Monday, January 30, 2023

Bibliotherapy - Persuasion by Jane Austin, Love or money?



What happens when we dismiss love for ulterior motives? Persuasion by Jane Austin describes the situation through the perspective of Anne Elliot,, a middle child of an aristocratic family in England in the early 1800s. Some consider it Austin's greatest novel.


Anne is dissuaded from accepting Frederick Wentworth’s proposal of marriage because he has no social status and no money. Anne’s family and friends are very class conscious in a time when a woman’s place in the world depended more on her husband’s status and wealth than on her own.


Vanity trumps love and the novel is about the suffering that results..


The story is one that occurs in a historical context that society has evolved through and yet the back story about the importance of love in our life satisfaction and fulfillment is enduring.


Given the customs and norms of the times the story is interesting and believable. The characters are well developed and gain our sympathy and empathy. The moral of the story is not to let ulterior motives squash love. The question of love or money is as alive today as it was back in the 1800s.


Articles about bibliotherapy appear on Markham's Behavioral Health most Mondays and accessed by clicking on the tag "bibliotherapy" at the bottom of the post.


Sunday, January 29, 2023

Psychotherapeutic humanities - Knowing about, and experience.


There is a big difference between knowing about something and experiencing it. When working with people with substance misuse problems they often ask the counselor if the counselor is in recovery themselves. The saying in AA and other twelve stop programs is that “it takes one to know one” or as my friend, Jim, told me one time, “Dave, you can’t bullshit a bull shitter.”

Of course to expect that a helper has had personal experience with the problem influencing the helpee is unreasonable and unnecessary for the helper to be empathetic and understanding. Often the helper has vicariously experienced the problem from the stories of other helpees and from works of art, the most relevant being fiction, nonfiction, and films.


The three main factors of helpful bibliotherapy and cinematherapy are trust, connection and action. Trust meaning that the fiction or nonfiction seems realistic, authentic, relevant, and believable. Connection meaning that the reader, viewer, can identify with the characters, and action in the sense that the scenarios, interactions, and dynamics can be replicated.


Can we experience life vicariously through the artistic rendition of other people, events, and dynamics? Absolutely, and this living vicariously can help one become wise, compassionate, knowledgeable and helpful.


Art facilitates the growth of the soul, not just the intellect. A competent helper needs both intellect and soul.


Articles about the Psychotherapeutic Humanities appears on Markham's Behavioral Health most Sundays.


Saturday, January 28, 2023

Article of the Week : MAiD (Medical Aid in Dying)

In Canada, some US states, Australia, and few other countries doctors will help you kill yourself or even do it for you. It is called “Medical Aid in Dying.” It seems if you are old, poor, and mentally ill you may be a prime candidate to save the government and health insurance companies the expense of helping you stay alive and enjoy an even minimal quality of life.

Canada’s MAiD program is one of the world’s most extensive such programs. In 2021, it was used by 10,058 Canadians – about 3 percent of Canada’s recorded deaths that year. 

Ebersole, Phil, Rx: Assisted Suicide For The Sick, and Poor.



For more click here


Article of the week appears on Markham's Behavioral Health most Saturdays.


Friday, January 27, 2023

Seeing what we usually don't allow ourselves to see.

 


It is called "confirmation bias." "self fulfilling prophecy," "projection," "displacement," "stupidity," "the shadow," the "unconscious."

Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living.

The Oracle At Delphi said that  we should know ourselves.

Psychotherapy is an uncovering process. It helps make the unconscious, conscious.

Freud said that we can either talk it out or act it out.

Milton Erickson encouraged us to see what we don't allow ourselves to see.

Quotes from the psychotherapy masters appears on Markham's Behavioral Health most Fridays.

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Music Therapy - But I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For, U2



Some have called “But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 a gospel song. Perhaps it is called a gospel song because it raises the question about what we are ultimately yearning for, our Transcendent Source.


Many people come to psychotherapy with multiple complaints but the underlying dynamic is always that they haven’t found what they are looking for often not knowing what it is that they are looking for.


When we look in the right places we find peace and bliss but when we look in the wrong places we find fear, guilt, shame, and depression.


A good psychotherapist is a guide who helps the client find what they are ultimately looking for. U2’s great song can be the song track for the drama that unfolds in any good psychotherapy.


Music therapy is a regular feature on Markham's Behavioral Health which appears most Thursdays.


Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Cinema Therapy - Dead To Me

Dead To Me - TV series, three seasons

Secret keeping

Dead To Me is a TV series with three seasons currently streaming on Netflix. It is the story of Jen Harding, a realtor whose husband is killed in a hit and run crash as he is jogging on a dark night on a suburban road. Judy Hale is an activities therapist at a nursing home whose fiance just broke off their engagement. Unknown to Jen, Judy was the driver who struck her husband while driving a car home from a party when her fiance was too intoxicated to drive. The fiance convinces Judy to keep on driving. Judy, out of her guilt, decides to reach out to the grieving widow, Jen, and they become best friends.


The series is a dark comedy but the characters are well developed and the scenarios very believable. As one watches the episodes the veracity of the plot is believable and both characters are likable. The problem is that they both lie to the other about essential events and therein lies the creative tension of the story.


The therapeutic elements of the TV series are based on the keeping of secrets which one's partner has a right to know. How do these secrets influence the dynamics of the relationship and what is the best way to manage them?


As the episodes are watched, the secrets slowly emerge, and another question arises about whether the strength of the friendship can overcome the resulting disillusionment, resentment, fear, and guilt. These are human situations which we all face in our lives when we have done things of which we are ashamed and guilty and fear punishment. How are these feelings and situations to be managed best?


This TV series is recommended for people interested in the best way to manage secrets and work through the consequences when the secrets come to light.


Cinema Therapy is a regular feature on Markham's Behavioral Health which appears on most Tuesdays.