How this emerging treatment may represent the future of mental healthcare — Repetition, fixedness, being stuck — these are the words that psychotherapy clients often use to describe their situation. Whether they’re experiencing bouts of depression, unshakable memories of trauma, or conflicts in their relationships, they often feel that no opportunities for change are possible. Psychotherapy challenges this view, helping people integrate…

4 connections between Heidegger and clinical psychology — The German philosopher Martin Heidegger — exploring, as he did, a topic as deep and far-reaching as being itself — hoped that his insights would span well beyond his native discipline of philosophy, finding applications in various other fields of study. Nowhere are Heidegger’s aspirations as valid as they are…

Carefully designed by a German psychiatrist — Mindfulness — the word conjures up an image of perfect health: a smiling, cross-legged practicioner who, as research show us, benefits from decreased blood pressure and improved tolerance to stress, all thanks to this ancient Eastern practice. But our proverbial practitioner earns more than just the physiological benefits of his…

Words and their relation to the concept — Caught up, as we are, in the spellbinding effects of language, we often lose sight of the arbitrary nature of words: of the simple fact that words have no essential relation to the concepts they represent. After all, a word — whether it comes as a marking on a page…

An introduction to the Kim Constructive Conversation Model — Microaggressions are a complicated beast. On the one hand, they can be so quick and casual, so seemingly trivial in their appearance, that addressing them can seem heavy-handed, or even silly. On the other hand, they often reflect deep insensitivities which, if left unchecked, can perpetuate the disrespect and devaluing…

Hegel on sense-certainty — For the most part, the truth is a hard thing to come by. The truth about the world yields only to careful scientific techniques. The truth about others is shrouded in fronts and facades. Even the truth about ourselves is distorted by biases and self-deceptions. But there’s one truth we…

A brief introduction to shamanism — Sparing a boatride down the rivers of the Amazon rainforest, a trek across the tundras of Northern Siberia, or a huddle at the campsites of the Cherokee Nation, most of us won’t be meeting a shaman anytime soon. But thanks to the comprehensive descriptions given to us by Micrea Eliade…

A play in three acts — Embryonic development can be likened to a performance: it involves a wide range of characters, each of which plays a specific role. Here’s the script which the Divine Playwright has assembled, setting into motion every human existence, until the day the curtains drop. Contents Acts: Act 1: Copulating | Act 2: Racing…

An introduction to psychedelic trip-sitting — A shaman, a ferryman, a doctor, a midwife. A trip-sitter is similar to all of them — similar, but not identical, because their task doesn’t involve a myth or an oar or a prescription-pad, but very simply, a trusting relationship. A trip-sitter is a person who guides and supports the…