psychology COURSE

IPS AND MODERN PSYCHOLOGY: THE BIG PICTURE
By Dr. Paul Vitz

Psychology is generally understood as one of the most important forces in contemporary society. As such, it is useful to trace its modern history in order to truly grasp psychology’s current directions.

During the first half of the twentieth century, American psychology was dominated by two schools of thought: behaviorism and psychoanalysis. While both schools made significant contributions to the field of psychology neither seriously acknowledged nor explored the inherent dignity of the human person. On the whole, mainstream American psychology at first was captured by the mechanistic beliefs of behaviorism and by the reductionism and determinism of classical psychoanalysis.

Sigmund Freud, initiator of talk therapy and the founding father of the psychoanalytic tradition, was led by his study of physical ailments in his patients to probe into the psyche of the person. He recognized that often there was something mental underlying the observed physical symptoms. His work led to the exploration of the unconscious mind and to understanding the importance of the unconscious in both normal and pathological mental life.

Although Freud claimed his was a scientific psychology, his theory was largely founded on anecdotal clinical evidence. While his theoretical ideas were largely literary (e.g. the Oedipus complex) or metaphors derived from natural science (e.g. his drive or energy theory), he promoted a separation from philosophy and developed a clinical descriptive approach that paved the way for later scientific contributions, such as the evidence for the importance of early mother/child relations, of early physical and sexual abuse, and the findings generated by attachment theory.

While psychoanalytic methods might lead to the amelioration of symptoms for clients, Freud’s view of the human person was generally quite negative. His reduction of the human person to unconscious sexual and aggressive drives and unconscious defense mechanisms left out much of the actual psychology of the person. In theological terms, man is more than his fallen nature.

In addition, especially in the United States, a pragmatic and scientific school known as behaviorism became widely influential. Developed by such prominent theorists as Ivan Pavlov (Russian), Edward Thorndike, John Watson, and B.F. Skinner, behaviorism initially was fueled by frustration with the ambiguity and lack of reliability of the philosophical and non-empirical approaches, which for them included the psychoanalytic model.

The behaviorist, of course, demanded behavioral evidence for a psychological phenomenon. This school purported to explain human and animal behavior in terms of external physical stimuli, responses, learning histories, and reinforcements.

From this point of view, it follows that the person can be reduced to a product of external factors. As a result, behaviorists thought they could solve human problems by controlling environmental factors and thereby shaping human behavior. The clinical implications of this is to ignore anything beyond what is observable. Hence, the internal mental life of the person is bypassed. Nevertheless, within academia, behaviorism was more appealing than psychoanalysis; because it meant the possibility of doing controlled research.

In the middle of the 20th century came a new kind of psychology called Humanistic, or Self-psychology, developed primarily by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. They laid the groundwork for a more positive person-centered psychology that tried to understand the client as more than just a sum of environmentally determined behaviors or unconscious factors laid down in childhood. They were reacting against both psychoanalysis and behaviorism; as a consequence, this movement was often called the 3rd force in psychology.

Throughout history, of course, many individuals and groups have affirmed the inherent value and dignity of human beings, and humanistic or self-psychology was a largely successful, relatively recent psychological attempt to reaffirm that value.

While the value and goodness of the human person were affirmed by the humanists, they failed to recognize man’s fallen nature, e.g., strong natural tendencies to aggression, cruelty, exploitation, narcissism and many kinds of reality denying defenses. They put absolute trust in the self’s ability to govern itself and choose the good. The pursuit of ‘self-actualization’, which was advocated as the goal of man, isolated the individual from others and from God; the total subjective fulfillment of the individual was elevated above all else. In his client-centered emphasis, Rogers encouraged clients to follow their feelings in every instance. Thus, a tyranny of narcissism and moral relativism often left individuals controlled by their feelings and isolated from committed relationships with others.

Some years after the humanistic theorists, a different and much more pragmatic psychology known as cognitive-behavior therapy was developed and has remained influential. This approach, pioneered by Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, generally ignored the patient’s childhood and his or her unconscious. Instead, it focused on changing a person’s cognitions and self understanding that were interpreted as causing the problem, e.g., depression or anxiety. In addition, new behaviors that would counter mental pathology were strongly encouraged. Besides emphasizing cognitions and behavior, this school engaged in research that demonstrated its effectiveness. Research was neglected by both psychoanalytic and humanistic psychologists.

At present, the newest approach is that of Positive Psychology which began in the late 1990s with Martin Seligman, who has led psychology to a rediscovery of virtues and character strengths. He began to look at what constitutes a good human life. He is interested in those virtues and character strengths that, when developed, can both enable persons to recover from past trauma and protect them from possible future psychological problems. This is an important movement which opens the door to the psychological study of what is good and leads to human flourishing. It also reintroduces to psychology the discipline of philosophy and, indirectly, theology. This is inevitable once psychology admits purpose or teleology into its understanding of the person. The positive psychologists are now starting to introduce training or practice in the virtues into psychotherapy, an innovation much supported by the earlier development of cognitive/behavioral psychology.

Concern for the sources of human flourishing and happiness is now present not only in psychology, but it has also been growing in the general culture where many are searching for meaning in a consumer-dominated and hedonistic society. Self-fulfillment has failed to provide the happiness and peace it was supposed to give. Some of this new mentality is shown by a marked shift toward religion and spirituality as important parts of man’s search for a deeper and more satisfying life. Indeed, religion and spirituality are beginning to become part of contemporary psychotherapy. For example, thanks to the work of such psychologists as Robert Enright and also Everret Worthington, the practice of forgiveness is now far from unusual in therapy.

Today, probably more than ever, people are aware of their psychological problems and of how these problems undermine happiness and general flourishing. Among our major problems are anger, resentment, depression, anxiety, addiction and narcissism. People know this and are even willing to understand the problem as one of “sin”, that is, as thoughts, feelings and behaviors that hurt others and themselves. Although they know that they shouldn’t live this way, they don’t know how to change. A good Catholic therapist can help clients address and change these destructive behaviors by using both the best of psychology plus support from Catholic faith and morals. This is how IPS understands the issue of integration: It is the bringing together of sound psychological principles with a Catholic anthropology. Such integration will enable therapists to effectively address psychological problems and to prepare one for a genuine Christian spiritual life.

For example, Jesus told us not to hate but to love our enemies, but he didn’t tell us very much about how to do it. Many people are trapped in a world of resentment and grudges. They would like to forgive those who have wronged them, but do not know how to do so. An integrated psychology allows the introduction of forgiveness as a process into psychotherapy. Of course, one major subject of concern at our Institute is the intellectual nature of integration between psychology and the Faith. Specific psychological problems of special interest to IPS are addictions, narcissism and the familiar problems of depression and anxiety. Catholics, especially, have a strong desire, even a duty, to help find answers to these types of suffering both as an expression of agape love and to deepen the faith in the lives of their Catholic/Christian clients. We are also blessed to have the sacraments, especially Confession and the Eucharist, to give our lives meaning.

The best secular psychology has paved the way for such a Catholic approach to psychology. One hundred years ago we knew little that was systematic or scientific about abnormal human psychology or how to help those with mental suffering and behavioral problems. Catholics are indebted to the field of modern psychology for opening up an understanding of the psychological interior life of the person. Our present widespread appreciation of the previously unknown psychology now presents a new arena for theology to make contributions. Today the richness of the Catholic faith and theology coupled with philosophy and the discipline of psychology are prepared to more effectively enhance the health and wellbeing of the human person. To help bring this about is the goal of the Institute for the Psychological Sciences.

http://ipsciences.edu/pages/a-brief-history-of-psychology.php

impossibly IMPOSSIBLE

Impossibility is just an illusion of your ego, preventing you from true joy and contentment.

How do you allow your fears and insecurities to control you or limit you so that you don't take risks in your life?

Leaving behind the limitations of the physical world - what is your greatest dream yet unfulfilled?

Let go of the critic within and truly dream outside the box today.

http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/041708.html?cid=20080417a

thought's resistance to words

sometimes it happens in conversation: we stand
facing truth and lack the words,
have no gesture, no sign;
and yet - we feel - no word, no gesture
or sign woudl convey the whole image
that we must enter alone and face (,like Jacob).

this isn't mere wrestling with images
carried in our thoughts;
we fight with the likeness of all things
that inwardly constitute man.
but when we act can our deeds surrender
the ultimate thruths we presume to ponder?

Karol Wojtyla, "Thought" - "Strange Space", I, 1

Day by Day

It is written that when the Kotzker Rebbe was on his death bed, all his students gathered around him and asked, "Master, please tell us, what was the most important thing you did in your life?" The Kabbalist thought for a moment and answered,

"What I am doing this very minute."

What does this teach and reinforce for us? Thinking about the past or worrying about the future is a waste of time. It only takes us away from the importance of the moment we're in.

Today, be present in whatever it is you are doing. It is the most important thing you have ever done.

cfr.: http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/040808.html?cid=20080408a

Quo vadis - humanitas?

Subversion of organised religion

The Catholic Family Institute (C-Fam) reports from New York on a priority of the international pro-abortion movement; the subversion of their principal foe, organized religion. This report which has just come to light shows how fabulously wealthy foundations are targeting so-called religious groups in the ongoing war on the unborn.

Samantha Singson writes : 'A two-year old report has come to light that encourages foundations to fund religious organizations who agree to push the abortion agenda around the world. The report which was funded by the wealthy MacArthur and Ford Foundations, catalogues hundreds of religiously affiliated non-government organizations that are likely to include 'sexual and reproductive health and rights' as part of their work.

'Religion and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: An Inventory of Organization, Scholars and Foundations,' issued by the Center for Health and Social Policy, argues that the world's religions play an undeniable role in shaping attitudes toward 'reproduction and sexuality' and can 'be an important ally in the effort to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (or, conversely, a key obstacle).

'The report encourages foundations who are 'striving to improve women's health and rights (including sexual and reproductive health and rights) to incorporate religion in their grant-making,' as religions 'have the power to influence government policy' both through the political process and through the religious belief of the policymakers.

The authors propose a three-pronged approach to increase interest in the intersection of religion and abortion. First, foundations could provide incentives to American groups already working in the field so that they could collaborate with developing country organizations. Second, foundations could engage both religious and secular scholars to study the topic in depth. But the most promising tactic, according the study's authors, is to provide incentives to organizations working on religion and women's rights or health to move to address religion and sexuality and reproduction directly.

The 216-page report is mostly a listing of organizations which might be induced through grant money to work at the intersection of religion and abortion. Organizations from across the globe affiliated with all the major world religions are included. Also listed is a long list of influential pro-abortion groups including the Alan Guttmacher Institute, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the International Women's Health Coalition, Population Action International, Catholics For a Free Choice (in particular its Latin American affiliates), the Pro-Choice Religious Network, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). Other big names include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the World YWCA.Apart from listing organizations that might qualify as grant recipients, the report also highlights sixteen foundations which have financially supported sexual and reproductive health and rights programs in the past. Six of the sixteen foundations specifically mention abortion as a priority area. According to the report, the capital assets of the foundations listed total more than $35 billion and approximately $500 million is given away in grant money each year. [C-FAM] 1437.4

Quo vadis - familia?

Abolition of plastic bags takes priority over family support

Britain is suffering from an epidemic of family breakdowns affecting all levels of society from the Royal family downwards, says one of the country's most senior judges. Mr Justice Coleridge, who presided over the preliminary divorce hearings of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, yesterday accused Gordon Brown of prioritising the abolition of plastic bags over support for families, and said the Government is 'fiddling while Rome burns'.

'Without being in any way over-dramatic or alarmist, my prediction would be that the effects of family breakdown on the life of the nation, and ordinary people, in this country will, within the next 20 years, be as marked and as destructive as the effects of global warming.
'We are experiencing a period of family meltdown whose effects will be as catastrophic as the meltdown of the ice caps.'

Judges are witnessing a 'never-ending carnival' of human misery, and almost all of society's social ills can be traced back to the collapse in family stability, he says. Many single mothers do a good job, but thousands of children are being raised by women who have several children by several fathers, none of whom stick around.

The judge, who has 37 years of experience of family law and is Family Division Liaison judge in the south-west legal circuit, stretching from Hampshire to Cornwall, was speaking in Brighton at the annual conference of Resolution, which represents 5,000 family lawyers.

His intervention - one of the most strongly worded of its kind by a serving judge in recent years - comes as new figures show marriage levels are at their lowest since 1862, and the number of children living with a single parent has doubled in 20 years. Lawyers say family courts are overstretched to the point of collapse.

Mr Justice Coleridge, 58, who is married with a daughter and two sons, is said that the family justice system - comprising social workers, local authorities, mental health specialists and legal experts - is all that stands between the present dire situation and 'social anarchy'. [Telegraph] 1437.3

focus?

We all have selfish desires, but we also have the desire to give and to share with others. We have a desire to be a better listener, a better father, a better child.

When we're in love, all we want to do is please our partner by doing wonderful, sweet things for him or her. We become completely unconditional in our affections.
The problem is we only stay in that state for a short time...
In the beginning stages, if I left you a message and you called me back some time later, that would not be a problem. But as I get more invested and vulnerable, I begin to expect you to call me back right away. If you don't, I start to feel anxious, maybe even panicked.

What happened?

I started to focus on what I am receiving instead of what I am giving.

Today, review your sharing intentions. Your lack of selfishness will be directly proportional to the amount of fulfillment you will receive from your efforts.

f.y.i.:
http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/030408.html?cid=20080304a

love yourself :-)

http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/022208.html?cid=20080222a

BONO

watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OJk8SJ_FNQ&NR=1
- and enjoy...

Chance to REMEMBER

"Doubt creeps in the moment we lose our focus on our original intention.
Think of it in terms of relationships.
You could be so happy, you're with your soul mate, life is wonderful. Hugs and kisses, xoxo, and all that. Then she does something you don't like and you forget. You forget how she helps you through the darkness. You forget how she loves you even when you don't love yourself. You forget.
And then doubt creeps in.
One moment you have all the reasons to be in the relationship, the next you find all the reasons not to be.

It's all about doubt. Why? Because you forget why you were in the relationship in the first place.

Today is your chance to remember. Remind yourself of what you receive from your significant relationships. Connect to the seed of goodness and cast out the doubt".

http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/012808.html?cid=20080128a

NEXT

"One of my mother, and teacher, Karen Berg's favorite mantras is "Next. Next. Next."

As you expand your vessel (desire), there's going to be challenges and discomforts.

You're going to get rejected and bruised. Your job is to grab your lessons and go. Next.

Too many of us get unnecessarily weighed down by troubled pasts, broken relationships, and childhood traumas.

When a butterfly emerges from its cocoon, does it bring the cocoon with it?

Next.

Today, let the rejection in. Feel the burn. Break the shells surrounding your soul. And remember to let go of them once they break. Next!"

http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/012708.html?cid=20080127a

The Summit Of Life

Catholic Exchange [...]
Words of Encouragement
Jan 23, 2008 Eucharist: The Summit of Life!

Romans 11:36
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen.

"If the Eucharist is Jesus and Jesus is God, then reality all of it, not just the "religious" bits is ultimately eucharistic. We, like the Eucharist, shall be like Jesus taken, blessed, broken, and given. It's the direction all reality is heading sooner or later. The question is not whether we will go that way. The question is how: willingly or unwillingly?
The great systems of evil and injustice from Nazism to Stalin to Radical Islam to American hedonism are, in the end, organized in order to avoid making that eucharistic choice to face death for the sake of love.
The ways in which the eucharistic self-offering is refused are different. But the refusal is monotonously the same.
Conversely, to say yes and make that self-offering in Christ is to enter into the really glorious diversity of the communion of saints and find the point of one's life in a way that is glorious. We discover, in Christ, the meaning of all things, including our own lives, when we give our life away to Him".

Just a Word of Encouragement from Mark Shea and Jeff Cavins.
http://www.catholicexchange.com/

The - DOOR...

"... Some readers complain my messages are too depressing, constantly asking you to look at your garbage.

The reason for this is, the only way to get to heaven, is to go through hell first.

Kabbalah isn't about feeling better.

That's temporary.

It's about changing our spiritual DNA.

It's about getting down into the core of our problems. Any medical, emotional, financial disturbances we are now experiencing stems from a core issue we have come to this world to fix.

Naturally it's not easy.

It means going through a door inside we don't know exists.

It requires digging and pushing through the dark to find that door. It can feel claustrophobic, dark, eerie. But when we find that door - and break it open - on the other side is our personal heaven.

Today, take a risk and open your heart to a trusted friend. Tell them things about yourself you've never dared tell anyone before. Make yourself vulnerable and allow the Light to rest on those darkened parts of your consciousness where your door is hiding.

...woooowwww....

Cfr.: http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/011808.html?cid=20080118a

January 15th...

TUESDAY, JANUARY 15

"If you want to know what your life looks like, look at your thoughts. If you don't like what you see, then change the way you think about life.

Most of us are stuck in thoughts of fear, disappointment, anger, and regret. We recycle the same stinkin' thinkin' again and again and again. It feels so suffocating after awhile, doesn't it?

Today, air your mind out. Open the window and let the breeze come through. Stick your head out. (See those people over there? They are potential new friends. Go talk to them. See that Help Wanted sign? That’s your new career. Walk in and submit an application.) Allow new, happy, optimistic thoughts to take over for a change".

http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/011508.html?cid=20080115a

life is - SWEET?!?

"The last place you'd find most people is where they are. Most of us spend our lives thinking about what's next, who I'm going to meet, who I'm going to be when I get married, skinny, rich, famous. You know, life is what happens while we're busy making other plans.

But life doesn't happen in the future - or the past. It happens right here, right now. That's why it's important to start each day wherever you are.

Today, shake yourself free of any expectation of arriving. Encourage yourself to be fully in the moment-to enjoy your transformations and to seek out new obstacles. Sink your teeth into the endless dessert that life is serving up every moment of the day".

F.y.i., this, again is taken from:

http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/011208.html?cid=20080112a

F.E.A.R.

F.y.i., the following is taken - once again - from : http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/011008.html.

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

FEAR

"Fear is one big bluff; it's an imaginary brick wall we are meant to run through - head first. Think about it. Haven't some of your biggest achievements come as a result of pushing through your terror and anxiety?

Today, jump into the scary moments and know you'll be able to deal. This where the real potential for growth is concealed."

KnOw YoUr SoUl - 1

PRIDE:
When we base our security and self-esteem on ourselves.

Manifestations:
HAUGHTINESS.
Having an elevated concept of myself;
annoyance with those who contradict me;
easily judging others, thinking they are bad and hence easily gossiping about them;
difficulty in recognizing my own errors or knowing when I’ve hurt someone and thus inability to ask, seek or grant forgiveness;
hypocrisy;
unwillingness to serve;
impatience, distance, brusqueness in my daily contact with others;
thinking that I’m the only one who knows how to do things right;
unwillingness to let others help;
over-rationalism, such that anything I don’t understand clearly I judge to be in error, and say so;
not believing practically in my need for God, even though I invoke Him;
activism (doing good works at the expense of prayer).

SELF-LOVE.
Permitting nobody to contradict me;
growing annoyed if I don’t get my way or if I’m not taken into account;
refusing to assent unless it’s all explained to me;
nursing grudges a long time;
not letting go of minor annoyances;
rebelling against what I don’t like or what seems mistaken to me;
not liking to take directions from anyone;
acting authoritarian;
inflexibility.
thinking of myself first;
my needs or desires take priority over everyone else’s;
being indifferent to others and their needs, tastes;
difficulty in disrupting my plans when someone asks me for something, and thus great calculation in my relations with others and with God;
liking to be heard, always thinking my conversation is the most important;
centering games and entertainment around myself.
(to be continued)

a worm

... a worm inside an apple has a limited view of the world. when it works its way out, it discovers a landscape far beyond what it imagined.

this is how we live. we have limited perspectives, and we don't see what we're missing. we only see what we are - we don't see what we can become.

today, worm your way outside your apple. what do you want to become next week, next month, next year? where can you grove more, do more, be more? dream big and you will be big...

(cfr. www.kabbalah.com again...)

KnOw YoUr SoUl - intro

Taken from a christian (catholic, to be precise) source.

I presume I, like everyone, do get to ask myself of a mening of my existence, of a meaning of my life down here, of a meaning of my actions (and of my non-actions) and words (and silences). Sometimes more often, but less vigorously, other times less often, but with less rigour, other times again, often and very rigorously, and so on.

This period of my life (to define "this" let me say it is the period of time covering my late twenties - early thirties; what? 10 years already? maybe a bit less...) is one of great internal confusion and questioning. Know not why it started, know not when exactly it started, but I know very well it is "here" and I am "in it", as confused and as searching-for-the-meaning as it gets.

So, that's the reason for looking for answers.

For looking for resources.

I thought this one could be one of them.

I think it is one of the better ones.

Of more honest ones.

Just - "try and see":

** In his spiritual classic The Imitation of Christ, Thomas á Kempis writes that if we could rid ourselves of just one vice per year, we would “very soon be holy.” This is precisely what this is about - about getting freed, step by step, from the bonds of sin and weaknesses so as to become those who we are called to be.

Set aside a time to reflect on your behaviors. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your conscience as you try to identify your dominant passion... The simplest way to do this is to make an exhaustive list of all your sins and shortcomings. Those you list are the obstacles between you and God.

Once the list is made, go back over it and ask yourself why you are tempted in those ways. You will find that one of three dominant passions— Pride, Vanity, or Sensuality —is the motive behind each of the obstacles in your spiritual life. All of us have some manifestations of each of these three passions, so don’t be surprised if you get a mixture of answers. However, if you deeply reflect and truly go to the root of your motives, most likely one of these passions will emerge more frequently than the others. This is your dominant passion: the passion which motivates you most of the time.

A simple way to determine which passion motivates your actions is to ask yourself what you were most afraid of or concerned about:

letting myself down (pride);

what others would think (vanity);

or how it would make me feel (sensuality).
So that you’ll better recognize these three passions, below we’ll mention some of their most common manifestations...**

(to be continued)

StEp By StEp

**Spirituality is a bit like running up a down escalator. It’s easy to fall behind.

We’ve all been there. Some of you are there right now, collapsed at the bottom stair, wondering if you’ll ever get up again — let alone reach the top. Pushed down by doubts, laziness, anger, addiction, you may feel like it’s over for you. “This spiritual stuff doesn’t work for someone like me.”

This spiritual stuff works for someone precisely like you. Remember, the dark side of your thoughts has its power. If you side with it, it’ll hold you down, its foot flat on your face. The only thing to do when you slip is to return immediately to the practices that do sustain and give you energy.

What spiritual practice — sharing, scanning, asking the Light for help, etc. — can you recommit to today? You don’t need to sprint for the top. Just take one step. And the next. And the next. You’ll get there eventually.**

(cfr.: http://www.kabbalah.com/tuneups/010408.html)

One more time (and not the last one, I guarantee you), the word that has hit the target... One more time, and surely not the last, taken from kabbalah... Wisdom is wisdom, like the truth, it is universal. Hmm.

Spoken directly to me. Hmm.