Category: Uncategorized
-
The background story to my way of practice
Conventional therapy is rooted in spoken language. Beginning with Freud on the couch, it was a monologue, analysed by an analyst according to pre-ordained themes. From there it developed to where it is today, with conversation focused on the biographies and on the thought processes of the speaker, and on patterns of relationships – also…
-
Suicide in Primary school children
In a previous blog, I wrote that I could do a whole blog on suicide. Little did I know that I would write a follow-up. In the past two weeks, two grade 7 boys have committed suicide in my region: Both boys attended caring schools, with committed headmasters and teachers, good governance, and proper anti-bullying…
-
Are we Overemphasising Emotions?
From the ” Emotions?” post series. First some anecdotes I overhear a mother on a playground responding to her son, “But if you don’t tell me how you feel, I can’t help you.” How I wished that I could respond like a tennis umpire, “Off!” My daughter, aged 16, went off to boarding school. She…
-
The Pretense of Happiness, the Existence of Despair: The Myth of Authentic Living & the Downside of Gratitude.
The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know the world will tell you. C.G. Jung The idea of authentic living, as opposed to false living, has a long history. The idea of an inner nature that can become corrupted, resulting in an inauthentic life, is a philosophical concept that…
-
Pathways to Depression & Why Images are Necessary for Healing
In the following days I will write about Psychological factors that are pathways towards depression, as well as consequences of them. Finally I write why I believe that using only words in therapy is not sufficient for healing. The Absence of Adoration A baby is born, and there you have it – the expectation of…
-
Thriving
I send out a whatsapp: “I am doing a small informal survey: Would you mind giving me 2 examples as a child when you felt like “thriving”. Mine, for example are, doing my homework on my own, and riding my bike from athletics back home.” I have some ideas about thriving, but like to keep…
-
Thriving vs. Surviving
It is a common human experience this; surviving rather than thriving. Many of us live like that: We are grateful for small islands of thriving amidst an ocean of surviving. Living with satisfaction is an encompassing topic that covers a range of possibilities from “The Power of Positive Thinking” to “Man’s search for Meaning”, as…
-
Do Dreams Play a Part in the Continuation of Maladaptive Human Behaviours?
Why do eighty year olds still feel pain for having been inadequately parented, and this despite having been not-so-good parents themselves? Why does human nature not improve over generations? It seems to me that human nature, unlike science and technology, is repeating itself. This led me to wonder – do dreams play a part in…
-
Letter to a Young Woman, Home from a Clinic.
Dear Samantha “First impressions counts”. My first impression as I look through the car window: Steely. Broken. Two oppositional realities. I notice a small internal movement; a sharp intake of breath. And have the immediate thought that I must meet you as an individual. You had arrived, pale and retracted, sitting at the back in…
-
How to Respond to a Young Person in your Care once they Return from Rehab or a Clinic:
The precarious balance between caring and confronting. All parents of growing children have to find a balance between discipline and freedom. These are value-based decisions, and a familiar source of conflict between parents. You do want your children to be able to take care of themselves once they grow up, yet you also want them…
Elzan Frank 