December 2020: Chapter 1 Teaser from Dr. Frisch’s Upcoming Book

new book

I am pleased to announce the publication of my new book in 2021 The Psychotherapy Solution in Troubled Times: Create a Better Life Now, written by me, Dr. Patricia Frisch.

The preface of my new book speaks to the critical importance of psychotherapy. The pandemic has certainly magnified the need for professional help as rising numbers of cases of Covid-19 emerge with no clear end in sight. In the US alone, as of November 15th, 2020 – 245,000 died, 1000 dying daily up by 50% more than any other country; 181,000 new cases assault us daily. (NY Times, November 2020)

Statistics can be dry and have a numbing effect even though we witness the horror on a daily basis. The pain sears through us as each of us now knows someone who has been touched: deaths of babies, adolescents, young and old, brothers and sisters and their families feel the unbearable pain of loss that resides in  their hearts forever.

The potential of vaccines looks promising but the hurdles of the supply chain are daunting and obstacles abound to disperse them to a sufficient population next year. We can’t count on relief from the vaccines as yet.

We are touched by the loneliness demanded by the pandemic, loss of friends whom we don’t see up-close, isolation, longing for contact, hugs, and closeness with loved ones that alludes us.

It is not only the pandemic that is a problem as there are many other issues that call us to psychotherapy. Whether it is our difficulties in relationship, work related problems, the political polarization and alienation that has caused friends with differing views to become alienated, unemployment, domestic violence, and our life-long trauma that causes us to habitually overreact to name a few. We need help from a professional.

We are given ample advice, handy- hints online and we are overwhelmed by varying views from every corner. What we need is consistent presence from a licensed qualified professional that knows our strengths and weaknesses and can provide consistent support and confrontation when needed.

In Chapter 1 of my book, I describe opportunities for transformation. Here is a teaser of Chapter 1:

The Call: Opportunities for Transformation

Transformative experiences make an enormous difference to the trajectory of your life. There are limited opportunities for significant personal transformation presented in a lifetime, although smaller growth moments may present more often. Smaller growth moments may be harbingers of larger changes but are incremental. These opportunities may come to you benignly — because you are receptive to subtle clues and have accomplished a healthy wholeness of self-identity and creative flow — or you are catapulted into a physical and/or psychological crisis that provokes you to make drastic changes. At times, no matter how you are living your life, how healthy and responsible you are psychologically and physically, you can be tossed out of your comfort zone and thrown into the mysteries of the unknown, shocked and upset and needing to learn new rules of the game.

How do you recognize the significant opportunities when the potential appears? Sometimes, if you are lucky (raised with good-enough parents and/or healthy enough circumstances), or by tremendous grit, you have created circumstances that line you up on a path to receive blessings – you are able to recognize a good thing when it comes your way or sense when lightning strikes within, with an idea. You are receptive and available to be touched by inspiration. You have developed your sensitivity and honed your intuitive skill (as you have developed early on without inhibiting shackles). You are able to see precise clarity of direction; you know with or without a doubt, your next steps. You experience courage even if you are terrified. You are able to mobilize and take a risk. You know you can take life’s next step; you accept the challenge. The invitation to transformation may come through a pivotal event, an influential person, a chance encounter – you are dramatically influenced. You are given an opportunity for transformation, you sense it, know it and grasp it.

Signs and Symptoms

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November 2020: Darkness and Light

surviving covidThe fall leaves portray the darkness and light of these treacherous times. We are surviving Covid – barely — as fall and winter surges are upon us now.

We are struggling with profound feelings of isolation, as we are reticent to see family and friends beyond one’s bubble as the “holidays” approach. It is challenging to have a holiday feeling under the current conditions. There are mixed feelings: anxiety, depression, then spurts of activation and projects to accomplish —such an up and down ride. Realize that it is a rocky ride for all and depression can set in when you least expect it.

That said our fall image portrays the beautiful depth of purple and red of transformation. We can find both our strengths and our weaknesses, down feelings punctuated by creativity.

We are taking on the times — even the ominous foreboding that lurks as we move forward day-by-day.

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October 2020: The Critical Importance of Psychotherapy

importance of psychotherapyThe critical importance of psychotherapy has become especially clear during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the US alone at least 209,600 have died, according to a New York Times database on October 5th, 2020. Those can be dry statistics that create numbness as we spin the daily news. Yet these seemingly empty numbers reflect the deaths of babies, adolescents, young and old and their families who feel the unbearable pain of loss in their hearts. There are the many thousands of people who became ill and had to isolate without loved ones either at home or in the hospital while they suffered through pneumonia and worse.

Our President and his wife were confirmed positive for Covid-19 on Oct 2, 2020. Due to his falsifications regarding risks, disseminating misinformation about the disease, his refusal to implement safe practices, which include wearing a mask, and social distancing, rather he promoted activities that encouraged others to congregate in close proximity defying all established safe practices. He thumbed his cocky nose at scientific evidence resulting in disastrous consequences.

Lives are not statistics as each person has a story: regardless of age or circumstance; their lives are held hostage by a disease with, for some, lifetime effects. Or death. Now the President, flaunting his stupidity, has been bitten by the venomous snake of his own making.  There will again be a coverup, lies and deceit as to progression of events leading to his Covid-19 diagnosis. All his corrupt practices we have endure but in the face of the pandemic, his lies have costs us everything.

Psychological Pain of the Pandemic

There has been extreme stress throughout his presidency that have added to the effects of the pandemic: the extreme isolation that endures month after month; the fallout of loss of jobs, loss of institutions we counted on; the feeling of chaos has heightened. Research cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic have referred to “broken-heart syndrome as “stress cardiomyopathy” and have found significant increase during the pandemic: from 1.7 percent pre-pandemic to 7.8 percent between March and April 30., 2020. The symptoms of stress cardiomyopathy are chest pain, and shortness of breath that can mimic a heart attack. (AARP Bulletin, September 2020) Please consider psychotherapy to help you weather the extreme stress of our situation.

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September 2020: Historic California Fires

California fires

As of 8-25-20 1.2 million acres have burned forcing 170,000 evacuees (Ruiz-Grossman, 2020). These statistics do not tell the story but indicate the magnitude of these historic California fires. The worst yet. And we are not finished, as this is the beginning of our fire season.

Fires have endangered our oldest growth redwoods in Big Basin, yet I read they are surviving in spite of being viciously burned. The state park, California’s first, has the largest stretch of old growth coastal redwoods south of San Francisco, with trees that are, in many cases, more than 1,000 years old (Cowan, Hubler, Patel, 2020). What a statement of the potent power of trees to reach beyond current threats and survive. We must listen to their message. Now.

The fires are devouring and destroying our states natural riches: vast swaths of forests, grasses, ecosystems. Our seashores, and national parks surrounding them: our places of refuge, destroyed, as fires rage for miles close to the sea.

Our towns, communities and families are forced to evacuate across Northern California and other areas of the state. Families run from fires while losing their homes, memorabilia — possessions embodying lineage and the safety of hearth and home.

A Deadly Reality

There are deaths.

Air quality is unbreathable, uninhabitable, and extremely dangerous as winds spread the fire smoke across the Bay Area. I look out my window to the dystopian vista of settled haze and stinking pungent odor.

The inferno is the price of climate change and our neglect to turn emphatically toward our reality. We are now experiencing the effects.

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