January 2021 – Therapy: Vehicle of Transformation

emotional crisis

We continue to struggle, digging deeper into the muck of death, yet we can see light in the distance. We are now in 2021 between light and darkness. We have mounting deaths nipping at our heels as we try to stay safe by hiding, while each of us has our own brand of haunting risks to deal with.  But wait!  The vaccines are tantalizingly close. What a strange reality: liberation so close while we fend off death closing in on the other side.

We are in constant emotional crisis swinging from one mood to another. We feel a sense of constriction, what Reich called character- and body-armoring: the feeling of being in a vise grip – tight necks, tight shoulders, constricted in our belly, closed in, accident-prone, tripping, falling, twisting knees. We lack balance.

Loneliness stalks us, an extreme sense of isolation; sheer pain as we are limited, the pod tightens and we so miss friends and family. For all of us are adrift in the swelter of light and dark. Is liberation coming soon?

In my second book to be published in 2021, Psychotherapy Solution in Troubled Times: Create a Better Life Now, I suggest that professional guidance can help us balance this myriad of feelings. Here is a passage:

Therapy: Vehicle of Transformation

Therapy is a stabilizing, focused path that ensures transformation if you stick with it and take it seriously. As you can see from the examples above, you can enter therapy through the easy access door marked CHOOSE THIS OPTION – a choice to take full responsibility for your life through self-examination, honest assessment, and willingness to face into the darkness and expand to meet the lightest of feelings. The process defines a course of development that takes you beyond your current status quo, entertains a multitude of options and deepens your experience with the mysteries your life may offer.

The other option you might end-up with is crashing through the therapist’s door headfirst! (Frisch, 2021)
© 2020

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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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Archetype of the Apocalypse: A Deficit of Consciousness

deficit of consciousnessWe are living through a critical time; a deficit of consciousness and juncture that leads us ever closer to the edge of environmental catastrophe. We hear daily of new catastrophes taking place all over the world, and in state after state, or close-in within our own neighborhoods. We are drowning in flood water, leveled by fires, and our food and water supplies are already endangered in many parts of the world. Today I heard a PBS report on the California central valley that has been dramatically sinking due to a century of exploitive water extraction since the gold rush.

We may feel our inner alarm signals going off repeatedly as eccentric, unpredictable weather patterns become normal. Our planet is under siege. We know coral reefs, animals, forests, parklands — all living entities are threatened.

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Finding Your Soul’s Code

transformational themesLeading 5-day workshops over 9 years at Esalen® Institute in Big Sur was always an experience to remember. I often utilized transformational themes that led participants into uncharted waters of reflection and life change. The retreats were incredible experiences and many of you who read my blog were there with me! Granted, the beauty of Esalen made a major contribution to the dynamic experience. Today’s post shares a theme from one of my workshops.

One of my favorite resources is Jungian analyst, Dr. James Hillman. His book The Soul’s Code is provocative in that he feels we all have and must discover our calling, what he calls “that essential mystery at the heart of each human life.” (pg 6) Hillman suggests that many psychological treatment perspectives perpetuate a stasis in clients’ lives, that is, if therapy repetitively spins and reinforces – like a broken record – the problematic narrative of one’s history. I agree that an over-emphasis on our historic travails may create a ‘victimized’ narrative that may diminish a sense of personal efficacy and responsibility in creating a meaningful present life. Identifying with a limiting narrative stifles one’s innate potential. An over-emphasis on our childhood experiences without a balanced focus on an adult transformational perspective results in a constricted and regressed perspective. Finding personal meaning and unlocking the code of one’s destiny elevates and refines our life, enabling its full potential to unfold. Of course, it is essential that we understand cognitively and emotionally how we became who we are now and do the work to unravel our non-adaptive defenses – and that is substantial work. That very broken character style and patterning clouds discovery of who we are and how we want to live. As we drop our defensive character style, we must propel ourselves forward with newly discovered self-knowledge – to find and live our calling.

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Take-on Your Life

Esalen InstituteDuring my years leading workshops at Esalen Institute (2000-2009), I was inspired and motivated by the transformational spirit that imbued the center, — majestically seated on the edge of the cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The Esalen legacy has been dedicated to provoking metamorphoses in all who participated since its inception. That spirit often burns up and reconstructs its dedicated participants. They come from parts hither and yon to partake of the profound opportunity for dissolution and rebirth. Esalen’ s natural beauty, and its thriving vegetable gardens and rugged isolation, create excellent conditions for alchemical transformation. In examining my lectures given at 5-day trainings I decided to share a bit of Esalen inspiration with you.

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A Call to Transformation

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

Read more
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