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SOME CURRENT IDEAS AND DEFINITIONS FROM A NATURAL THERAPY VIEWPOINT
(For further info on what natural psychotherapy is all about please click here and go to the Home Page)
Addictions are not diseases: Addictions are not diseases but habitualized decisions to give in to seemingly overwhelming urges. One wishes to escape from painful feelings and have good ones. One is focused on making the present moment better - this instant, now. The immediate goal is to "magically" substitute good feelings of pleasure for one's bad feelings of stress and emotional pain. Letting the moment pass to find better ones: Most, so-called addicts, are just people who have not learned to let the moment of desire pass. They give in to momentary feelings and give themselves reasons to do so ( I'll just do it one more time. Now is not the right time to fight the urge. It's too much stress. I'll change tomorrow, etc., etc.). **** For those in natural therapy it is easier to let the moment pass because they realize they are on the road to find and practice the naturally induced, enhancing and lasting highs of creative well-being, but that to accomplish this, they need to give up the unnatural, damaging, temporary highs of damaging drugs and destructive living. **** The good feelings of the so-called addictions: Why do people decide to pursue the beckoning of the addictive moment? To a large degree because in such moments, often under the influence of others, one decides just to get flooded with good feelings, to experience the pleasures and delights of the habitualized, automatic behavior labeled "addiction." And, at the same time, one wishes to believe that the addicted state is really a good one; the only available surcease of suffering and pain. In such a quest, one generally "just doesn't care about" the harmful effects of the addictive substance, the addictive situation, or addictive behavior. The serious eventual harm to oneself is denied, as is the serious harm to others, especially the emotional pain and actual damage to those one claims to love. The cessation of one's emotional suffering and spiritual emptiness is all one cares about. And the addiction's "good feelings" with which one gets flooded are all that is emphasized and focused on. Addictions are thus active and perpetual states of simultaneous pleasure pursuit, coupled with actual commitment to the present but short-lived intense pleasures. Also, while in an addicted state, many are convinced that they cannot stop the addictive behavior, and in fact, are convinced that without the addictive behavior life would become drab, unbearably boring and too painful to be continued. They are totally unaware of what a natural high is. They just can't imagine what it would be like to be free of the spiritual dependence, and often, actual emotional enslavement to the addiction. And mostly, they choose not to even try to imagine this. And behind this seeming stubbornness of the adherence to the tenacious pursuit of pleasure and cessation of suffering, there is often rage, fear and terror. And it is this state that of course needs to be understood and resolved in the course of therapy. In nicotine addiction, for example, one gets essentially caught up in smoking without clear, slow thinking, in alcoholism, drinking without thinking, and so forth for all the behaviors one feels compelled to continue. One can of course also repeat behaviors, habits, feelings so they are experienced as addiction. Thus some habitually complain, find fault, seek perfection, habitually self-sabotage, depress themselves, etc. Though many (for example, those who use heroin, crack, nicotine, certain foods, certain prescription drugs) are often conscious of the long-term harmful effects, they see only worse suffering as the price for stopping the addiction. And most just have not yet acquired the habit (which they learn in natural therapy) of thinking in calm, reflective and critical ways of the physical, psychological and spiritual positive and negative effects the addiction causes them and others. And they are ignorant of real, natural ways of getting high on creative well-being. Many choose an addictive substance or addictive behavior because it helps them feel that they are OK, and not responsible for their actions and the quality their relationships and their environment. Magical distractions: While addicted, most get "magically" distracted from what is really negative in their lives. The temporary analgesic and pleasurable effects are always powerful distractions. Most choose the distractions so that they can continue to deny the need to face and resolve certain very real painful, harmful, frightening or dangerous conditions in their lives. And often the addiction, such as a sexual addiction or the seemingly compulsive behavior of a sex offender, is actually a symbolic and metaphoric way to deal with real suffering in one's every-day life that one has not dealt with constructively. The addiction thus is an escape, an analgesic that temporarily not only alleviates suffering but also brings pleasures. Yet, in the long run addictions generally compound suffering. And the pleasures fade and disappear. What of course is necessary is active and fully responsible recognition and resolution of one's persistent and very real problems in living. Moving from short-lived highs of an addiction to the long-term highs of natural happiness and well-being: To attain a life of continued well-being, one needs to face (almost always with the help of a caring, compassionate and experienced guide and partner such as a natural therapist) one's frightening state of denying the real horrors, psychological enslavements and lack of self-empowerment one may have gotten into. One certainly does not need some "professional" as "helper" who will drug one even more - even if the drug is called medication, and even if the urging to become a passive, blindly obedient, complying "patient" is called "treatment." For many who have become habitualized to addictive behaviors or substances, the addictive habits seem to be one's only option. And in natural therapy, as in all constructive addiction therapies, one is enabled to start to realize that the addiction can become an escape that leads to Nowhere. A Nowhere of failed personal relationships, work impairment, general psychological or physical deterioration, and even death, of oneself or others. **** Once that harsh reality is realistically, calmly, responsibly realized, faced, and gently thought about, the door is open for natural psychotherapy to be of help in making one's life free and considerably happier. One can make a constructive choice: to commit to learn new ways, ways that lead to the perpetual natural highs of creative well-being. **** And with a serious addiction, natural therapy may need to be complemented with a concomitant change to an addiction-free living and work environment as well as participation in constructive group support, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. And gradually, in natural therapy, most discover that an addiction-free, naturally happy life can be deeply satisfying - forever. They discover that an addiction-free, psychologically fulfilling and love-filled existence can make one feel as if on a continuous high; a life-long creative and productive high of being in a state of natural happiness. And what does such a "high" empower one to produce? One's own coming fully alive, one's own unique creative and naturally happy life! ANGER and ANGER MANAGEMENT The Nature of Anger: When angry, most people desire to hurt someone they feel has wronged them, insulted them or hurt them. And when they just act out their desire for revenge, they can become violent and destructive, belligerent, relentlessly fault-finding, wrathful or bitter. If they suppress or deny the natural reaction of feeling anger, the feeling of anger can simmer and wreak havoc with their psychological and physical well being. If they act out their anger through outbursts of temper and rage it may disturb their physical well-being and health and, in fact, stir up more anger in oneself and escalate into ever-angrier exchanges with others. Natural Anger Management: On the other hand, if people use their natural feeling of anger, not for more anger-arousing thoughts and fantasies, nor for angry actions such as retaliation, nor for an excuse to take drugs or "medications" they can use their angry feelings constructively and in a natural way. They can use the feelings of anger as a signal for the need to evaluate in a thorough and calm manner the context and nature of the situations and relations that caused the anger. And then, they can plan which actions would be in their best short-term and long-term interest. In other words, they can learn anger management: how to (1) manage their feelings of anger and how to (2) manage their thoughts, acts and behavioral expressions of anger. In natural therapy they practice active and constructive problem solving conversation with the natural therapist and thus learn to become free from anger-arousing patterns of self-blame or blame of others. They learn to free themselves naturally rather than with drugs from crippling and damaging denial of justified anger, or from temper outbursts of anger and rage. They learn and practice how to be themselves in constructive ways. Analysis of the causes of one's feeling of anger can be complicated because people often displace their anger from those who may have actually harmed or wronged them, to others who are innocent and whom they use as scapegoats. And often, people misconstrue that others have wronged them, when actually they may not have. And often also, people misconstrue the behavior of others as being good, when in actuality it is quite bad since they are being wronged, hurt and harmed by those others. * * * Anger thus is a powerful emotion that can be one's best friend or worst enemy. * * * One, often forgotten, source of feeling anger may be a desire to avoid facing problems which one can solve in one's current life by generating anger about other situations - ones one cannot do anything about. This kind of diversion to situations other than the ones that need to be improved, occurs if one indulges in focusing on past suffering or on current issues one cannot change. Such diversion also occurs if one does what is very common in our society - one expects instant and perfect performance in situations in which learning over time is realistically necessary to do well. Using Feelings of Anger Constructively: Anger is also often generated by frustration in relationships - feelings of disappointment, injustice, deprivation, hopelessness, humiliation, shame, or fear. If one is radically honest about the real roots of one's angry feelings, one can often find intense and long-existing frustration behind the anger. This is the point at which one can finally free oneself from the pervasive anger or rage. One can learn how to make intelligent and fully responsible decisions and choices about issues that need to be addressed rather than evaded by distracting oneself by indulging in angry behaviors and actions. And it is at this point that natural psychotherapy can be of definite help. It can help one decide whether the situation can be dealt with realistically and constructively, or not. If not, then one can learn how to let go of it, move on, and not focus on it. If, on the other hand, one can deal with the anger arousing issues calmly, responsibly and realistically, then one can focus on what one can actually do and what the situation realistically and morally calls for. One can practice how to calmly evaluate and discuss one's angry feelings and refrain from angry actions. Sometimes this may require dialogue, sometimes self-assertion, sometimes actual force and assertive action and sometimes avoidance of a relationship or situation. Interestingly, once one has enacted these choices responsibly and constructively, it is almost impossible to stay angry. Then, the impulse to act with anger will remain just that - an impulse - and the otherwise devastating effects of intense or lingering feeling of anger will disappear, over time. Natural psychotherapy thus focuses on the importance of using feelings of anger in constructive and responsible ways. THE ROLE OF ANGER IN GOOD OR IN POOR RELATIONSHIPS: If the anger is not just an escape and has to do with a relationship, this means something very specific. In a good relationship it means using the feeling of anger as a signal to talk constructively - and absolutely without blame. In such conversation with the person who makes us feel angry one learns calmly to talk about what it was that made us feel so angry, one can discover and feel the feelings (deprivation, disappointment, helplessness, injustice, fear, etc.) behind the anger. In a relationship that is basically not good this may not be possible. Thus in a situation in which the other person doesn't care at all about what we may or may not like, and may in fact be glad that we are angry or that we suffer, something else may be called for. Then it may be important to face that truth and free oneself from what may have been a harmful, anger-arousing relationship from way back. Though angry and disappointed in such an event, one may also be grateful that one finally sees the truth that one's anger correctly points to. The feeling of anger can thus help one remove the veil from one's eyes and leave a relationship that regularly disturbs one's equanimity and well-being. In such a situation the truth can really make us free - free to continue self-growth and the development of a joyful and spiritually fulfilling life - a life of natural happiness. However, in a good relationship, whether friendship, work relationship, marital interaction, couple relation or any loving interaction, feelings of starting anger can be used as a signal to assert oneself, to start constructive, non-angry, problem-solving dialogue. In authentic, responsible relationships of good will one can avoid using actions of anger destructively. One can learn to avoid expressing it by actions which hurt the other psychologically or physically: temper outbursts, blaming, name-calling, insults, fault-finding, withdrawal, letting it simmer, leaving the relationship, compulsive complaining, etc. Using feelings of anger constructively as a signal to think, to calmly evaluate, to talk and act in responsible and moral ways are possible, but experienced as very difficult tasks for most people. Such an approach is probably one of the hardest achievements to attain for some, until they actually learn how to do it. And interestingly, they find out in natural psychotherapy, often for the first time, that this is a very necessary skill to have if one strives for greater well-being and happiness. But they also find out that this skill can be acquired through natural learning processes. Anxiety is simply a warning that something in one's life has gone - or is about to go - amiss. It is a signal that a problem has gone unattended, often suppressed from conscious awareness or just denied. While anxiety is unpleasant, and severe anxiety most unpleasant and painful, anxiety always represents an opportunity to examine those elements of one's psychological life that have been left un-addressed. Anxiety is a call to pay attention, to become aware, to become conscious of problems one needs to deal with constructively. Some are dominated by their impulses and others by ideas as to what they "should" and "should not" do, or even think or feel. An Automatic "should" can so dominate one's life that all can appear bleak, boring and depressing. What "should" I do? is the question a person dominated by the "Tyranny of the Shoulds" asks automatically. And then, many a person will automatically, and without thinking, repeat a learned automatic command, or will automatically obey and carry out whatever he or she has been taught by one's family or culture. Such automatic responses are quite different from a creative response to a more thoughtful question: What do I really deeply desire and want? Here one has to step back before answering: one has to think, evaluate, deliberate and then choose what one wishes and what one thinks and judges to be in one's best interest. It is important to keep in mind that a person dominated by impulses and automatic stereotyped responses in situations that require judgment and evaluation will eventually experience life in as bleak, boring, frightening, threatening, and depressing. So-called "bipolar disorders" are characterized by pervasive and intense moodiness, going to extremes of optimism and pessimism. Often in such emotional states, the constraints of one's social world, one's economic situation, socio-cultural and religious ways of life, and consideration of what is prudent are ignored - often in extreme ways. One can become swayed into foolhardy, socially inappropriate, extremely unacceptable, illegal and self-damaging actions if one has, over time, become habituated to such ups and downs in mood and extreme acting out. The person may feel powerless to resist not only the intense feelings of depression, elation, or "manic" actions, but also may feel powerless to resist the urge to act on these experiences of overpowering emotions. At such times, in-depth understanding together with calm and mutually agreed limit setting in an atmosphere of empathy, care and love can have dramatic therapeutic effects. In some cases (as in insistent suicidal, homicidal, "manic," or mutilating behaviors) tranquilizing drugs may be necessary on a very temporary basis (often of just a few days) to achieve initial calming of the very intense feelings and urges to act out. Thereafter, with the calm reassurance of natural psychotherapy real healing of the inner emotional turmoil resulting from an understanding of the psychological reasons for the very intense emotions, can take place. And mostly does. (see also DEPRESSION) Thus, if one is committed to natural therapy one can learn how to achieve positive, constructive and lasting resolution of the so-called "bipolar disorders." Brain surgery should obviously never be performed as a substitute for psychotherapy. Such procedures should only be used if medically called for to treat otherwise untreatable organic, physically demonstrable disturbances of the brain, such as tumors, abscesses, hematomas, certain head trauma, etc. What every human being wants and needs to give and to receive on a regular basis. When people don't give or receive care and love they become angry, sad, suspicious and often violent. The professional and popular literature is replete with references to chemical imbalances. Empirical research does not support the popular idea that chemical imbalances precede and cause psychological disturbance or disorders. The facts are: Psychological problems that are unbalanced and situations that are not in balance can cause chemical imbalances and bio-social problems. * * * Thus, there are no chemical imbalances causally preceding psychological and social problems, oppression or injustice. Any chemical or physiological disturbances or imbalances that exist, follow and do not precede one's psychosocial problems. And, of course, there are no laboratory tests in existence for the so called "chemical imbalances" supposed to cause "mental illness." If anyone claims such a lab test exists and that anyone can take it, get the name of it and send an e-mail with the information to Dr. Riss, and he'll have it checked out by a qualified professional and let you know if the test is valid. Habits which one feels that one is compelled to do and repeat. Actually these habits are unconsciously chosen to distract one from solving serious problems one has. Compulsions are often metaphors of one's un-faced and unsolved problem. The imagination is creative when one lets it be free, playful, original, inventive, and yet at the same time expressive of, and guided by truth. CRYPTIC SYMBOLIZATION AND COMMUNICATION In natural psychotherapy, delusions and hallucinations are regarded as natural adaptational responses and not, as they have been mainly regarded throughout history, expressions of "psychiatric diseases" or of the "devil" or "gods". Why have they been regarded strange, "crazy," or "supernatural"? They appear these ways because generally their meanings are hidden; they are cryptic, their meanings are denied, secret and mystifying. However, in the safety of a clarifying and self-empowering psychotherapeutic situation all one's hallucinations and delusions can be discussed, explored and gradually understood. They come to be understood as what they are: creative skills and not failings; strengths of the creative imagination and not diseases to be squelched by psychiatric drugs! In natural psychotherapy delusions and hallucinations are seen as adaptive and imaginative responses that can be either expressive and constructive, or just expressive. Delusions are considered as the cognitive, and hallucinations as the perceptive responses by imaginative and creative people to heightened emotions or to overwhelming stress. Both are adaptive expressive responses when, like weeping, temper outbursts or grief, they express the emotions that are overwhelming but that are relieved by the emotional release. They are adaptively expressive and constructive when they ameliorate overwhelming feelings and counteract painful experiences in the manner that emotions aroused by humor, music, drama or religion do: by evoking good and comforting feelings while clarifying the very painful problems from which one suffers. Thus, through therapy even frightening and terrorizing hallucinations or delusions can be understood and used constructively to improve one's life situation. The cognitive aspects of delusions and the perceptual ones of hallucinations are always based on some realistic features of reality and on some illusory ones. In natural psychotherapy both the negative and positive aspects are explored in terms of their psychosocial effects on oneself and on others. And in natural therapy they are further explored in terms of temporal factors - whether they are immediate and current responses to overwhelming stress, or whether they have become habitual and automatic over time and are rooted in one's personal, family, or cultural history. Depression is Not a Disease: Depression is not a medical disease but a natural and expected normal emotional biological and psychological reaction to depressing situations. Depression is a very real and very painful experience. It is always a signal that one should respect and attend to. This means putting as much effort as necessary into exploring which factors in one's life underlie feeling down, sad, helpless, hopeless and in despair. It always is extremely important to explore the depressing aspects of one's life, rather than hiding what is going on from oneself by seeking the false quick fixes seemingly offered by street drugs, prescription drugs, alcohol or false hopes. The evidence now is overwhelming that depression is not a physical disease or illness. The misinformation that it is a physical disease, is based on the bad science, the illogical thoughts and the arrogance of the psychiatric community and the greed of the pharmaceutical industry. In mild depression one feels down in the dumps, lethargic and blue. In severe depression there is an intense and all-consuming feeling of loss, of lack, of dark despair, regret and guilt that one has done something "wrong." One is convinced that one has reached a dead end, has run out of options, is physically sick, and deteriorating. Often severely depressed people feel that the spark of life has gone out, they feel nothing, just lifeless. They feel empty and hopeless! They feel dead! And often the meaning behind feeling dead is symbolic of "not being" - not being and not living as the human beings they really are: persons empowered to shape, and actually shaping, life in meaningful, loving, fulfilling ways. Natural therapy - focused on constructive positive psychological change can help depressed people come alive again. They can be rid of depression by clearly seeing and patiently learning how "to be" - how to be reborn, how to come alive through the positive acts of life they have given up or have never had. The Role of Anger: Also, in the throes of a stormy depression or one of total passivity and withdrawal, there is mostly no awareness of the anger and rage that is often being suppressed, denied, and turned back onto oneself, frequently in the form of relentless self-blame and guilt. This is done quite automatically and one generally has no awareness of the unconscious destructive agendas at work. Further, if instead of acting constructively one stays passive and unaware of the very real and serious relationship and situational issues behind the depression, then generally one compounds the already utterly overwhelming conviction of guilt, paralysis and hopelessness. Medication and Electroshock Not Necessary: The current general psychiatric view is that with severe depression medication or electro-shocking is absolutely necessary if one does not want the depression to get worse. However, according to many researchers and clinicians, and as so clearly expressed by Antonuccio, who has done extensive research on depression, the overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that "there is no stronger medicine than psychotherapy in the treatment of depression, even if severe." The chapter on depression in my forthcoming, "Natural Psychotherapy - What It Is and Why It Works," reviews the accumulated evidence. In the meantime, if you are interested in some of the evidence, I suggest the article by Antonuccio, Danton and DeNelsky that appeared in The American Psychologist, the official journal of the American Psychological Association, in 1995(see reference on the Readings page), entitled: "Psychotherapy Versus Medication for Depression: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom With Data." There is another research finding that indicates why one should not be using medication, especially for severe depression. Research has shown that antidepressants are the most common agents used in suicide by poison. They also account for over half of the serious overdoses in adults. Medication, touted as "treatment" may, as Antonuccio, et.al. point out, actually "become the agent of death." It is therefore important to keep in mind that natural therapy's self-empowerment and the unlearning of learned helplessness in a consistently loving atmosphere of deep caring and utmost respect are able to help with the process of overcoming the unconscious resentments underlying depression. Since natural therapy focuses on self-empowerment, it is especially effective in helping one get rid of feelings of helplessness. People learn how to stop the ways they have acquired to distract themselves from the constructive actions they need to take. Natural therapy is also effective because it does not further damage the depressed person with the serious and often very harmful physical and psychological side effects of antidepressant drugs or the uses of electro-shocking, brain implants, various patches, brain surgery etc. And furthermore, if one is truly committed to natural psychotherapy, one can learn how to restore one's natural strengths and resilience to cope constructively with the psychological problems, emotional distress, exploitation, injustice, conflicts, dilemmas, self-damaging and depression-manufacturing habits, superstitions, distraction, lies and false assumptions that may be fueling one's depression and despair. One can learn how to specifically and methodically substitute positive, constructive actions to actually become able to rid oneself of one's feelings of despair, helplessness and hopelessness. In natural therapy one always can learn constructive change: how to move from one's passive state of depression to an active state of constructive actions and positive well-being. ECT As far as ECT (electro-convulsive-shocking) is concerned, as one neurologist (Sydney Samant, M.D.) put it: "As a neurologist and electroencephalographer, I have seen many patients after ECT, and I have no doubt that ECT produces effects identical to those of a head injury. After multiple sessions of ECT, a patient has symptoms identical to those of a retired, punch-drunk boxer... After a few sessions of ECT the symptoms are those of moderate cerebral contusion, and further enthusiastic use of ECT may result in the patient functioning at a subhuman level. Electroconvulsive therapy in effect may be defined as a controlled type of brain damage produced by electrical means." Has ECT gotten better and less harmful, as many psychiatrists claim? According to Peter Breggin, M.D. who has some strong views on this, ECT has become more dangerous since the current doses are larger than those used in earlier clinical and research studies. Let us remember ECT is fundamentally traumatic in nature and produces delirium and global mental dysfunction, memory loss and potentially severe neuropathology and brain damage. Genetics is the science and study of the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and variation of biological characteristics. In genetics, to inherit means to come into possession of biological, physical characteristic from an ancestor. It is important to recognize that what is actually inherited is always a physical characteristic, not ever a psychological trait or characteristic. Thus a person may have "high intelligence" if the kinds of brain cells, their structure and capacity for physiological function are of one type, and may have "low intelligence" if of another type. The psychological trait is not inherited, but the underlying anatomic and physiological characteristics are inherited, and of course, continually modified and influenced in their manifestations by the environment. This is elementary, but often forgotten. When biological psychiatrists speak of schizophrenia, or depression or any of the so called "psychiatric diseases" as being inherited they make the mistake of confusing the physical and biological with a way of life and with the psychological. Actual and observable biological factors could be inherited and it would then have to be investigated to what degree. But the scientific facts are that a way of life cannot be inherited. It is learned and acquired and continually modified by, and interactive with, its environment. HAPPINESS MENTAL ILLNESS Thomas Szasz has maintained that all so-called "mental illness" is a myth, and before him, H.S. Sullivan regarded even what is today called "serious mental illness" like "schizophrenia," as being not a physical disease, but actually being caused by social and psychological "problems in living." Both expressed the conviction in their writings that these very interpersonal and human problems, respond to interpersonal and human approaches of therapy. And both, although doctors of medicine and professors of psychiatry, had no problem in accepting and advancing that important truth in the many scholarly books and articles they published. (Please see bibliographic section on Sidebar by clicking Readings). The basic concepts of natural psychotherapy are based, to a large degree, on their findings, very extensive experience, and very logical and carefully thought out conclusions. Either a crie du coeur (cry from one's heart) about one's life situation or an indication that one is making significant progress toward becoming truly free and independent. Or, as is the case with really severe panic attacks, both at the same time: one realizes one must change, but one is in a state of fear about "dire consequences" if one actually undertakes positive changes. But in either case panic attacks are very powerful, emotional signals that one needs finally to become aware of certain negative aspects of one's life one has denied. It is an adaptive natural wake-up call to address them constructively. This crie du coeur is characterized by an experience of severe fear and intense emotions. These emotions often are so intense that they result in powerful and very frightening physical reactions such as fainting, difficulty in breathing, crying, sweating, palpitations etc. And these physical reaction then result in new fears that one has something actually going wrong physically. But in actuality, of course, the physical reactions are simply temporary products of one's panic. As with general anxiety, panic is a call (though more insistent and frightening) to pay attention, to become aware, to become conscious of problems one needs to deal with constructively. * * * In natural therapy, panic attacks become less intense and less frequent as one gets to understand what the panic is all about and as soon as the underlying causes are identified and one starts and then continues to deal with them in a straightforward, self-caring and gentle manner. * * * But in all situations, it is not advisable to rush or be impatient. First of all, it takes time to fully understand the truth in its fearful complexity. And secondly, once one is in touch with what factors may be behind one's panic attacks, it also takes time to develop a new perspective. And it takes time to practice a more constructive way of life. It is important to remember that if one takes the time and focuses on the practice of new and more constructive ways one can be assured that one's panic attacks will evaporate and disappear. And in sharp contrast to the short-lived quick fixes of psychiatric or street drugs, the panic attacks are gone forever from one's life. But should they return, one knows how to handle them in more constructive ways. One is already practiced in seeing them as signals. One already knows that one must deal with certain newly unfaced crises that must be addressed and solved constructively. PARANOIA Paranoia is psychiatrically defined as a mental disease or disorder characterized by delusions of persecution and/or delusions of grandeur. But from a natural psychotherapeutic view, paranoia is neither a disease nor a disorder. In natural therapy it is understood rather as historically based in one's childhood and family history and as a very real and very painful experience of despair. An experience in which one feels alone, not cared for, not loved and not cherished. An experience in which no matter how much one was actually mistreated one was not permitted to voice one's pain, resentments, rage and despair. The paranoid person thus feels despairingly alone, and always in danger of getting harmed, hurt, persecuted, damaged, or killed. And, above all - not ever understood! As a way of survival, of not getting annihilated, one becomes suspicious and mistrustful of others. The paranoid mistrust is a way of assuring one's survival, in the best way one knows. It's a powerful emotional attitude of: beware, be careful, watch your every step! At times, one becomes very suspicious and frightened of certain others and at times of all others, including people one used to feel close to, as well as of strangers. The world then becomes a dangerous place. One feels totally alone! The first goal of natural therapy is help such a person to feel understood. Not questioned, not judged, not "diagnosed" as abnormal, but totally feeling that it's completely OK to express one's pervasive suspicions, paranoid convictions and intense rage. The primary goal is to enable the paranoid person to simply feel just understood. It is only after that difficult goal of being understood and feeling understood begins to be achieved that the natural therapist can start to become an ally in the battle "against" the persecutors. And that is when the actual dialogic, holistic, natural, psychosocial therapy can begin. But that is generally a long and very difficult road to travel. Yet it can be traveled and can succeed. The problems, confusion, and false ideas that prevail in modern biological psychiatry about the concept of "schizophrenia" cannot be ignored if one wishes to have a balanced and realistic view of the experience of "madness" or what has been labeled as "schizophrenia." There of course have always been some psychiatrists who have vigorously attacked the current, common false views of biological psychiatry. Natural therapy as an effective, alternative approach also makes it clear why the conclusions of the following seven world-renowned physicians and psychiatrists makes such good sense. Even though they have been a minority, their arguments are powerful and you should find them encouraging and convincing. Until their views are presented in this section, please check them out on the Internet. Each of the following psychiatrists and psychoanalysts have held that "schizophrenia" is not a medical disease and that it is thoroughly treatable by psychosocial therapy. Their evidence will soon be outlined in this section. They are: Peter Breggin, R.D. Laing, Adolph Meyer, Loren Mosher, Harold Searles, Thomas Szasz, H.S. Sullivan (In the meantime, please click on Readings and References on the left Sidebar). SPIRITUAL In natural psychotherapy the spiritual refers to those experiences people have which enliven, animate, make them feel connected to, and in harmony with themselves, the infinite mysteries and truths of life, nature and the cosmos. A deep spiritual experience makes us feel keenly aware: psychologically awake and perceptive, experiencing not just life but also meaning, purpose, deep inner joy. In a deep spiritual state we feel a connection, a sense of compassion, love, understanding and inner wisdom. Such an experience is wholly different from the ordinary and mundane. The spiritual in us thus has to do with feeling united with, in communion with, in a deep relationship with someone or something we love, admire, are in awe of. In such a state we feel in harmony with all around us: all that is alive, others, and the wholly mysterious universe - as when one looks, by oneself or with someone close, into the vast sky on a clear starry night. Often in such an emotional experience, ethical and moral strivings become strong, one feels a convincing sense of having been brought together with something deeply mysterious and powerful beyond the senses and the tangible, beyond our material, mechanistic make-up. In such a state one accepts the reality of, and also transcends, the suffering and horrors of all existence. And what this spiritual experience actually is to a large degree, is a holistic psychological merger of human imagination, thought, feeling, reason, strivings, values and will. And also, when the spiritual is experienced, it is deeply and peacefully joyful; fulfilling; love-filled; and integrating! Although Aristotle’s philosophy is a philosophy of theoria, we must remember that his concept is not that of theory in the modern sense. What Aristotle meant, was that to be a full human being one must devote oneself to contemplative activity and a life of the intellect. True love refers to a love that is an amalgam of caring, loving, erotic attraction and excitement that one has, and is honest about, with another. True love can start as just erotic passion. Or, it can start as erotic passion and evolve into honest communication, commitment, and trust. And as trust increases, so erotic excitement. However, when mistrust or resentment are unexpressed, both the feelings of love and of erotic attraction will decrease, and may eventually die. They can generally be resurrected though, by means of consistent, loving and honest communication. For some individuals loving and honest communication may be difficult at first, but they find that it gets easier with practice, especially with the coaching of a natural psychotherapist. Each human being has unique ways of relating to the world. Empirical research shows that such a natural uniqueness is present even in genetically identical twins in the womb. When one's unique ways of relating to the world are interfered with in infancy (or at any time in one's life) severe stress reactions occur. And natural bio-social stress reactions can then mistakenly labeled as "mental illnesses." The interferences that may block actualization of one's true self may of course be due to inner unresolved conflict or outer pressures and oppression. In natural psychotherapy one learns how to maintain and further develop one's natural true self, in all its complexity. Since the world is in constant flux, the adaptational true self is essentially one's unique, natural and authentic ways of response and relationship to the ever-changing world. And these ways are, of course, always related to one's values, goals and purposes in life. The true natural self is thus the multiplicity of one's unique, complex and infinitely varied ways one relates to others and to one's infinitely varied environment. The true self is characterized by one's ever-evolving and ever-changing perceptions, intentions and plans regarding one's conceptions of ever-changing reality. Both Martin Buber's ideas and some of the concepts of Zen Buddhism have especially influenced the approaches of natural psychotherapy to these issues. Trust is a complicated process. What makes it so complicated and difficult to experience is that in its natural form it is always intertwined with mistrust. And since true love cannot exist without trust, just as even the actual psychotherapy process cannot exist without it, how does one develop trust? To learn to trust someone one must first use one's natural capacities of observation and reasoning and conclude logically whether that person actually exhibits trustworthy behavior. Thus one must become naturally aware, without inhibition, defensiveness, or wishful thinking what logical conclusions one can draw from one's observations. One must, in a sense, at first, sort of mistrust the other person sufficiently to observe whether she or he can be trusted. One cannot trust blindly or automatically. But at the same time one must trust oneself sufficiently to trust one's observations and one's capacity to draw logical conclusions from them. This of course is an integral part of natural psychotherapy: getting in touch with one's natural and innate capacities to observe and draw logical conclusions about oneself and one's relationships to others. What especially helps in natural therapy is learning that trust is a result, an interactive product. Trust is always a product. But a special type of product. It is what I call an interactive product – a product that changes in relation to one’s interaction with another human being. Thus if one finds –over time – that one can trust someone, trust starts to evolve. But once the other person starts to lie, cheat, betray, or perform any action that is untrustworthy, the feeling of trust starts to erode. People who mistrust others often believe that trust is just a state of feeling that one either has or does not have. They try to just decide to trust someone, feeling they “should” trust someone because of a certain social status in relation to oneself – a parent, teacher, sibling, relative, authority, friend, lover, spouse, partner, professional, socially successful person, etc. – should be trusted. Of course, they have a hard time trusting. They think trust should just be there, without realizing that it is always an interactive product – a product, a result, that comes about only with trusting interactions over time. One of the most harmful admonitions one can be told as one grows up is have a parent say: “Don’t trust anyone.” What they should say is, “Don’t trust blindly, automatically.” The Buddha committed this error when he said (supposedly, his dying words), “Don’t trust anyone, just yourself; don’t even trust me.” What he might have said with more psychological validity is “Don’t trust automatically, but always observe and evaluate whether someone or something can be trusted.” Those who are in lonely despair and feel utterly hopeless because they are afraid to get involved with anyone since they mistrust everyone, can learn in natural therapy how to get rid of their aloneness and despair. They learn this by coming to realize through the therapeutic process with a trustworthy therapist, that the natural human condition involves both trustworthy and untrustworthy relationships. It's not just as simple as believing no one at all can be trusted. As a general example one can say that the mother-infant relation, if it is, in the words of Winnicott, one that is “good enough,” is one in which trust can develop. On the other hand, one’s relation to a con-artist and habitual liar is one where trust cannot develop, no matter how hard and persistently one may attempt to do so. It is especially difficult to permit oneself to develop trust over time if one has been repeatedly in relationships in which one was hurt and disappointed by lies, obfuscations and betrayals. One then naturally dreads getting deeply hurt again and again. One often feels one is destined to be always alone because of the lie one believes that no one at all can ever be truly trusted. The therapeutic tasks one then has are the following: to start to reach out to, and interact with, others; to learn how to become empowered to shape one's life positively; to know how never to be a victim; and then to choose to be bold and leave one’s isolation and loneliness by starting relate to others. As one starts to seek out persons one can eventually feel one can trust, one has to remember how important it is for oneself to be someone others can come to trust. Many learn - often for the first time in their life - that to be honest and worthy of trust oneself is necessary if one ever wants a satisfying relationship of mutual trust. To achieve a mutual relationship of trust on thus needs to be bold and reach out to others, to relate naturally to others, to get involved with and communicate freely and honestly with others while fostering one’s powers to observe clearly, to reason clearly, and to judge calmly and with clarity – over time – whether someone or something can be trusted. A parent who just tells a child that it is bad to trust others is actually lying to the child by not telling it the whole truth. In fact, the parent is showing the child how to manufacture paranoia and mistrust. The whole truth that should be expressed seems to be: "Don’t trust blindly, but always observe, reason and judge with as much clarity and honesty as you can muster." That, of course, includes the application of that process to one’s own intuitions, reasons and judgments. And once someone does that and concludes, over time, that it is safe to trust another person, and that the other person can safely alsobe trusting. one can begin to have deeply satisfying relations. Relationships based on mutual trust. One then realizes one can that one actually can achieve what is most important in life – a trusting relationship. One starts to realize that in order to have good, loving and caring relations – to oneself and others – trust needs to be there. One realizes that for the good, worthwhile life, trust is what it’s all about.
Truth is elusive, can only be approximated, and is most likely to change with ongoing scientific research and increased accumulation of what seem to be the best descriptions of reality at a particular period in human history. Most people, especially infants and children, dislike finding out that they have been lied to. Yet, most people also seek stories that will comfort them, give them a sense of meaning, give them a sense of security of being part of a group, make them feel accepted, loved and cared for, and help them feel less alone and fearful. For many there is conflict between the desire for truth and the desire for comfort of acceptance and approval by a group to which one belongs. Such a group of others, can be family, friends, or any other type. And such acceptance and approval alleviates the pain and suffering of life in a vast, impersonal, awesome universe. When reality is oppressive, exploitative, filled with pain and suffering, the conflict between the quest for opiates and the quest for truth can become acute for some, but is solved for many by choosing opiates over their conceptions of the truth. Yet the conundrum that arises in every natural psychotherapy session is the following: lies and stories that are opiates are deceiving and breed ignorance and powerlessness, while truth is freeing, empowering, and the only road to a meaningful, truly good and satisfying life. (See the Theory and Practice page on Truth and Reality) Wu wei is a concept that is highly relevant to natural psychotherapy, both in theory and in practice. Wu wei (pronounced woo way) is a Mandarin Chinese word meaning spontaneous action occurring in a natural way. Almost like a reflex; an action as spontaneous response to something. It's a kind of natural activity, a "letting go." It is an approach that makes it more possible to take charge of one's life in a positive and constructive way. Literally, wu wei means action with no action. Letting oneself relax, sort of not acting, yet everything is accomplished, naturally and easily. Wu wei implies that if you relax and take it easy, things get naturally done. The closest in English may be "Easy, does it," since that expression also implies that if you relax and take it easy everything gets naturally done. The martial art of Wu-Wei Gung Fu regards wu wei as being relaxed physically while mentally alert and natural: awake, aware, and ready to do what is necessary. It does not mean inaction, but absence of rushed, agitated action. Wu wei is doing what comes naturally, what the reality of the situation requires. It is the kind of natural action that occurs when one permits oneself to experience a quiet awareness of what is really going on, and then going where the reality of the situation takes one when one is authentic and aware. |
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