, or creating a larger framework in which to process feelings and ideas.

A Combined Approach

The combined approach offered by Authentic Process Therapy has proven particularly effective in enhancing recovery in three major areas:

Overcoming secondary addictions… In APT we recognize that addictions and compulsions are basically coping mechanisms, self-medications to help deal with and further suppress the deeply repressed effects of early and contemporary traumatic stresses, deprivations and cultural prejudices. Until the underlying chaos is released and cleared up, old addictions will invariably be updated with other primary or secondary addictions, in an effort to maintain a feeling of equilibrium and safety when faced with chaotic, traumatic conflicts beneath the conscious surface. With education and “”inner statesmanship,”" these underlying conflicts can present themselves for healing. As we are able to make it “”okay”" for them to come out of hiding, addictions fall away with each exposure.

Addressing Shame… Shame is the nemesis that plagues recovering people in their crusade toward wholeness. To understand the impact of shame-based behavior and ideation on daily life, APT utilizes John Bradshaw’s “”Externalization Process”" technique 11 to consciously make contact with one’s younger self, and with the shame that impedes its further integration. APT is a highly effective way of releasing toxic shame by exploring unconscious material and making it conscious within the safety of a healing community milieu. Carl Jung called this phenomenon “”transcendent function,”" explaining that when unconscious content becomes conscious we experience a sense of clarity, a fuller understanding of ourselves, an experience that goes beyond ordinary, everyday consciousness. 12

Expressing joy… The ultimate goal of complete recovery is the transpersonal breakthrough into what I call “”holism.”" Holism as defined in Authentic Process Therapy encompasses not only the feeling of being whole and complete in oneself, but also of being integrated into the cosmos, one with nature, and connected with all humanity. This holistic experience is accompanied by feelings of great joy, empowerment, creativity and love, from which we can meet future challenges with grace and wisdom. Yet, recovering people are often embarrassed and reluctant to share blissful feelings because they are afraid they will be misunderstood, or that the feelings will not last. Safe friends, communities, or professionals with whom to share these feelings are essential.

Open to All

The freedom to experiment with joy is a giant step beyond traditional definitions of recovery, as well as an issue with which many “”normal”" people have difficulty. Thus, it is increasingly being recognized that the same techniques which empower former addicts toward states of wholeness and happiness can likewise work wonders for those outside of the recovery community who feel empty and unfulfilled. Authentic Process Therapy shares this view and welcomes all comers who recognize the potential for greater authenticity of expression and interaction in their lives. At the same time, APT, with its emphasis on community, continues to offer an important centering point for individuals in recovery. And, because much of the healing and education can take place in groups, workshops or facilitated wisdom circles, the overall cost is less than that of individual care alone.

In helping to fully respect and appreciate one’s own complex nature, Authentic Process Therapy offers clients the opportunity to embark on a most exciting and meaningful inner journey — a path to wholeness, in which recovering individuals not only learn to chart a more effective course through their inner wilderness but to fully appreciate the unsought gift M. Scott Peck calls “”being touched by grace.”" 13

References:
1.Breton, Denise and Largent, Christopher. The Paradigm Conspiracy. Garden City, MN: Hazelden, 1996.
2.Journal of Noetic Science
3.Fr. Leo Booth, Keynote Address, 1999 New York Federation of Addictions Counselors Conference, Albany NY
4.Alcoholics Anonymous. New York: AA World Services, 1955.
5.Bradshaw, John. Healing The Shame That Binds You. Florida: Health Communications, Inc. 1988
6.Larsen, Earnie. Stage II Recovery: Life Beyond Addiction. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
7.African ceremonies
8.Peck, M. Scott. A Different Drum [tbd]
9.Garfield, Charles, Spring, Cindy, and Cahill, Sedona. Wisdom Circles. New York: Hyperion, 1998.
10.Picucci, Michael. The Journey Toward Complete Recovery: Reclaiming Your Emotional, Spiritual & Sexual Wholeness. New York: North Atlantic Books, 1998.
11.Bradshaw, John. Healing the Shame That Binds You. Florida: Health Communications Inc., 1988.
12.Jung, CG. Psychology and Religion. CT: Yale University, 1938.
13.Peck, M Scott. The Road Less Traveled. New York: Touchstone, 1978.

Michael Picucci, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist in private practice in New York City who offers an interactive and humanistic style utilizing somatic and energetic techniques balanced with the more traditional approaches. Michael is available for consultation and can be reached here: http://www.goodtherapy.org/m15_view_item.html?m15:item=frank%40michaelpicucci.net and here too http://www.goodtherapy.org/New-Orleans-therapy.htm

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Like many forms of psychotherapy, there are numerous theoretical approaches to sandtray therapy, but in this article, only two approaches will be mentioned: Jungian and humanistic sandtray therapy. Most Jungian therapists actually call sandtray therapy “sandplay therapy.” Many Jungian therapists believe that that it is unnecessary for clients to discuss their scenes after they create them. In other words, these therapists believe that creating a sandplay scene is in and of itself a complete experience. I would agree that the actual creation of sandtray scenes is very therapeutic but disagree that it is sufficient for growth and change.

In humanistic sandtray therapy, the creation phase of sandtray therapy sets a tone for exploration and discovery as clients look at the miniatures and find connections to them. I usually ask clients to, “Create a scene of your life the way it is now.” Some clients get lost in the process of arranging the miniatures just the way they want them. If the creation phase is a meaningful experience for clients, if they are seeing and thinking about aspects of their lives that they normally do not focus on, then the processing phase-talking about the scene and experiencing it-has begun internally. Moving to the verbal processing phase is much more natural when clients allow themselves to experience the creation phase.

Though it is typical for humanistic sandtray therapists to begin the processing phase by saying, “Tell me about your scene,” the client may be experiencing feelings as she creates her scene. If the client is experiencing an emotion after creating the sandtray scene, I might start the processing phase of therapy by saying, “It looks like you’re feeling something. What is it like to create this scene?” In the humanistic approach to sandtray processing, the focus is on a here-and-now exploration of emotions. During this phase of sandtray therapy, my main goal with the client is to facilitate a process of exploration, expression, awareness and discovery.

Theory of Change
All humanistic therapies focus primarily on the quality of the therapeutic relationship. Humanistic sandtray therapy is based upon a deep and accepting therapeutic relationship and an approach to sandtray processing that focuses on here-and-now experiencing. Humanistic sandtray theory emphasizes the role of awareness in psychological growth and change. I change not by trying to be something other than who I am but rather I change by being fully aware of how I am (Carson, 2003). This theory of change has several implications but let’s focus on two of them: self-acceptance and self-awareness. If I do not have to be something I am not, I can accept myself. In other words, this theory promotes self-acceptance. If I truly believe that deep down in the core of my being that I am acceptable and okay-and many people do not believe this-then being more aware of myself is a good thing. However, if I believe that the real me is unacceptable, knowing myself is not a good thing. In fact, if I believe that who I really am is unacceptable, it would make sense to avoid knowing myself.

Given the importance of awareness in this theory of change, it is critical for humanistic therapists to be highly skilled in facilitating client awareness. By focusing on in-the-moment experiencing, therapists create an environment in which clients pay attention to how they are and what they are feeling. Unlike Jungian sandplay, emphasis is placed upon awareness rather than insight.

Stephen A. Armstrong, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University-Commerce. He has published numerous refereed articles in professional journals including several articles on sandtray therapy. Recently, he published a book, Sandtray Therapy: A Humanistic Approach. He also founded Sandtray Therapy Institute, which provides quality training and publications in humanistic sandtray therapy. The submitted article includes excerpts from his book on sandtray therapy, which can be found on his site.

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