In the city where I live there is a current electoral race going on for Lord Mayor and homelessness is a key election issue. All the various candidates are vowing to “solve the homeless problem” in the city. I fear this may be a bad time for the homeless as this means the homeless are …
Psychology of the court process
A friend recently asked me if I would support her in court, which I agreed to. A person hurt a loved one of hers and I am soon to attend the sentencing with her. She reports that she wants to be there, to see “him go down”. Revenge is an interesting emotion, so primal and …
Psychic organs to ego states
Eric Berne transitioned from psychoanalysis to transactional analysis in his theory of ego states. As Raymond Hostie tells us he began that journey in 1956. There are three psychic organs The Exteropsyche The Neopsyche The Archeopsyche One sees diagrams like this Psychic organs are all connected up with psychoanalysis and it is how Eric Berne …
Regression – defence mechanism & natural human process
The redecision therapy use of regression Regression is the return to an earlier childhood phase of a persons psychological development. It can be both a defence mechanism and a natural human process. As a defence mechanism when a person feels anxiety they cope with it by again feeling and thinking like they were a …
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Two types or levels of life script change
In psychotherapy clients can learn to improve their neurosis For Maria To change the life script theme, is what Willem Reich would call character change (see my book titled The Treatment of Character). This is not commonly done in therapy. I would give a rough estimate of 20% of clients or less top this type …
Identification – Post 2
Identification allows for humans to have their own vicarious experiences Definition of vicarious experience – 1. Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another 2. Experienced or realised through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of another Both of these talk of imagination and thus we could say this process works …
Identification – Post 1
Human identity is a fragile thing. Who am I? is a question we all ask and how we get our answer can depend on a lot of things. Identification is a psychological process that we all engage in, some more than others. Probably all parents identity with their own children to some degree. In their …
Self control. Therapeutic implications
This picture shows a common thought which the eating disordered person can have. Self starvation can be about an attempt at self control and of course we also have binge eating which is out of control eating behaviour. As soon as you start to try and control the Child ego state you are eventually going …
Adult ego state strengthening – Post 4
The final part of this composition on strengthening the Adult ego state seeks a different path. The previous three parts are examining behavioural strategies to assist a person to increase their Adult ego state functioning when under stress. This section will look at some of the underlying causes that may lead to poor Adult ego …
Adult ego state strengthening – Post 3
As mentioned in the previous article on Adult ego state strengthening a most valuable skill for a child to learn is to think and feel at the same time. To do this the child learns how to be in two ego states at the one time. The individual maintains Adult ego state function and Child …
Adult ego state strengthening – post 2
As mentioned in the previous article the Adult ego state is in the here and now whereas the Parent and Child ego states are living in the past. This diagram shows how one can avoid the here and now (H&N). One way to strengthen the Adult ego state is to practice being in the H&N. …
Adult ego state strengthening – post 1
The Adult ego state is suggested in many psychological theories as the state of psychological health. In the Adult ego state the person sees the world as it is in the here and now and the person is not reacting to the world as they did when they were a child. (i.e. not in the …
Working with the homeless in 2020
My new years resolution for 2020? To keep working with the homeless. Why would I make such a resolution? I hope at least some of my reasons are altruistic. I like working with this group people. They are very similar population to the prison population where I worked for a number of years. Psychologically quite …
The politics of diagnosis.
The problem being is the entire Australian population gets pathologized.
Schizoid personality type
I would suggest there are two discrete sub groups in this personality type
Demon subpersonality in nightmares
I have suggested a different approach to those listed above to dealing with the demon and that is to engage with it in the relational.
The life of a PK
I immediately found this an interesting discussion because I am also a PK. I am a psychologist’s kid (or psychotherapists kid).
Contracting in psychotherapy
The problem with demand contracts is the client may just lie to you.
Client’s chair in the therapy room – Part 2
In addition as the client regresses more they become more open to hypnotic suggestions.
The client’s chair in the therapy room.
I have always said that a therapist’s room must be a bit beige, no high fashion and no dramatic statements.
Is it OK for a therapist to be proud of a client’s achievements?
Then I wondered if that is OK to say to a client. I wondered if it was a bit paternalistic
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Therapist self versus the real self
Also if the therapy and therapist is overly sensitive and gentle then the client will tend to hyper sensitise and become ‘worse’ in that sense
Fight, flight or freeze in therapy
The person who flees the scene of an accident or the hit and run driver has the flight response.
The bully victim dynamic
As any child therapist knows the ‘client’ is the child and the parent child relationship. They are a package deal.
Drugs and danger
You can’t keep lying to a group of people and not expect them to work that out.
Working with the demon in therapy
As I said, this was the first time we had ever had significant dialogue between me and this part of her. It will be interesting to see over time what happens, especially her reaction to me.
Death anxiety
One of the goals in trauma debriefing therapy is to reestablish this contamination in the client so they again begin to lie to themselves their potential mortality.
Examination of the demon personality
Instead you acknowledge its power in the therapy process and begin talking to it and forming relational contact when and how it wants. You don’t have a choice to do it any other way. As Berne says, it holds all the cards to play at any time it wants.
Workshop on the demon sub personality.
It is hoped this workshop can happen in the future. And that I can do demonstration leading on the demon in clients for people at the workshop to observe. However that means there will need to be people in the workshop who have identified this sub personality in them selves, as not all people have …
Understanding feelings in others. Is empathy possible?
Empathy is really quite a self involved process that is about self and not the other.
Understanding feelings in others. Is empathy possible?Read More