Last week’s lecture was on the ideas of Melanie Klein and Object Relations Theory. The ideas of Melanie Klein are not easy and it is difficult to get your head around them. But her ideas provide useful material when seeing clients, especially for experiential learners. By all accounts she was an unpleasant woman, if you believe […]
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Jung’s model of personality typology is most helpful when it is used not as a way to classify oneself or others, but rather in the way he originally thought of it, as a psychological compass. So, in any problematic situation, I can ask myself four questions: 1) What are the facts? (sensation) 2) Have I
Freud has contributed a great deal to our profession but the psychoanalyst tends to have the role of the wise initiate who ‘knows’ and disagreement would be seen usually as a defence or a manifestation of pathology. This is at odds with the transpersonal school, which most certainly does not ‘know’ but finds creativity in
With Sigmund Freud: Is it all about sex? Read More »
In the psychotherapeutic community we owe a great debt to Freud who was primarily concerned with exploring the personal unconscious. The clinical model has its origins in Freud and covers four types: schizoid, obsessional, depressive and hysterical. Schizoid In this model this type is described as introverted. They are more likely to be avoidant in relationships and
The clinical (illness model) of personality typology #Freud in the therapeutic setting Read More »
Evaluate the relevance of elements typology to transpersonal integrative psychotherapy The Elements model has a balanced view of personality. Whereas Jung believed we have a type, the elements model indicates that whilst we might have a particular orientation, we can develop other parts for a more balanced type. In some areas of our life, we
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The important aspect of assessing the relevance of personality types in psychotherapy is that the various typologies are merely a map to guide the therapist when seeing clients since nothing is set in stone. I believe that the purpose of therapy is to uncover the true feelings of the client. If our patients are of
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I had an amazing experience at the week-long creative imagination set of lectures and workshops. What has delayed me posting updates was that I developed a nasty bug at the end of the week (perhaps this was my body telling me something). My workshop group is quite dynamic and supportive so six days together exploring our personal issues was a
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As I prepare for the week-long series of lectures on creative imagination I have been wondering about dreams. We have had an introduction into dreams this week. Where do we get our ideas from? Can symbols carry us beyond our ordinary mind? Is there a deeper wisdom beneath the mind? Can the unconscious mind speak in
Transpersonal approach to the interpretation of dreams Read More »
I read the amazing “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl this weekend. There has been lots written already about life in concentration camps but somehow this account proved captivating as I sat reading in a Central London bookstore on Saturday. What is remarkable is his continuing account of the psychological impact of the experience. Before Frankl
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The past two weeks have been concerned with transference and counter transference. Transference had been identified by the great Sigmund Freud when he noticed that his patients often seemed to fall in love with him – including the men. Transference occurs when a person takes the perceptions and expectations of one person and projects them
Transference and counter transference Read More »