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#psychotherapy
chrysalis-within · 9 months
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Unresolved abandonment is the root of self-sabotage.
Susan Anderson, The Journey From Abandonment to Healing
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selfhealingmoments · 1 year
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I don’t believe in destiny. I think we can change everything all the time. Accidents are the best things in existence. They force you to leave a route that seemed to be mapped out, and it’s often when you branch out that you meet some incredible person who changes your life or an unusual project that turns your career on its head. It’s often when things aren’t going well that we are forced into doing them differently and they suddenly become interesting.
Jane Birkin
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funeral · 9 months
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Viktor E. Frankl, The Feeling of Meaninglessness: A Challenge to Psychotherapy and Philosophy
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riidethebigsouls · 10 months
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It’s not your responsibility to be a version of yourself that you don’t resonate with anymore, just because people are more comfortable with who you used to be. You don’t have to take steps back in your growth or relive what you’ve outgrown just to keep certain people satisfied.
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digital-medic · 2 years
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Thank to @letstalk.mentalhealth [Instagram] for the graphic!
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psychology-daily · 2 years
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slowandsweet · 4 months
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Every once, if you are lucky, you encounter someone with such powerful and generous light in their eyes that they rekindle the lost light within you and return it magnified; someone whose calm, kind, steady gaze penetrates the very center of your being and, refusing to look away from even the most shadowy parts of you.
John O'Donohue
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sawiet · 4 months
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another one of my toxic traits: i think i can heal without psychotherapy
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cosmonautroger · 4 months
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fretbored34 · 1 year
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Umm did he lowkey invest in a bald cap for this?? 😂
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science70 · 7 months
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The Fields of Group Psychotherapy, edited by S. R. Slavson (Schocken Books edition, 1971).
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chrysalis-within · 9 months
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For all of its pain and intensity, abandonment serves as a catalyst for profound personal growth.
Susan Anderson, The Journey from Abandonment to Healing
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crucipuzzled · 1 year
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About Loid Forger's therapy in SxF manga chapter 77 (Spoilers ahead)
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There's a Freudian text for everything. Today's all about The Question of Lay Analysis (1926), also known as Wild Analysis.
Endo did what I have been planning to do for a comic of my own: depict Loid actually working as a Psychiatrist. While I'm glad he took this path, sadly I can't say he did a good job on it.
As some of you know, I'm a therapist grounded in Psychoanalitic Theory. Yes, I like Freud and Lacan, and no, Oedipus Complex is not what you heard it is. I did a brief analysis of Psychiatry stuff in SxF in the past, and today I feel compelled to repeat that exercise.
Let's go in order.
1. The importance of being a third party
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What's the reason for which people ask a therapist for help, and not their families or friends? What do we have that they don't?
The answer is pretty simple: neutrality. We don't have a side other than rationality and ethics. A good therapist should be able to listen to his patient without losing objectivity.
When you and your patient have a shared, unique shared experience, it's preferable, even ethical, to refer him to another therapist, in order to preserve the higher interest of the patient. The more neutrality you can muster, the better for the curing process. Otherwise, it's really hard to listen to someone else without being constantly reminded of yourself. It turns into a blind spot.
Now, there are exceptions to this rule, but you must handle them carefully, and always putting the patient at the center. Loid openly talking here about how close he is to the hijacking incident doesn't help much.
In short, you have to ensure that your position in the therapeutic process remains an impartial, neutral Other, and avoid becoming a fellow. It's good to create trust, but not too much, just enough to work.
2. Chronic condition (?)
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The biggest difference between a Psychiatrist and a Psychologist is that the first went to Med School. Hence, chronicity is a term that applies mostly for organic conditions, but it's rare in the field of subjectivity.
In my short experience, I've met cases labeled as "chronic depression" being cured. I, myself, cured a case of "compulsive suicide attempts since 15 years old, chronic depression, started hearing evil voices 2 weeks ago". You might think that I'm a great therapist, but it's not the case; it's just that, in order to tackle subjective problems, you ought to go to the root of the symptoms and deal with the subjectivity you find there. Psychoanalitic therapy has proven to be wonderful to treat many conditions that didn't get a cure in other types of psychotherapy.
Of course, it's not a panacea. There are things that we can't figure out yet. But bear in mind that chronicity, in the field of the mind, is more complex than just the passage of time and only a bunch of mental conditions truly admit it.
Jacques Lacan, the most important psychoanalist after Freud, said that the unconscious's track of time is not chronological, but logical. You don't just jump out of adolescence because you turned 18; other things need to happen for you to finally feel like an adult. It's a logical progression. The same can be said about some "chronic" conditions.
3. Explicit Reason of Consultation vs Latent Reason of Consultation
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A.K.A Everybody lies.
Psychotherapy is a really weird thing to learn and master. In Psychology School they teach you that you must trust what your patient tells you, but at the same time, distrust him enough. How to conceal both things?
Well, everything is easier when you take Dr. House's words to heart.
Everyone states a reason for consultation, but that first reason is never the real reason, no matter how reasonable it might sound. The trick to discern what the latent, real reason for consultation is, is to determine what the subjective conflict hiding in plain sight is. Sometimes there isn't any and therefore, a full psychotherapy is not necessary (maybe just assisting someone with some things, being there just in case, etc), but most cases are built upon a conflict.
I'm glad that Loid here decided to act like a good Psychiatrist and took a mental note on the oddities.
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WELL SAID MY BOY, I'M PROUD OF YOU
I want to remark this, because it's discouraging how many therapists oversee this to simplify their job to an extreme. Believe it or not, there are therapists out there that act upon what their patients tell them first. "Hi doc. I came here today because I got an accident and I think I have PTSD". "Ok, I'll have you practice these mindfulness excercises and you should be ok within a month, see ya". DUDE.
4. The place of truth in the context of Psychotherapy
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Ah, the classic temptation of knowing the 'real' truth. Is this patient in front of me bullshitting his way out? Is he in a delirium? Is she telling the truth, or just embellishing her story to make it more believable?
You don't have this struggle once you are certain of your role as a psychotherapist. And your role is to help your patients to deal with their subjective struggles.
In short: Psychoterapy deals with the patient's truth, not with the 'real' truth.
You know who deals with 'real' truth in the field of Mental Health? Social Workers.
We psychotherapists don't need to ascertain our patient's claims. Confronting them with reality usually proves to be fruitless, just like Loid did here ("But you're a respected educator!"). It's way more useful to open the topic by asking more questions such as "How did you reach that conclussion?" "What made you think that way?", or giving a specular answer ("You speak like someone else said that about you", "You're too hard with yourself. Where does that come from?", "It sounds like you're belittling your fear for what your wife could say", etc etc etc).
Whenever you're with a neurotic patient, their own personal truth is the only truth you need to work with. Leave the 'real' truth for people who actually needs it, like Social Workers, Doctors or Judges. Your role with a patient is to make sure that his personal truth can turn into something less painful. No need to talk with their friends and family for info, unless your patient is a child or a teenager; just ask him and stick to what he says word by word.
There's a huge topic about the place of reality in therapy, specially in the field of Psychoanalysis, but if I start this train of thought I'm afraid I'll go down to Hell. If you're interested, I've reblogged some Lacanian pills on this Tumblr, check them out by searching the tag #lacan.
PS: NO LOID, DON'T DO THAT. DON'T BREAK THE TRUST YOU ACHIEVED WITH MR AUSTIN! CONFIDENTIALITY IS A MUST!!
5. Counceling = Psychotherapy?
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Loid is a (fake) Psychiatrist, not a psychotherapist, so I can't be too hard on him. Also I stan this man. I'm painfully well aware that councelling and coaching is an alternative to psychotherapy in other parts of the world, mostly in the US. But let's not forget one thing:
Psychotherapists DON'T GIVE ADVICES.
At least, not the ones that take this job seriously.
Everyone can give advices. Do you want an advice? Ask your family or friends, or post something in social media, or ask a complete stranger in the street what to do. You'll get plenty of answers and advices. Maybe a bunch of them will be really useful. Good!
The thing with advices is that: -They act like a universal recipe for a problem -There's no universal recipe to sort a problem -They don't tackle the subjective root of a problem -They assume that the problem can be solved by something you can do upon your surroundings, when the real struggle stems from subjective problems Some advices do help with real struggles, but when you have a subjective conflict, they barely help; hell, sometimes they make everything worse.
Like Loid here.
Remember when I mentioned that the unconscious mind's track of time is not chronological, but logical? This is a great example. Mr Austin won't be able to properly talk with his wife just because Loid adviced him to; he must solve other issues before that.
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I'm glad we're on the same page on this one
6. Your therapist is not your friend
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Sad but true.
If your therapist is good enough, you won't know many things about his private life. You won't know about his lover, his hobbies, where does he live, what does he fear.
Why the secretism? Because it's useless for the patient. Also because disclosing personal information has the effect of becoming a model for the patient, who would start to imitate you. And finally, because you need to mantain a semblance of neutrality and not getting emotionally close with the patient more than necessary.
PS: It's kinda cute how aware Loid is about Yor's every movement. Kinda. KISS HER ALREADY, GODDAMNIT
7. Talking cure and (how not to use) the divan
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I talked a bit about divans here.
There, I mentioned that you should NEVER PUT A PSYCHOTIC PATIENT IN A DIVAN. NOPENOPENOPENOPENOPENOPE. Well, we can amplify this rule a bit and say that you should avoid the divan with any patient that has a risk of getting seriously upset, like in severe trauma.
The divan is not the only thing that could play against you if badly used. There are cases in Psychiatric Hospitals of patients getting upset because their therapists used the same clothes and hairstyle every single day for months. The point here is that, with psychotic patients and fragile psychic structures (like what happens in traumatized people), you can't use methods that require too much projection.
Also, Lottie here is not performing a Talking Cure.
The divan has been used since Freud to facilitate transference through the Free Association Method. You lay down on it and your therapist ask for whatever crosses your mind first. You don't put a content there beforehand.
(On the same line, if you're a therapist, please refrain from decorating your consultation room with motivational phrases. You're putting words in your patient's mouth before he even starts to speak)
So, it's useless to make Mr Austin lay down on a divan, only to ask him to remember a specific memory. I'd advice (Ha! The irony!) against using the divan here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To finish my Two Cents, I'd like to point some positive aspects of this chapter. It's nice that a troubled person decides to seek for help. There's still a huge stigma about men requiring mental health help, and it's a nice example to settle to portray one actually going to a Psychiatrist. Men usually struggle with their problems alone and they have it rough.
It's also nice that, in the end, Loid could help his patient. I wonder how (How?!), but it probably means that, at some point of the process, he changed his methods for the better.
And yes. Sometimes, helping one single person can change many lives. I'm honored to be able to attest to that :D
As everyone, I'd expect the logical sucession of events that could follow this chapter: Loid realizing he's got a heck of a wife compared to other marriages, appreciating Yor more, and giving us heavy smut cute TwiYor moments. But Endo has proven to be an author that doesn't like to follow logic. So, let's brace for whatever will come in two weeks.
Thank you for reading!
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funeral · 9 months
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Man’s search for a meaning is not pathological, but rather the surest sign of being truly human. [...] How should the clinician respond to this challenge? Traditionally, he is not prepared to cope with this situation in any but medical terms. Thus he is forced to conceive of the problem as something pathological. Furthermore, he induces his patient to interpret his plight as a sickness to be cured rather than as a challenge to be met. [...] The doctor should not let himself be seduced by the still prevalent reductionism into devaluating man’s concern for meaning and values to ‘nothing but’ a defense mechanism, a reaction formation, or a rationalization. The ‘nothing-but-ness’ of human phenomena is indeed one of the foremost features in the reductionist image of man.
Viktor E. Frankl, The Feeling of Meaninglessness: A Challenge to Psychotherapy and Philosophy
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me--do · 1 year
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Maslow’s Hierarchy: A Guide to getting your life together
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After we get our basic needs, we are often stuck on the getting our psychological needs (love, friendship, and accomplishment).
How to satisfy your psychological needs:
Be part of a community through school, work, or organization. Volunteer at a charity or organization of your choice. By doing so, you can connect with other people, build a sense of camaraderie, and learn more about yourself.
Participate in classes, clubs, or an environment that requires you to be active with the same people, and by proximity you can build friendships.
Set challenges that are within your control and win. Honestly, the easiest way to win is to challenge yourself and overcome that challenge. This will boost your self-esteem. Run a marathon, the barrier of entry is low, and the price you have to pay is discipline. The goal is to have a sense of accomplishment internally before the external ones (promotion, dream school, dream job).
Design a lifestyle that is attractive to others: To have an attractive lifestyle is to be comfortable and confident in your skin. You’ve figured out yourself by then. You have hobbies, you know your strengths, you’re building yourself, you have a passion, and you are curious and optimistic. Once you’ve designed your life, it is easy to know who fits into your new life and only the people who value your growth will come to you.
How to satisfy your self fulfillment needs:
Write down your dream life (I am a business woman, who is a philanthropist passionate about neuroscience and social psychology. I often travel the world to give lectures and I sit on the board of some Fortune 500 companies) only you can decide your dream life.
Break down your dream life into bits and pieces and turn them into actionable steps ( I will apply to be a volunteer at the Alzheimer's foundation. I read books on public speaking, I’d learn about the top fortune 50 companies).
Explore your creative ingenuity: paint, dance, write, practice your guitar. Most times it is during these creative moments that we get an idea of our purpose in life.
Introspect: Journal and find out what your calling is. We all have a calling that is bigger than our own desires. Sometimes, it takes personal experience, exposure, or introspection to figure out something we were called to do and once you’ve figured it, start working on it slowly. It’s a journey.
With Love,
Black Pearl.
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