Free Thinking Psychotherapy ©
YOUR HIGHER MIND
YOUR MEANINGFUL LIFE
David M.
Schachter, M.D.
Susan DePalo,
B.S.N., R.N.
Provincetown, Massachusetts
USA
__
LGBTQ
___
Email:
Schachter-DePalo@freethinkingpsychotherapy.com
USA:
508-413-9242/3
www.goodtherapy.org/Provincetown-Therapy.htm
PSYCHODYNAMIC
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Addressing Anxiety,
Depression, Anger,
Family and
Relationship Disturbance,
Sexuality, Gender
Issues, Loss, Grieving.
Positive Problem
Solving.
Enter YOUR Higher
Mind.
Depth Awareness of
Self and Others.
Empowerment.
Liberation From
Emotional Bondage.
Reduce Unnecessary
Pain and Suffering.
Exploration and
Discovery of YOUR Meaningful Life.
Intensive Therapy for
Chronic and Crisis Situations.
Avert
Hospitalizations, over- and mis-medications.
_____________________
Talk
Therapy
Problem
Solving
---
Individuals, Couples, Families
---
Sliding Fee Scale.
We Keep Our Costs Low
To Keep Our Rates Low.
LGBTQ
---
David M. Schachter, M.D. Susan DePalo,
R.N., B.S.N.
508-413-9242/3.
________________________________
Here is a brief video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTj4M7DNOGs
_________________
NEW ESSAY
TOPICS
UPDATED
FREQUENTLY
____________________
March 7, 2012
___________________
[Please see new essay on suicide
prevention]
Introduction.
Our primary
goal in psychotherapy is to address
and alleviate emotional pain and anger. Emotions
are real and powerful and need to be honored and understood on their own
terms. As we clarify these feelings we
can trace their origins, as well as the adaptive, navigational choices we have
made to get where we are. These choices
that we have made in order to survive and cope are a major part of our path to
freedom and resolution, empowering us to go forward in greater command. Beyond
blame, villains, victims and vengeance, or bondage to a preordained outcome, we
recognize deeper reality and advance our personal capabilities.
Sources of pain and anger are many and multiple. Our emotional center lies within our relationships. Born to families, we are bonded to and formed by them and are connected throughout our lives. Primary love, its absence or abuse, is basic to who we are, forms our beings, including how we see and feel about ourselves and others, our abilities--or lack of--to relate and function and feel that we are valid and can have impact.
We spend our lives in efforts to cope and contend, escape from or resolve powerful feelings of confusion, conflict, and often deep anguish. Symptoms are innumerable, including anxiety, depression, anger and violence, low self esteem, ‘dysfunctions’ of all kinds including work, school, romantic, sexual and gender conflicts, spousal, parenting… The sense of helplessness in the face of misery may be the most powerful demon we face. Relationships from childhood continue, and the issues laid down evolve. We try to work them out, choosing people and activities complimentary to those in which we are engaged. This occurs with activities and associates, work choices, locale, religion, politics. If we have an abusive parent we will encounter this ‘person’ over and over, attempting to correct the person, ourselves, the circumstances, seeking vindication and resolution.
In therapy we begin by identifying matters on their own terms: symptoms, obstacles, conflicts, pain and anger, together with the cast of characters involved. Emotional support is primary. Then the issues themselves are explored further to identify and clarify their inception. There are continuing themes, and choices we have made in adapting to and contending with what (and who) we are in the midst of. Our Higher Mind knows most of what is really happening, and when not restricted by suppression, repression or censorship of any kind, will help us sort out our own personal priorities and possibilities.
Sanity? There is no resting place to strive for where everything falls into place and goes smoothly. We can learn about our own desires, needs and goals free of predetermined conclusions set arbitrarily by culture or class, by our parents or even ourselves. Self esteem and confidence are needlessly impaired by labels that serve only to increase anxiety, defensiveness, guilt and anger, and cloud regions badly in need of clarity in order for us to navigate life and make meaningful choices.
Free thinking is the process whereby we grant ourselves total unrestricted access within our minds, to whatever may appear. These are then guideposts to let us know what matters most to each of us individually. Normally we are constrained by culture, family, personal fears, usually all bundled up. If one allows one’s mind to wander, it will cut across barriers.
Crucial for us here is that in this work there is no preconceived, prescribed, predetermined outcome. On the contrary, it is for our purposes vital to help access Your Higher Mind, which is to say your own unique perspective on whatever or whomever is involved, that you may feel more in control of directions and decisions that will enhance Your Meaningful Life. The will process will enable others to do so as well. We don’t act on everything that appears but can observe, notice and choose what is important to us in the navigation of our lives. In fact, when allowed to happen, an act of will is generally not even required as our higher mind will sort out on its own. It knows what is real, what is possible and what is meaningful. All aspects of experience are relevant--physical, cultural, emotional, interactional, metaphysical. Communication with others is vital, yet begins and depends upon our ability to communicate well with ourselves. And as we learn what is meaningful to us individually, it will extend to those we care about.
Techniques include interactive guided therapy to provide support and direction in taking on life’s difficult, and sometimes very scary, encounters. Particular meditative techniques can be taught to those ready to take on what may appear, in which we become more comfortable with what is, and the real and truly satisfying possibilities that may be.
______________________
________________________________
Alternative Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
David M.
Schachter, M.D.
Susan
DePalo, R.N., B.S.N.
.
Provincetown,
Massachusetts
www.freethinkingpsychotherapy.com
LGBTQ
First, a view of what has happened in psychiatry and especially
psychotherapy in the last 30 years:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/health/policy/06doctors.html?_r=2&hp
We have been in the practice of
medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy on the outer Cape since 1975. At this time we practice psychotherapy
alone. We have concentrated on
psychotherapy in order to do the very best work possible in this area.
We
do not take insurance. In this
manner we separate ourselves from a very costly bureaucracy that both dictates
what work may happen, while at the same time robs both sides of
confidentiality. Our care is managed
only by those directly involved. We guarantee confidentiality. Our rates are very flexible, to the persons
or situations.
We
do not maintain an office. The office is cold, neutral and
impersonal. We thus save enormous
amounts of practice related expense, the savings passed on to clients. We work over the phone once a quality
personal contact is established, or go to someone’s house if desired.
We practice intensive psychotherapy, exploring deeply persisting themes of
suffering, doing the work of resolving, freeing and empowering all
involved. In addition, we work
intensively during crisis situations to avert hospitalization/incarceration,
shock treatments, over-medication or mis-medication, chemical lobotomy. During such times we work with family or
whatever relationship network is most relevant as well. Visits can be daily when needed, with rates
per visit reduced accordingly to an agreed weekly rate among those
involved.
When medication is needed, we have access to a network of specialists,
uniquely qualified, concerned, compassionate and experienced, gathered by us
over the years.
Each person is unique, including
experience, personal makeup, perspectives and emotions; the individual’s
personal validity is key and central, and at least as important as any
particular category, including diagnosis, age, gender, class or culture, etc.
In our work family and relationship dynamics are vital to see the threads that have lead to where we are and thus the resolution that will be most positive, effective, and lasting. In going directly to the heart of the matter, improvement occurs quickly and powerfully. Getting better and happier is real and palpable.
______________________________________________________
Resumes
Dr.
Schachter
Undergraduate, Columbia University,
1961-64. Major sociology and
anthropology. Graduated Phi Beta Kappa,
Cum Laude.
Medical education. University of
Internship, Rochester General Hospital.
1969-70; Medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, emergency medicine.
Residency in psychiatry, Yale University
School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, Connecticut Mental Health
Center. 1970-71.
N.I.H. fellowship, 1971-73. NICHD—Child Health and Human Development.
Private practice 1975-- general practice,
internal medicine, psychiatry & psychotherapy. Together with Susan DePalo.
Currently practicing psychotherapy in
Provincetown, with Susan DePalo.
Ms.
DePalo
HS:
R.N., B.S.N. Southern Connecticut State College, 4 year nursing leadership program. Intensive training in psychiatry-psychotherapy at Yale University Department of Psychiatry, inpatient unit. Completed 1974.
1975--
practice in medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy together with Dr. Schachter,
Wellfleet and
Currently in psychotherapy practice with David Schachter.
__________________________________________________________
Dr. Schachter and Ms. DePalo have practiced medicine, psychiatry and psychotherapy since 1975. Currently we limit to psychotherapy alone, with advice and direction toward other practitioners or services when needed. We do not take insurance but prefer the privacy of the work to remain so. We do not prescribe, but evaluate diagnostically and direct toward any medication necessary. We do not maintain an office but will come to where you are, where you are most at ease, in your natural environment.
__________________________________
Here is a lecture we gave:
David
M. Schachter, M.D. with Susan DePalo, R.N.
INTERACTIVE LECTURES: The New Physics and The
Expanding Mind: A Meaningful Life.
Introduction:
Unitarian-Universalist Meeting House, 236 Commercial Street, Provincetown. Admission Free
The New Physics allows a broadened perspective on reality:
less concrete, more fluid, beyond the three dimensional. The brain performs at unimaginable volume and
speed. From static materialism to
instantaneous ‘non-causal’ energy dynamics, we have communication within and
outside the brain, without theoretical limit, to all of our selves, experiences
and beyond.
The Expanding Mind embodies these capacities. It comprehends the true laws of nature, does
our quality thinking and planning for us, oversees our interactions with others
in realms of body, mind and spirit.
Human Relationships—understanding of bonding and interaction
dynamics are enhanced, empowerment enabled without sacrificing emotion. Beyond victims or villains, we may take
responsibility, utilizing navigation and choice.
Techniques giving access to these matters and realms include interactive therapy,
seminars, meditation, …any and all manner of experience that allows us to go
deeper.
________________________________________________________
___________________________________________
Also:
It’s all happening at
SEASHORE POINT
Reservations Requested for All
Events
Call 508-487-0771 for more information
FREE THINKING PSYCHOTHERAPY AND MEDITATION – A Series
THURSDAYS AT
FEBRUARY 4 AND 18;
MARCH 4 AND 18, 2010
Presented By
David M. Schachter, M.D.
FEBRUARY 4
– “Your Higher Mind, Your Meaningful Life”
Gain
access to your inner life via your higher mind that knows all, and trace
events, people and experiences, recognizing adaptive choices made along the
way.
FEBRUARY
18 – “Your Emotional Lineage”
Trace the
line of emotions and relationships from birth into your family, the highs and
lows experienced, shaping your being into adulthood.
MARCH 4 – ‘Borrowed Time, Found Time… Living in the
Third Realm”
The Third Realm is a space where we can see
what it all means. Less connected to
matter and more to spirit or essence, here is true miraculous magic, where
things may happen that cannot in the more mundane battle
strewn everyday world.
MARCH 18 – “The New Physics… Old Souls, New
Vistas”
Aided by new discoveries in physics we are liberated
from a static concrete linear three dimensional ‘reality’ into one of
enormously greater fluidity, matching more closely our actual experience.
_________________
_____________________________________________________________________
We offer consultation and continuing therapeutic guidance and teaching techniques to improve our sense of our own quality, and empower our strivings for understanding and progress. We may be contacted by email, followed by further modes of contact if desired:
Schachter-DePalo@freethinkingpsychotherapy.com
__________________________________________________________
_____________________________________
_______________
We will post essays
on particular topics that are both of general interest and may serve
to clarify the basis of our concepts and work.
Here are some titles. We suggest you scroll down for articles and updates:
General Therapy Notes
Trapped: When Bonding Turns To Bondage.
On Suicide and Family Secrecy.
Free Thinking, Free Choice.
Your Higher Mind.
Your Emotional Lineage.
Borrowed Time, Found Time
Living In The Third Realm
Human Evolution and
Humanity the Species
New Physics, Old Spirits:
A New Model For Reality
Your Meaningful Life.
__________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
General
Therapy Notes ©
The therapy process addresses emotional pain
and anger, how they began, and have remained and evolved over our lives, and
are playing out currently. In childhood
we need love. When it does not come or
is abused, we feel pain and anger, right from the start. These are called the formative years for good
reason: bodies, minds, emotions, relationships, politics… all are intertwined
and in development from conception to our physical demise. Our therapy is primarily focused upon
emotions and relationships, with all the expressions of these included. Often people wonder why they must spend so
much time immersed in the past--how important could it be for the present? They are one, an unbroken thread. A child who is fed but not held does not
grow, thrive, even survive. Love and
affection are between two or more beings.
A relationship is an entity, as two elements of any kind may combine to
form a new entity greater than the sum of its parts or elements. All a bit abstract, but important to
assimilate.
So let’s get real. We experience current day suffering of many
kinds: symptoms of anxiety, depression,
misery, worry, confusion, rage, apathy; habits of eating, drinking, substance
addiction, poor sleep, fighting; work
may be frustrating, unsatisfying, incapable of supporting us. Relationships with parents are as suggested
of central importance, not just in childhood but throughout our adulthood. Then relationships with friends, lovers,
spouses, our own children can be rough to say the least. We may feel chronic pain and anger,
victimized, guilt provoked, rejected, lonely, engulfed, communication
disasters, isolation, love addiction…
Self esteem is vital, and originates in how we are treated as
children—we were good or bad, important or not at all. Connectedness may be both positive and
negative. An angry bond is all too
common. Generally, fathers foster
feelings about and relationships with men, mothers with women. Family themes, interrelationships, loyalties
and enmities shape our beings, feelings, choices of partners, image of our
selves, work options…
The therapy process clarifies current matters
of concern, then connects these up to our lifelong themes to see in depth the
drama in which we are a part.
Understanding the thread of relationships, emotions and adaptive choices
we have and continue to make is crucial.
Not for an arbitrary world view but to truly empower us. So many forces dis-empower us, it is no
wonder we often feel hopelessly oppressed, by ourselves, others, ‘life,’
politics, society, religion, and on. An
example, rough and approximate: we are in a romantic or spousal relationship
where we feel abused, lonely, angry, helpless…
we then discover it is exactly like how we felt with our parent of that
sex, and pretty much repeatedly with important close relationships. So what?
We’re doomed? Why bother?
First it is important once again to recognize
the origins of pain and anger, here feeling abused by the parent causes
pain. Pain causes anger: someone steps
on your foot, it hurts and you get angry.
These childhood hurts are generally repeated to become a pattern,
causing wounds of trauma, shaping our beings and relating themes. Further, on closer examination, there are
‘reasons’ why this hurt is experienced: another family member’s fault,
economics, you’re a bad child—ornery, uncooperative, etc. We have then a constellation within a
relationship--many relationships in fact.
Within this are loyalties to the parent which must be adhered to or face
worse punishment—even total banishment or risk of life and limb. Generally communication regarding these
matters is taboo within and without the family.
Acknowledgement, even recognition, are forbidden. Personal guilt, culture, all and more dictate
silence. So we are fully locked in—in comprehension, outlook, behavior, even our
thoughts. We humans think primarily in
terms of fault and blame, a villain and a victim. The answer is generally revenge, or at least
to stop the behavior of the offender.
Not surprising this is a consistent aspect of our current
relationships.
So let’s end it all and get it over
with. Not. Go back to childhood and recognize the drama
in greater perspective, the enforced loyalties, enmities and the adaptive
choices we make in the midst. The pain
and anger must be raised from the unconscious to the conscious, recognize their
origins and continued forces to maintain the status quo. But we win when we can recognize that we have
made choices all along: not so much edicts of what happens but of our reactions
and then contributions. This level is not
about blame but the laws of nature.
These are not absolute behavioral edicts so much as navigational within
the waters we find ourselves. ‘My mother
was abused by my father, therefore I must support her in all ways’, including
maintenance of her perceptions, attitudes towards men and women, choices of
partners, behavior within relationships, sense of who I am… We try to keep the peace, avoid or prevent
further hurts or battles. We all go through these things and all must take back
our selves if we are to have meaningful lives.
‘Unconscious’ parts include taboos within the family and culture as to
what may be acknowledged—a very common experience as we all know—to protect
egos and actions, what events are whose fault.
A status quo is created where roles, thinking and interpretations are
fixed. It is not about vengeance or
vindication, simple or simplistic ‘solutions’ to caricatured problems, a quest
for a perfect life, spouse, child, even sanity.
Recognition of the true laws of nature, human and otherwise, including
our own navigational choices makes us able to use our higher minds in
meaningful directions. We strive
valiantly for independence with mixed success, where parental approval,
acknowledgment and love are sought. Yet
eternal frustration and anger with ourselves and others seem relentless. Part of the solution is to see our impact, or
effects within a difficult reality. The fact that we have one means we have
power!
[to be continued]
_________________________________________________________
Trapped:
When Bonding
Turns
To Bondage
©
_______________________________________________________
David
M. Schachter, M.D.
Susan
DePalo, R.N., B.S.N.
3/7/2012
All people share a deep desire for
close family relationships, from the family we grew up with to the families we
create as adults. The strength of this
desire and the power of the bonds that occur are huge and dominant in our
lives. However bonds created early are
not always of a positive nature, yet they go on to influence us to repeat many
of these negative aspects with new people, over and over. People, beginning with our parents, also have
great effects on our self image, esteem, who we associate with and what we do
with our lives—education, vocation, etc.
So we may become trapped in a reality—a job, a locale, activities of any
kind—as well as one or more relationships.
___>>>
We humans are social creatures. Our family attachments are crucial beyond
description. In our work we see the pain
and anger that result when these connections are damaged or distorted. Each of us feels the need for unconditional
love, protection and nurturance.
Conflict, however, is a reality of everyday life that is present in all
families. We are born into a family
network that has an ongoing drama with established characters and the roles
they play. We are enlisted into this
drama, given our individual role, including positive and negative attachments
and identifications that shape and define our being. We become closer to one, more distant or
antagonistic with another. Conflicts
within families tend to be powerful and enduring. The alliances and enmities formed early are
embedded within us and continue to have effects throughout our lives, as we
find ourselves drawn to partners complimentary to these issues that seem to
repeat relentlessly the conflicts we were raised with and vowed to avoid.
________________
In our work we see daily how
strongly humans crave the closeness of family relationships. Whatever else happens in life generally pales
in comparison to the depth of happiness these ties can provide, or the
loneliness and pain if they are not present.
Or bonds may exist, but seem only to frustrate and confound us as they are
confusing, inadequate or outright abusive to us, body and soul. Too often we seem to lack the ability either
to improve their quality, or escape them.
Often we don’t even know why we suffer in life and how it may relate to
our families. Human bonding is one of
the most powerful forces we know and experience. As far as our sense of well being—or not—is
concerned, we do not live in isolation, even if sometimes we may wish
otherwise.
We are born helpless, needy and
demanding, all necessary for survival in our highly socialized species. The bonding process actually begins at
conception, or before as far as issues between parents are concerned. The fetus ‘knows’ if conditions are right, or
not: nutrition, stresses physical and emotional, and is affected by them
all. Then we come into the world in the
midst of ongoing family relationships, positive and negative, a drama in
process in which we receive a role.
First we want nourishment, not to be
taken for granted, in quantity or quality or atmosphere. We need to feel loved, from the very
start. Babies who are fed without being
held do not grow well or thrive.
We need to feel safe and
protected. When family fights go on they
threaten our whole existence and leave marks of pain and fear. When fighting is quiet and denied the effect
is no better, often harder to see clearly.
We are not static beings, but always
in growth, flux and change. Our initial
aspects at birth include genetic heritage, culture, economics, etc. The family ‘drama’ is not meant to be a
negative term but more as a play in which various characters already exist, and
we then occupy a role, as directed by gender, personality, and the place we
occupy within the drama. We may be
closer to one parenting figure, less so to another.
Bonding
is built in within our species.
As forces of nature go, human
bonding is one of the most powerful we experience. It is real and far reaching in both space and
time. Not an individual psychological
quirk, but a true and organic phenomenon.
As subatomic particles and energies form the atom, and atoms into
molecules, with all their internal dynamics and further interactions, so we
humans bond in highly intense ways, complex yet available to our understanding,
having laws governing the activity like any other we can observe once we learn
how to see the process and its aspects.
This is not detached science but includes the emotions we all feel,
powerful yet not ‘rational.’ We
understand bonding not by eliminating our emotions but by including them. Our quality of life—happiness or otherwise—is
an emotional experience. Further, our
emotions do not exist in a vacuum but are deeply connected to others in our
lives.
Bonding begins with our parents’
attraction, preceded by their own genetic, emotional, bonding status. Conception is literally a bonding event. The conditions of the pregnancy affect the
fetus, including an overall sense of whether things are right or not. As we can see, we address the bonding process
as an interaction, of matter and energy, creating an entity that is both unique
yet following common laws. The better we
can understand these, the easier we may navigate their pathways and
vicissitudes. As we shall see, much,
even most of this is already known to us, if unconsciously, within our higher
minds, which we may access once family, social and cultural censorship,
suppression and repression are suspended.
The unconscious, rather than Freud’s
repository of sexual thoughts, is where the vast majority of our mental,
emotional, intuitive and psychic life exists.
The conscious is focused mostly upon immediate practical and physical
matters. In the course of the family drama,
roles exist and are rigidly adhered to, rationalized, justified and dictated to the various members. Oversimplified laws of loyalty or enmity
demand the child to chose who is close, who is hostile. Love or hostility cause relationship
character as self determining attitudes prevail: if one parent uses the child
to criticize or antagonize the other, the criticized parent will inevitably
resent the child. Then the child
‘dislikes’ men or women, must protect or rebel against whichever, see
themselves as these battles dictate, etc.
One parent (or both) may abuse the child severely—mentally, emotionally,
physically and/or sexually. So often the
child is blamed by the parent(s) for being difficult, contrary, stubborn,
etc. The child’s self esteem is both
lessened and distorted in particular ways: ‘I am useless and can only antagonize
people.’ The remainder of the child’s
life may be spent attempting to repair these inner ‘defects,’ finding other
types of people who don’t treat them that way, but the internal sense of self
laid down early is very powerful. To
make matters worse, the loyalties and enmities created in early family life
continue to have great power and we are compelled to vindicate the ‘good’
parent and prove the ‘bad’ one wrong by who we choose and what we do… all of
which still may have little or nothing to do with our own personal unique needs
and values. A trap? We guess so!
[Bonding à
bondage. Ties that bind; emotional power, other directed, not mutual…] guilt, threats, safety, security,
advancement, protection of others… ]
beliefs, values, norms.
[mental censorship – undone via higher mind
work.]
____________________________________________
Here is the
experience of a young woman in our community:
____________________
Trapped
Trapped in a world
Not my own.
Where pain resides
And happiness won’t grow.
Sadness builds
In every soul.
There’s never a happy ending
Or a smiling heart.
Disappointment is around every corner.
I can’t find my way out
The walls are closing in
On this morbid paradise.
I fear I won’t make it
I can no longer breathe.
What’s happening to me?
Why can’t I get home?
I’m trapped
For eternity
In a world
Not my own.
Angela Martinez, Grade 11. Provincetown Massachusetts Banner, Sept. 30,
2010, PHS Foghorn.[1]
Next, an article that
appeared recently is self explanatory, very vivid and haunting: it does not need to be applied literally,
details may vary, but the overall feeling and dilemma are all too common. It is linked here and printed in its
entirety, as per the instructions of the author.
[to be continued soon]
____________________________________________________________________
On Suicide and Family Secrecy
SUICIDE AND SECRECY ©
Getting Help: Overcoming the Family’s Shame and Guilt.
Cape and Islands Suicide Prevention Coalition
Barnstable County Dept. of Human Services
Thursday,
May 19, 2011
Suicide is a terrible and painful event--for the individual, those close to them and left behind, and the entire community. Few events evoke such anguish and we wish help could have been found. We imagine the mental and emotional pain felt by the person committing suicide, carried often for very long periods of time. Getting help while there is still time is vital, yet presents a complex set of problems. CISPC is doing a heroic job developing an organization that spreads the word, educating, networking, connecting people and agencies, making help accessible and helpers to know how. Part of the task is overcoming our general aversion to thinking about something so painful, yet so close to us all, carrying the impression nothing can be done. Suicide arouses a worried response and a general tendency to avoidance. Legitimizing the topic is a major step, and the communications of CISPC go a long way toward that end.
“…training is conducted by National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
New Hampshire and is sponsored by the Youth Suicide Prevention Project*, Barnstable County
Department of Human Services, and The Cape and Islands Suicide Prevention Coalition. Connect Suicide
Prevention and Intervention training is designated as a National Best Practice
program and utilizes a unique community based, public health approach designed
to increase competencies in recognizing and responding to individuals who are
suicidal or at risk for suicide.”
We offer here an attempt to deepen our understanding of the process that we all might recognize warning and danger signals even more clearly. Clinicians deal with emotional and psychic pain on a regular basis, noting clusters of signs and symptoms that make up a condition, allowing a more focused response. Regarding suicide, necessary to discover are warning signs that might prevent that awful outcome, and to be able to treat people heading in that direction or having survived an attempt. Some of the known factors include severe depression, pervasive guilt, anxiety, low self esteem, poor relationship experience, addictions, poor school or work performance, and many others, including thinking about and even discussing suicide by the person in danger. The presence of childhood trauma is universal. Items observed include abuse--emotional, physical or sexual; a battered parent; household substance addictions; mental illness in the household; incarceration of household members… These are worthwhile to become aware of for anyone interested in the prevention of suicide—the signs that point in the direction of danger. Key here and most frequent and prominent is the finding of childhood trauma—child abuse—within the household and family and/or immediately contiguous to it.
We are often left wondering why the person did not seek help, avoiding and even refusing it. Shame and stigma cause the person to hide their condition, with catastrophic result. In our time help is available in so many forms, thus it is truly tragic. Further, there is a glaring contradiction here. Suicide goes against the grain of self preservation. Internal conflict reaches its greatest heights. Torn between the powerful life force, the will and desire to live, grow and thrive, countered by such pain and anger that can only be resolved through ending life altogether. Anyone in a suicidal state knows it isn’t ‘right,’ something is very wrong, yet keeps the feelings and the intention secret rather than crying out for help that might relieve conflict and be able to continue to live.
Understanding of this contradiction may be found in the history of child abuse from within or very near to the family. Why must suicidality be kept so secret? Reasons are many and multiple to be sure. However the shame, pain, anger, guilt and fear involve the very family itself. Put most simply, a powerful contradiction and source of irresolvable conflict is that, while abuse is going on within or near the family, and serious harm is being done, “we do not reveal family secrets!” The taboo against ‘outing’ the family is more powerful than the violations going on in or around it. Other factors operate as well; here we wish to address this one, for clarity. Our example below will illustrate this point vividly. There are many reasons help cannot be found, sought, or is rejected. Socioeconomically, nobody might even care about a particular situation.
The family is meant to be our refuge. Life-threatening experiences within the family create a dilemma: to reveal the problem may very well endanger the family’s survival. The family is our unit of nurturance, protection, food and shelter, launching pad into life, an entity unto itself. It is also our most powerful source of authority, right and wrong, self esteem. If something goes on that jeopardizes the standing of the family in the community, all may be in danger of being lost. ‘Deviances’ from community norms must be hidden... sometimes at any cost. Often such families are observed to be rigidly ‘respectable’. The self image of the family within the community is generally perceived as highly moralistic, admired by the community or church or political group or business or school—any entity that defines what a high quality family should be. Divorce is avoided, even at times when it would provide relief from a hopelessly unhappy situation; all moral, social and cultural taboos observed to the letter, or transgressions adamantly denied.
The problem is that perfection is impossible. It is doomed to fail, a contradiction in terms on its own. Families live under impossible expectations. We report a fifty percent divorce rate in America, and those that remain intact are fraught with stresses of all kinds: individual, marital and extended family, economic, racial and religious, class conflicts… Yet the bond is deep and powerful. The vast majority of child abuse is never reported. Children discovered to be suffering abuse generally do not want to be taken away from their family, but only for ‘mommy and daddy to be all right.’
As a poignant example powerfully demonstrating some of the issues we wish to highlight, we will use as illustration the suicide note of a successful 27 year old young man, Bill Zeller, reported publicly not long ago, and done so with Mr. Zeller’s restriction only that his note be published in its entirety, thus affording permission. Before his note begins his situation is described:
http://gizmodo.com/#!5726667/the-agonizing-last-words-of-bill-zeller
His note goes on at length describing painful aspects of his life. It is well worth the time to read it as it is a powerful experience. Here we will abstract and focus upon ones that describe the conundrum he was faced with and, by his own assertion, lead inexorably to his death at his own hand.
“My first memories as a child are of being raped, repeatedly. This has affected every aspect of my life. ” “…I would feel inconsolable rage, but I never connected this to what happened until puberty.” “The darkness is with me… every hour of every day.” He remarked upon “…the darkness and evil inside me.” Any type of intimacy was impossible for him, perhaps his greatest complaint in addition to the relentless depression and pain he experienced.
“I’ve told different people a lot of things, but I’ve never told anyone about what happened to me, ever, for obvious reasons [emphasis ours]. “...people simply cannot keep secrets.”
“I feel an evil inside me. An evil that makes me want to end life. I need to stop this. I need to make sure I don’t kill someone…” [The anger part]
Here we will quote one paragraph at
length as it refers directly to the issue of seeking help:
“There's no
point in identifying who molested me, so I'm just going to leave it at that. I doubt
the word of a dead guy with no evidence about something that happened over
twenty years ago would have much sway.
“You may
wonder why I didn't just talk to a professional about this. I've seen a number
of doctors since I was a teenager to talk about other issues and I'm positive
that another doctor would not have helped. I was never given one piece of
actionable advice, ever. More than a few spent a large part of the session
reading their notes to remember who I was. And I have no interest in talking about being raped as a child, both
because I know it wouldn't help and because I have no confidence it would
remain secret. I know the legal and practical limits of doctor/patient
confidentiality, growing up in a house where we'd hear stories about the various
mental illnesses of famous people, stories that were passed down through
generations. All it takes is one doctor who thinks my story is interesting
enough to share or a doctor who thinks it's her right or responsibility to
contact the authorities and have me identify the molestor [sic] (justifying her
decision by telling herself that someone else might be in danger). All it takes
is a single doctor who violates my trust, just like the "friends" who
I told I was gay did [He says he was not
gay but thought that might explain his paucity of relationships with women],
and everything would be made public and I'd be forced to live in a world where
people would know how fucked up I am.”
Next he speaks of his family: “I’d also like to address my family, if you
can call them that. I despise everything
they stand for and I truly hate them, in a non-emotional dispassionate and what
I believe is a healthy way. The world
will be a better place when they’re dead—one with less hatred and
intolerance. “If you’re unfamiliar with
the situation, my parents are fundamentalist Christians... They live in a black and white reality they've constructed for
themselves. They partition the world into good and evil and survive by hating
everything they fear or misunderstand and calling it love. They don't
understand that good and decent people exist all around us, "saved"
or not, and that evil and cruel people occupy a large percentage of their
church. They take advantage of people looking for hope by teaching them to
practice the same hatred they practice.”
“I grew up in a house where love was proxied through a God I could never
believe in. A house where the love of music with any sort of a beat was
literally beaten out of me. A house full of hatred and intolerance, run by two
people who were experts at appearing kind
and warm when others were around” [emph. ours]. “Since being kicked out, I've interacted with
them in relatively normal ways. I talk to them on the phone like nothing
happened. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I like pretending I have a
family.”
“Please
save this letter and repost it if gets deleted. I don't want people to wonder
why I did this. I disseminated it more widely than I might have otherwise
because I'm worried that my family might try to restrict access to it.”
So
here we have it. We rarely get such a
clear and vivid account as this.
His earliest and most profoundly damaging memory is of being raped repeatedly. His rage, often murderous, dominates his life. Anger, mistrust and self hatred make intimacy impossible. He is plagued night and day with it all, at times drinking heavily for escape, or working hard for distraction. He does not identify the man who raped him, for obscure, not obvious, reasons. If the man was in his family he has nowhere to go with it, if from outside, we should be able to go to our family with traumas but this is not the case.
He cannot go to doctors for help not trusting their interest in him, or their vow of confidentiality. Officials meant to perform certain tasks cannot be counted on (like in the church, for example?). Finally he describes his hatred for his family, their hypocrisy, masked cruelty while maintaining a highly respectable moral front within their religious beliefs and community. He despises the very religion for advocating hatred and intolerance. He feels pain for his mother and her hurt, but at the same time is furious at her, and cannot reach out to her in any manner. His concluding concern is that the family would suppress his note—that they would avoid and deny his words and strike them from reality while condemning him.
So here was a man in excruciating pain for some 23 of his 27 years, with clear causes and sources by his own account, who had separated himself—nominally anyway—from his family, but cannot allow himself to trust anyone at all with his pain and knowledge in an attempt to get out of the trap lest they make it public, but feels he can only end his life to stop the suffering, even though he knows it will bring further pain to his mother…
Family bonding is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. Love aside, the bond itself is dominant and no one walks away from it. All families, to one degree or another are ‘dysfunctional,’ that is no person or family is perfect, far from it, and it is necessary to come to terms with this reality so we are less prone to be blindsided, taken by surprise, have to depend on denial. The family’s existence in its society—class, culture, religion, race—is equally vital, as a family perceived as deviant will lose its validity and become exposed and vulnerable to any and all punishments, economic, prejudicial, expulsion, imprisonment, etc.
These words are meant to describe one important reason Bill Zeller, and many others like him though by no means all, could not bring himself to ‘out’ his family. In his case it was fundamentalist Christianity, but it should be understood that any social group can function in this manner. From birth we are bonded to the family, for better or for worse, where our survival is tied to theirs, and to betray the family is a transgression that goes too deeply into our roots. This is not an intellectual law, but a natural force of great power that must be reckoned with. Children will not expose their parents’ transgressions for fear of destruction of the family. Spouses will allow gross abuses to go on rather than risk demise of their only refuge. While loyalties and enmities may go on within families, exposure is traitorous. Extended families will close ranks to avoid outside influence so that they may take care of their own. Friends, neighbors, schools, churches, workplaces will avoid exposing issues they know are occurring to ‘protect’ the family… and perhaps to avoid recognition of comparable problems going on within their own lives.
In our efforts toward suicide prevention we may be more aware not just of signs and symptoms showed by individuals, but be alert to what may have or still be going on within their families. Not infrequently the person themselves may not know the origins or their feelings, as avoidance and denial is often a necessary survival mechanism, together with the perception that it was their own fault or that no one will help them and the family would be protected over their own feelings and knowledge. As we observe people who seem like they might be in trouble, we may be more alert to what has been or is going on within the family. Intimations of serious abuse being hidden would raise even more of a flag.
It should be noted that the goal here is increased sensitivity, not necessarily indictment. Social Services and law enforcement will and must enter at the appropriate times. Our efforts here are toward lessening the taboo status of the subject, our generalized social avoidance stemming from widespread fear of the very subject, of judgments to which we all may be subject at certain times. Reducing our socialized shame and fear of imperfection and its possible consequences will allow more easily identification of situations where serious life threatening danger exists, and may well save lives.
Also see:
http://www.burnjournals.com/content.html
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Free Thinking, Free Choice
From Helplessness to Empowerment
As we attempt to heal and resolve the traumas in our lives, many hurdles slow us down, but helplessness is perhaps our most treacherous demon. Things can get hard, we know this, in world history and the history of your own family. Our pain is all too real. As children we have felt abused, possibly brutalized, leaving us in chronic pain, damaged in our self esteem and ability to function in relationships, work, sleep, eat, mood. Core pain and anger can dominate our lives, hopes, finding meaningful work, raising our children with love and optimism. We attempt to cope and contend, too often enduring what seems impossible to change. Frustration and fury with ourselves and others, symptoms of our aggravation sprouting and thriving with a will of their own, all seem not just to pervade but to dominate. Life is a battle; we know this; what may happen is unpredictable; we know this, we can accept these. Yet there is a missing element that is perhaps the most damaging, eroding of our sense of hope and positivism, and our very will to improve our lot and of those we care about: feeling helpless to have any meaningful effect upon these matters. We tend, intentionally or not, to give in and give up, in degrees or completely. In the process we may exact revenge, lashing out in all directions at those with whom we are so furious, and at ourselves, further damaging our body and being, even to the point of suicide. Helpless anger, impotent rage, small scale or large.
As children we seem without recourse—the power is elsewhere. As adults we try to compensate for our traumas in myriad ways, but we cannot change what has happened to us. It happened to us. As our lives progress we feel irrevocably damaged by our past, struggle and strive as we might to find people and situations where things will go well. And they do, in many and important ways, a testament to our will to improve. Or feeling our past was positive, we cannot understand why others seem so contrary. Here we are in full denial of the effects of our early lives, victimized it would seem by the present. We check our own behavior to elicit the best out of others, to good effect. Yet too often there remains a segment where our core pain and anger will not let go, causing intense internal suffering and affecting our actions to make things worse instead of better. Now what? The notion of choice, beginning even in childhood may seem like pure fantasy in the face of the people and powers that dominate us. Our worse, an outrage, suggesting we are of poor character and possibly to blame for painful, even hideous and horrendous acts against us. Events and emotions may be repressed or suppressed, keeping at bay a nightmare without the ability to awaken as ‘there is nothing I can do.’
Choice is not about altering reality through an act of will. Here it is about our adaptive choices in navigating reality. Even as infants, we are born with powers to perceive and react, and utilize these from the start. Infants and children are observed early in their lives to differ in all aspects from any others. Adaptive choice simply refers to how we as unique beings react to—and affect-- the world. As things progress, we encounter the issues at hand: food or its lack, love or its absence or contamination with anger or conflict, the relationships of our family members--all of the world. In the face of anger we may go silent or fight back—an adaptive choice. We learn to avoid, antagonize or to please those who give us a hard time in our efforts to get what we need and to preserve the family that we know. Early choices are rather reflex, but it is helpful to recognize our unique individual participation as this will aid us toward empowerment today. Choice implies various possible responses to a situation as well as referring to our will or power to affect it. We make adaptive choices in our efforts to contend with and thrive within our real world families. As we go back and remember early experience, we recall events, our actions and their effects. We can acknowledge things like, ‘I was afraid he would hit me so I ran, or cried, or called my brother, or yelled, or kicked him.’ Choices. Not concrete one-way events, but events and responses that feed off each other, and patterns develop that become repetitive and ingrained. We attempted to make peace, create distractions from destructiveness, temper flares, battles… We continue to do so as adults with the ingrained impression this is all that can be done.
Let us not minimize the intensity of what goes on and what may be at stake. Love is but one item, hatred and violence, family destruction, sexual terror… all are real and all too common. Life and death issues are what life and death are about. We minimize these sometimes in efforts to keep what we have and not lose all. We biologically expect protection, food, shelter, and love. Love is biological, a necessity as much as food. Families will scold the child when the child is a ‘problem,’ even though the parent may be the problem, but the parent can only go so far and so must maintain order. Here still, the child makes choices in trying to get the parent to be kinder, more generous, feed more, etc. Adaptive choices. With siblings, friends, enemies, teachers, clergy… choices are made early and constantly. If we can let go of blame—towards others or ourselves—long enough to simply see the pattern, we are half way toward more sophisticated choices, based upon acknowledgement of the genuine laws of nature and human interaction, more free of judgmental categories that dictate conclusions but mostly blur our true feelings and even memories.
We lose contact with ourselves as unendurable pain, intolerable rage, insufferable guilt create suppression and repression, altering not only memory but our view of who we are and why and the same for others. Loyalties to one parent or point of view become dominant, overriding what really happened. Guilt about our feelings takes us away from our selves. Thinking is no longer free. Free access to our thoughts, own opinions, the ‘logic’ of events… we are blinded in these areas of contention, the most important emotionally.
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Your Higher Mind, ©
This is heavy and heady stuff. We need to address the negative to allow ourselves to acknowledge and face it, to address our demons without shame or guilt. However the ultimate message here is positive and uplifting. First we see, recognize and acknowledge the darker aspects of living—indeed give ourselves permission to do so—in order that we may live without unnamed fears ruling us, but simple realities of living that can be affected through our mind and skills. Now enter Your Higher Mind. A word on the unconscious: it is now widely recognized that our unconscious minds contain way more (and other) than the repressed sexuality of Freud. Indeed what is conscious represents a small portion of what is in our mind-brains and as such if relied upon too heavily will restrict and mislead us. Indeed censorship is part and parcel of mental reality and must be seen clearly for the obfuscation it creates. Sources of censorship are myriad: we strive to live, survive and advance. Bargains are created, within the family, society, culture and religion, power structure… etc. These structures and controls are normal and natural to every day living. However sacrifices are made in the name of expediency.
[to be continued]
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Your Emotional Lineage ©
In psychotherapy we encounter anguish,
distress with others and ourselves. Our
emotions are intense to say the least.
They do not appear or live in isolation or a vacuum. We are social (and anti-social) beings, are
conceived, born and live within our relationships with others. Bonding is not a theory but a reality. It may be positive or negative (generally
both) in its nature, love, anger and pain—but the bond is powerful to be
sure. One may come to therapy with what
appear to be isolated or unconnected emotions of anxiety, depression, self
loathing, anger, pervasive guilt; all these and more do not come out of empty
space. Our early development and the
bonding variations we originate with, together with their effects upon our
sense of self and functioning in the world, endure throughout our lives But they may be addressed much better in the
knowledge of the particular and specific relationship themes. A person may physically disappear, but a bond
is an entity and will endure. We may
lessen its impact, even alter it via greater depth of understanding, and are
then more capable of other bonds, ones of improved quality.
A most crucial point here involves
recognition of the power of our initial bonds, how they affected us at the time
and continue to do so. Specific
relationships, starting most simply with mother and father, have effects that
will include feeling loved for who we are, or not, and particular traumas. Our attitudes toward ourselves, toward men,
women are created at this time. The
subject is clear yet complex, as are relationships themselves. As we go on we find people complimentary to
our relationship ‘issues’ as we grow.
The ‘lineage’ addresses particulars, of where
and to whom we are born and the line-path of or lives. Lineage takes genetics into account; these include
gender, racial heritage, immediate parental contributions, all conspiring to
create the package called ‘us.’
Environment is key from conception and throughout as we develop and
continue to do so throughout our lives and beyond. We are born with a persona and an identity as
well as a name. Expectations by family
members play a crucial role in how we are perceived, treated, guided… Then we occupy a place within the family:
son/daughter, sibling, nephew/niece, cousin, grandchild… Our personality begins with conception
(before really, with respect to hopes or fears), genetics and environment
affected by emotions, nutrition, peace or war, economics, other members of the
cast. We are bonded to our parenting figures
and to their ongoing relationships; in this respect bonded to an already
existing bond as well as to individuals.
We have a body, a temperament, energy level, talents and deficits,
looks. We live within a culture, class
and time in history. We are not a person
in a vacuum, but linked fully to others around us, truly connected to us.
Bonding in infancy and childhood is probably
the most powerful. Think of the emerging
being, the growth of our body parts, minds and emotions. Make no mistake, a relationship is an
entity—just as is a molecule, with integrity greater than the atoms making it
up. So things regarded as ‘natural’ may
be so, but only within this expanded concept of reality. We learn not just attitudes about men, women,
ourselves, but very particular roles created within our band embed and endure
firmly. We have a mind and make choices.
This is a crucial point in our work as we learn to use these capacities even
more to see in depth what roles we have played and how we may liberate ourselves
from those more oppressive towards ones much more rewarding. However we must not underestimate the depth
and power of childhood experiencing that shapes our hearts and minds just as it
does our arms and legs. Cosmetic surgery
is an option. We learn about aggression,
anger, warmth, active-passive modes, and particular issues regarding other
people, with all the categories we know so well. Further, our roles are not just taught by the
family but maintained by and within it.
So choice of a boy or girlfriend, let alone spouse, is most vehemently
reacted to by our parents, as these confirm or deny not just their social
values but their very identities. If we
behave, individually or socially, in a manner that disputes our parents’
images, we have violated rules that began long before our birth and have been
enforced throughout… No disrespect, this
process is universal. The only problem
is that it impairs our freedom to make our own choices. Make a family tree including you, with
location and time, and you know the cast of characters and the plot lines. For
therapy purposes we focus on traumas, events and ongoing processes that hurt
us, while entrapped in the existing dramas.
These are abstractions. For fuller comprehension of the points and
issues we make an effort to construct your own personal
family-emotional-relationship tree. A
tall order, yet even to begin is enlightening (and do contact us for any
questions). Think when, where, why you
were born, to whom and what shape they were in at the time. Do this yourself, without fearing anyone’s
reactions. What was your reception into
the world, your earliest ‘reputation;’ who else was there—physically and
emotionally? What are some of your
earliest memories, including what happened and how it felt and with whom. As you do this you may already notice themes,
issues that continue to this day. You
will encounter as well the judgments, first made by others, then internalized
by yourself. Oh, (s)he was always a
complainer, loner, fighter, rebellious, etc., etc. The ones you remember will likely be the ones
that have followed you throughout. The
judgments are the rationalizations offered by family members that serve, among
other things, to avoid controversy an keep the ship afloat. For our purposes your own hurt, pain, anger,
are crucial to identify. Then, your
‘identity’ labels, and how they fit into the family structure and drama.
[to be continued]
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Borrowed Time, Found Time,
Living In The Third Realm. ©
The third realm is a space where
we can see what it all means. We
experience this awareness naturally, often when facing our mortality. Such encounters occur as we get older and
recognize we will not live forever. Or
we lose someone close to us. Or we face
a life threatening illness at any age.
Within this realm daily battles lose importance—competition,
acquisition, expectations, grudges. Less connected to matter and more to spirit
or essence, our own traumas begin to evaporate and resolve as we can see the
entirety of the laws of nature, and we can help others to see and do the same,
enhancing their future. Clinging too fiercely to life may serve only shorten
it, as the energy expended stresses and ages us, dragging down our system.
Here is true miraculous magic, as things may happen
within this realm that cannot in the more mundane battle strewn every day
world.
Entering it may be scary at first, as much that we are
accustomed to for solid ground seems to melt away. Then we begin to wonder why we were so
attached to it to begin with. Our
physical prowess seems to ebb away, until we realize we don’t need it so much
in this realm. Death, once so feared,
may become a miracle where spirit and soul float free. From the ominous
sensation that we are living on borrowed time emerges time found—in both
quantity and quality--when fruitless pursuits are reduced. We never could control everything or
everybody anyway. We can love without
expectation—a pure kind of love--and dislike without needing to correct it,
acceptance of these costs enormously less energy.
This is spiritual enlightenment--not a final
destination but free roaming adventure.
And it is our own individual one, through discovery and choices made. We
are not abandoning life but embracing it in full. Psychotherapy can put us into this realm to
explore what really matters. Our higher
mind knows all about these things, and we learn to have access to it through
interactive therapy, specific meditation techniques, and in the process
discover what takes us there individually.
[to be continued]
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New
Physics, Old Spirits: A New Model For Reality ©
Einstein described a simple event that changes our perspective: a boy on a moving train throws a ball up and down. The ball travels straight up and down. If on the other hand we watch the path of the ball from the ground or embankment outside the train, we see the ball traveling in a curved path, up and down and along a line while it is within our sight. What is the true path of the ball? A simple yet profound point: the perspective of each observer is valid and not reducible to any other’s. As well, there is no ‘objective’ reality as a frame of reference. Now add to the ‘true path’ of the ball the rotation of the Earth on its axis, around the sun, the motion of the solar system, galaxy… etc… dizzy yet?
Einstein’s theory of gravity then goes on to suggest that the effect of a large body in space is to alter the very shape of the space between itself and another body such that one tends to fall toward the other! What? Can (empty) space have its shape altered? Makes no sense in our usual 3D view of life. Then he points out that empty space on its own has no meaning; we cannot assign a location in space without reference to time (and matter), as everything is continually moving relative to each other. Thus the space-time continuum. Oh great. Further, matter and energy are inter-convertible, a fact that had been suggested but now the technology was sufficient to demonstrate such. So we have a matter-energy continuum. Matter then, is not ‘in space’ but ‘spatially extended.’ That is, where energy has no mass, it becomes a form of space. So we end up with a space-time-matter-energy continuum!
Concrete realities are there yet malleable, plastic, fluid, contextual. So from a psychological point of view, whose perspective is the correct one, in any situation? We may and do take other perspectives in coming to a consensual view when it is important to do so, but again, not to delude ourselves we have arrived at the objective one… just one more perspective, and this one rather abstract.
Next, enter quantum theory. Here the sub-sub microscopic world of the matter-energy-space-time continuum is confronted. The field is as vast as all the possible universes so we will not attempt to summarize, but address items that seem particularly relevant. Once again, going beyond 3D-objective concrete reality, we encounter the wave-particle duality. A single photon of light acts like both, and can actually interfere with itself in unknown but consistent fashion. Similarly the electron, a crucial particle has the capability to act mass-less, … one consequence is that it is not possible to know the location and momentum of a particle at once. The instruments used to observe at this level alter the elements in doing so, and the phenomena leave a degree of uncertainty as to what they are up to, leaving us with only a statistical probability as to there actions-whereabouts.
Further, many important actions appear to occur instantaneously. These go from communications within quantum particles, and up to gravitation itself. It had been long observed—yet still not fully understood--that the ‘force’ of gravity acts instantaneously, that is defying the speed of light and affecting our cause->effect concepts to the bone, that depend on action->travel>impact>reaction in space and time. Note that time itself is simply a dimension and may be as variable as the others, including going down to zero (or up to infinity) in any particular situation.
Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon in which qualities of subatomic particles may be linked to each other so that, even when the two particles are separated from each other, an effect on one instantly affects the other, no matter how far apart. This observation has consequences for quantum computing—communication of information that will drastically alter the capacities of computing itself. Teleportation has significance here as well; while physical objects are not moved, the sub-atomic ‘information’ may be, without apparent limitations.
The human brain is apparently the most complex entity in the known universe. Brain cells, interconnections in staggering numbers, coordinated to an incomprehensible degree. Electrons may be stripped from atoms or even cells, may travel to any location without limit, and may thus interact with each other transmitting information at quantum speed. Telepathy between people is real and is instantaneous. The Higher Mind is truly mindful of all we really need in surveying the landscape we face, with its shifts in shape, consistency, elements…
Human bonding is not just a psychological or intellectual phenomenon but is as real as bonding between atoms to molecules, planets to solar systems. It behooves us to learn about the matter-energy dynamics, over space and time, without predetermined conclusions or limitations. Einstein said that all we really have is our experience. We may here grant more respect to the depth, complexity, fluidity of our actual experience versus outmoded concrete constructions that serve mainly to limit our actions and even thoughts. Emotions, however, are not so easily eliminated…
The physical model in which we live embodies the truer laws of nature that govern existence. We may speak of continua--of body, mind, emotion, appetites, relations, spirit, imagination, concept, action… these do not cancel each other out but are entities on their own and facets of larger ones.
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Your Meaningful Life.
©
[coming soon]
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Links:
http://jamartin.com/documents_reimbursement.html
