Early developmental factors that pre-determine who we are romantically attracted to and with whom we ultimately choose to be. The narcissistic-codependent bond is only one example of a broader, and more insidious, concept: the human mind is programmed to seek out the “familiar,” no matter how unhealthy, across the lifespan. This notion has been widely supported by theorists in evolutionary psychology and the social sciences, but is not often emphasized when considering the problems of contemporary life. In this presentation, I outline why and how we seek to repeat the fundamental circumstances of early life in relationships, friendships, workplace settings, in our finance status, and in how we see and treat ourselves. While most of our early childhoods are relatively healthy, I will argue that a specific, fundamental trauma underlies each of our personalities and largely determines how our lives unfold. I will also share my ideas regarding how liberation from this pattern may occur.
This document discusses the importance of self-control. It argues that self-control is better than being controlled by others and that mastering oneself can make the world a better place. It provides examples from literature and history of people who achieved success through self-discipline of their thoughts, emotions, finances, and willpower. These include Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Mother Teresa, Barack Obama, Winston Churchill, and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl. The conclusion encourages the reader to discover who they are and want to be in order to take control of their life.
RELIGIOUS ESCAPISM: the Fear of life
#Escapism #Christianity #Fantasy
https://bittube.tv/post/a12ed1fc-34b7-4ff4-94bb-9056e9b364dc
https://odysee.com/@periodic-reset-of-civilizations:c/RELIGIOUS-ESCAPISM--the-Fear-of-life:9
https://tube.midov.pl/w/qBHEdvJMW8mbQMGya7okny
https://www.bitchute.com/video/YFnMppyQH6zk/
All the platforms I Am on:
https://steemit.com/links/@resetciviliz/link-s
▶ BITCOIN
34c3XCeSyoi9DPRks867KL7GVD7tGVcxnH
▶ ETHEREUM
0xAc1FBaEBaCc83D332494B55123F5493a113cE457
▶ TEEPUBLIC
https://www.teepublic.com/user/periodic-reset-of-civilizations
▶ TEESPRING
https://periodic-reset.creator-spring.com
Man's free will distinguishes him from the rest of creation through his ability to reason, understand, and discern between good and evil. True freedom comes from following moral laws rather than one's desires, as desires can enslave us to sin. Living virtuously through obedience to moral truths leads to fulfillment and happiness. While love of God is the perfect motivator for moral living, fear of consequences can also motivate obedience. Christians believe God has established moral laws for our benefit that are written on our hearts through natural law.
An psychological, sociological and spiritual exploration of the need for forgiveness as well as its clear distinction from appeasement. A must-read for today's policy-makers.
The document discusses different concepts related to reframing such as integrity, wisdom, justice, courage, and love. It provides examples of reframing from different theorists including Milton Erikson and Virginia Satir. Erikson reframed independence as preparing for grandparenthood, while Satir reframed a father's complaint about his daughter's stubbornness by pointing out situations where it could be valuable or that he had taught it to her. The document also mentions hedonic framing and reframing attributes to find positive values.
Neurology of shame in the narcissistic clientADSProgram
Neurology of shame in the narcissistic client is excerpted from an all day workshop, “Constitutionally Incapable of Being Honest” The Narcissistically defended client in Substance Abuse Treatment.by Mary Crocker Cook, D.Min., LMFT, LAADC, CADCII.
The document discusses various philosophical and ethical perspectives on issues relating to suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. It addresses arguments around whether suicide can be considered heroic sacrifice, the doctrine of double effect, and Kant's view that sacrifice is always wrong. Religious, social, and philosophical arguments for and against suicide are outlined. The document also summarizes various thinkers' positions on active vs. passive euthanasia, the morality of abortion at different stages of fetal development, and whether an embryo should be considered an organism with moral status.
Splitting can be defined as the division or polarization of beliefs, actions, objects, or persons into good and bad by focussing selectively on their positive or negative attributes.
This is often seen in politics, for example,
Left-wing politicians think right-wing as narrow-minded and self-interested, and
Right-wing politicians think left-wing as self-righteous hypocrites—or some such.
Other examples of splitting are
The hospital patient who sees the physicians as intelligent and hardworking but the nurses as lazy and incompetent,
The religious zealot (fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit) who classifies everyone as either blessed or damned, and
The child of divorcees who idolizes one parent while locking out the other.
This document discusses the importance of self-control. It argues that self-control is better than being controlled by others and that mastering oneself can make the world a better place. It provides examples from literature and history of people who achieved success through self-discipline of their thoughts, emotions, finances, and willpower. These include Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, Mother Teresa, Barack Obama, Winston Churchill, and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl. The conclusion encourages the reader to discover who they are and want to be in order to take control of their life.
RELIGIOUS ESCAPISM: the Fear of life
#Escapism #Christianity #Fantasy
https://bittube.tv/post/a12ed1fc-34b7-4ff4-94bb-9056e9b364dc
https://odysee.com/@periodic-reset-of-civilizations:c/RELIGIOUS-ESCAPISM--the-Fear-of-life:9
https://tube.midov.pl/w/qBHEdvJMW8mbQMGya7okny
https://www.bitchute.com/video/YFnMppyQH6zk/
All the platforms I Am on:
https://steemit.com/links/@resetciviliz/link-s
▶ BITCOIN
34c3XCeSyoi9DPRks867KL7GVD7tGVcxnH
▶ ETHEREUM
0xAc1FBaEBaCc83D332494B55123F5493a113cE457
▶ TEEPUBLIC
https://www.teepublic.com/user/periodic-reset-of-civilizations
▶ TEESPRING
https://periodic-reset.creator-spring.com
Man's free will distinguishes him from the rest of creation through his ability to reason, understand, and discern between good and evil. True freedom comes from following moral laws rather than one's desires, as desires can enslave us to sin. Living virtuously through obedience to moral truths leads to fulfillment and happiness. While love of God is the perfect motivator for moral living, fear of consequences can also motivate obedience. Christians believe God has established moral laws for our benefit that are written on our hearts through natural law.
An psychological, sociological and spiritual exploration of the need for forgiveness as well as its clear distinction from appeasement. A must-read for today's policy-makers.
The document discusses different concepts related to reframing such as integrity, wisdom, justice, courage, and love. It provides examples of reframing from different theorists including Milton Erikson and Virginia Satir. Erikson reframed independence as preparing for grandparenthood, while Satir reframed a father's complaint about his daughter's stubbornness by pointing out situations where it could be valuable or that he had taught it to her. The document also mentions hedonic framing and reframing attributes to find positive values.
Neurology of shame in the narcissistic clientADSProgram
Neurology of shame in the narcissistic client is excerpted from an all day workshop, “Constitutionally Incapable of Being Honest” The Narcissistically defended client in Substance Abuse Treatment.by Mary Crocker Cook, D.Min., LMFT, LAADC, CADCII.
The document discusses various philosophical and ethical perspectives on issues relating to suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. It addresses arguments around whether suicide can be considered heroic sacrifice, the doctrine of double effect, and Kant's view that sacrifice is always wrong. Religious, social, and philosophical arguments for and against suicide are outlined. The document also summarizes various thinkers' positions on active vs. passive euthanasia, the morality of abortion at different stages of fetal development, and whether an embryo should be considered an organism with moral status.
Splitting can be defined as the division or polarization of beliefs, actions, objects, or persons into good and bad by focussing selectively on their positive or negative attributes.
This is often seen in politics, for example,
Left-wing politicians think right-wing as narrow-minded and self-interested, and
Right-wing politicians think left-wing as self-righteous hypocrites—or some such.
Other examples of splitting are
The hospital patient who sees the physicians as intelligent and hardworking but the nurses as lazy and incompetent,
The religious zealot (fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit) who classifies everyone as either blessed or damned, and
The child of divorcees who idolizes one parent while locking out the other.
This document discusses the concepts of psychopathy and sociopathy by examining their origins and different types. It explains that psychopaths are born with underdeveloped brain parts related to impulse control and emotion regulation. Sociopaths have a weak or undeveloped conscience and are not ashamed by the same things normal people would be. Common sociopaths enjoy bending rules and have active sex lives, but don't do well in school or careers. The document also discusses how psychopaths and sociopaths differ from those diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
The document discusses the use of music therapy with a 10-year-old boy ("D") who had been sexually abused for the first five years of his life. Through weekly 30-minute sessions, the boy was able to powerfully express his experience of abuse through developing a repertoire of games and interactions. The therapeutic relationship aimed to provide a secure base and emotional containment for the boy to explore painful feelings and experiences from his past in a supported way. The effects of lack of a secure attachment and base during childhood due to abuse, including disorganized attachment patterns and neurological implications, are also examined.
DEFENSE MECHANISM IS THE UNCONSCIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISM EMPLOYED BY US WHICH PREVENTS US FROM FALLING PREY TO INTOLERABLE ANXIETY, HOWEVER AT TIMES WE OFTEN PAY A HEAVY COST FOR USING IT IN PATHOLOGICAL WAYS.
The document provides information on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), including its history, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnostic criteria, etiology, and treatment. Some key points include:
- OCD has been recognized since ancient times with beliefs that it was caused by demonic possession or religious issues.
- It has a prevalence of around 2% worldwide and was historically considered treatment-resistant.
- The discovery that the antidepressant clomipramine could effectively treat OCD was a major breakthrough.
- OCD is characterized by obsessions (unwanted thoughts, images or urges) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviors or rituals).
- The cause is believed to involve abnormalities in serotonin
Existential psychotherapy is a philosophical approach that focuses on concepts like freedom, responsibility, and meaning. It views humans as always evolving and defines our existence by our capacity for self-awareness and search for purpose. Key existential philosophers discussed include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus. Rollo May was influential in introducing existential ideas to psychotherapy in the US. Existential therapy addresses fundamental human concerns like anxiety, death, relationships and uses concepts like creative living to help clients develop authenticity. While flexible, it can also be complex and difficult to apply due to its philosophical nature.
Why We Love Who We Love: A Psychodynamic Perspective on the Loss of Free Will James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin presents a model of romantic love that synthesizes concepts from evolutionary psychology, Freudian thought, interpersonal neurobiology, and intersubjectivity. Notions of free will and conscious decision-making regarding the choice of romantic partners are refuted. Instead, Dr. Tobin presents an unconsciously motivated perspective on romantic love that emphasizes our uncanny tendency to select and induce others to hurt us emotionally iin ways that are familiar and to which we are highly adapted.
Paper On Compassion
Empathy Vs. Compassion Essay
Compassion
What Is Compassion?
On Compassion Analysis Essay
Compassion Fatigue Essays
Essay on Compassion Fatigue
Launching a Private Practice: Strategies for Clinical Psychologists and Menta...James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin provides a set of attitudinal and pragmatic recommendations for beginning a private practice in the mental healthcare professions. The central elements of private practice including ethical, legal, marketing, financial, and supervisory factors are introduced. Beyond this, Dr. Tobin suggests that the transition from "trainee" to "entrepreneur" is often fraught with conflict centering on archaic dispositional tendencies residing in many psychologists and psychotherapists. Reviewing Alice Miller's characterization of the "gifted child," Dr. Tobin suggests that many early-career practitioners suppress self-concerned drives and aspirations including financial reward. Yet, establishing a successful clinical practice is a gradual and complex process, one that necessitates a personal resolution of two fundamentally opposed value systems: adherence to the needs of the other vs. the needs of one's self. Professional development is portrayed as the negotiation of these opposing forces across one's career.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin utilizes Alice Miller's characterization of the "gifted child" to suggest that many graduate students in clinical psychology and psychotherapy trainees have suffered early emotional trauma. A consequence of this trauma is a psychological and emotional investment in the mental healthcare professions as a means of continuing to adhere to a particular relational role. For Dr. Tobin, what is problematic about this professional aspiration is the characterological residue from early deprivations which often emerges in trainees' narcissistic and/or co-dependent tendencies as they begin to engage in the therapeutic role. Breaking from these tendencies affords greater perceptional and relational freedoms, an important training and supervisory milestone for trainees and early-career psychotherapists.
Improving Writing and Critical Thinking Competence in Psychology: A Primer a...James Tobin, Ph.D.
This manual was composed to support psychology students' ability at the undergraduate and graduate levels to write more effectively in a variety of contexts within academic and applied settings. The primer is not meant to be a comprehensive writing guide, but focuses instead on the core components of scholarly writing, critical thinking, and the formulation and execution of original ideas. The relevance of these competencies for clinical psychology training is emphasized throughout the manual. Exercises are provided to help the instructor and/or student with practice experiences to support the refinement of the ideas and skills presented.
Socializing the Psychotherapist-in-Training to an Alternative Form of Related...James Tobin, Ph.D.
According to Dr. Tobin, the supervision of psychologists-in-training must facilitate a central transition for the trainee. A major aspect of the trainee is socially-normed attitudes and tendencies which infiltrate the clinical situation and typically impede the development of a distinct "space" or interpersonal field on which psychotherapy relies. Dr. contends that the the supervisory situation and the unfolding dynamics between the supervisor and trainee should optimally support the trainee's capacity to experience him- or herself, and the other, in a more refined mode that liberates the dyad from the psychological and emotional restraints and inhibitions associated with social conventionality.
The Child’s Psychological Use of the Parent: A Workshop James Tobin, Ph.D.
This workshop is designed for parents who would like to improve the quality of their relationship with their children. Dr. Tobin provides a roadmap for parents based on a core paradox of the human condition, i.e., the initial need to bond (to form and sustain early life) and the subsequent need to separate/individuate (in order for the child to secure a distinct personal identity unencumbered by unresolved issues with the family of origin). According to Dr. Tobin, both the parent and the developing child simultaneously press for separation/individuation and resist it. This workshop attempts to alert parents to the underlying dynamics that prolong this ambivalence and provides pragmatic suggestions for how parents can be "of use" psychologically so that their child is more successfully primed for the achievement of autonomy.
The Dynamics of Process and Content in Parent-Teen Communication: A Coding Ma...James Tobin, Ph.D.
This coding manual is designed to provide parents with an approach to understanding their communication and relational difficulties with their children. According to Dr. Tobin, the parent-teen relationship is usually conflictual yet parents often do no understand the specific dynamics of their family system that often result in arguing, stonewalling, oppositionality, distance, and withdrawal. Drawing from scientific research of the conflict dynamics of romantic couples, Dr. Tobin has designed an exercise that consists of the audiotaping of a parent-teen discussion of an issue or problem between them. A set of content codes outlined in the manual is then applied to the transcribed audiotaped dialogue. The scoring sheet for the codes is designed to showcase how what is said, when it is said, and by whom it is said contributes to the facilitation or obstruction of the dialogue. In this way, Dr. Tobin contends that the architecture of the parent-teen relationship can be uncovered and ultimately used in parent guidance and family therapy to improve parents' relationships with their children.
Clinical Case Formulation & Treatment Planning: A Fact-to-Inference Strategy...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Clinical case formulation and treatment planning are core competencies of clinical psychologists and other mental health professionals. Yet there is no clear consensus regarding how to support the development of these skills in formal academic and clinical training. According to Dr. Tobin, the standard approach to supporting the development of these skills is "hierarchical learning," i.e., the trainee is first taught objective facts (declarative knowledge) and then required to transition to more subjective (inferential) forms of thinking in order to understand the cause and maintenance of the patient's problems. Dr. Tobin suggests that this approach is flawed on numerous levels, Instead, using a scene from the film "Dead Poets Society," he argues for the primary need to "subjectify" learning for the clinical trainee. The accomplishment of this initial goal will personalize all subsequent academic and clinical training, thus securing inferential capacities even before object knowledge is fully achieved.
A Therapy Hour: Revisiting Winnicott’s Notion of “Object Usage”James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this talk, Dr. Tobin applies the fundamental constructs of D.W. Winnicott's theorizing including "going on being" and the distinction between "object relatedness" and "object usage" to a clinical patient. The therapy hour selected features the therapist's and patient's complex negotiation of and resistance to aspects transitional junctures of the interpersonal space.
E-Therapy: A Critical Review of Practice Characteristics and Ethical StandardsJames Tobin, Ph.D.
A number of consumers turn to the internet to seek relief from mental distress. Research (Fox & Fallows, 2003) has found 21% of internet users search information on depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. At the same time, a number of clinicians are engaging in the practice of “e-therapy” over the Internet. E-therapy is now used by a range of professionals and applied to a vast array of problems and conditions. Bischoff (2004) believes the interest in online based counseling is growing due to several reasons: technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, the technology is becoming more affordable, and people are becoming more comfortable using technology as a means of communication. Furthermore, the telecommunications system will continue to increase in quality and affordability, and this will be associated with an increased user comfort. According to co-authors Lana Hunter and James Tobin, this will make it important for professionals in the mental health field to become familiar with the format and application of e-therapy available as a method of mental health treatment and the ethical and legal issues involved in choose technology as a treatment medium.
Utilizing clips from the feature films "Ali" and "Magnolia," Dr. Tobin emphasizes the importance of regret in adult development. When pursued in psychotherapy, regrets a patient experiences serve as a bridge into vital aspects of emotional development, mourning, and self-integration. Further, Dr. Tobin introduces the notions of "otherness" and "non-meaning" and characterizes their relevance for personal and existential experience.
The Dynamics of Unconscious Communication: Projection, Projective Identificat...James Tobin, Ph.D.
According to Dr. Tobin, communication occurs at an unconscious level and is organized largely around psychological processes that re-create historical events. This talk seeks to clarify how projection and projective identification are relevant in all romantic relationship and engineer patterns of relatedness oriented toward re-traumatization.
The "Wounded Healer" or the "Worried Well"? What We Know About Graduate Stu...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Doctoral programs consistently struggle with professional competence among their trainees, and numerous studies report significant numbers of expulsions from graduate study based on academic or nonacademic grounds. Widely attributed to Jung (1951), the wounded healer archetype assumes that clinicians, like all persons, have been negatively impacted by their personal histories, traumas, and interpersonal stressors. According to co-authors James Tobin and Anya Oleynik, a key role and responsibility of graduate programs in the helping professions and advanced training sites involves not only a gatekeeping function, but the capacity to identify and remediate students whose own personal challenges may be effectively resolved and transformed into the strengths ascribed to the wounded healer ideal.
Specifying the “Critical Thinking” Construct in Clinical Psychology Training:...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Critical thinking is a complex multidimensional construct whose presence in academic and training curriculums in psychology has largely been limited to scientific courses on research methodology that focus on the logical analysis of data, hypothesis support/refutation and inference-making. Yet the CT competencies required to function as a clinical psychologist expand beyond the analytic and inferential skills pertinent to the scientific method. Graduate training in clinical psychology has been criticized for not cultivating in students a more refined and contextualized set of CT skills that is directly applicable to their future career roles. Specifically, an alternative model of CT that emphasizes specific dispositional and attitudinal components central to self-experience has been lacking. For the psychotherapist, utilizing self-experience in a reflective and informed manner is a primary meta-cognitive ability that appears highly related to the capacity to form efficacious relationships with clients and to treatment outcome. The current project seeks to conceptualize an alternative model of CT uniquely relevant for clinical psychology training.
Clinical Psychology Case Formulation and Treatment Planning: A PrimerJames Tobin, Ph.D.
The aim of this primer is to support the learning of clinical case conceptualization and treatment planning for graduate students in clinical psychology, other trainees in the mental health professions, and early-career psychologists and mental health workers.
This talk presents Dr. Tobin’s view that human relationships, especially intimate romantic bonds, revolve around a central dynamic in which one’s internal representation of relational trauma previously experienced in one’s life (metaphorically called a “parasite”) gets “injected” into the other (or in one’s partner). All human relationships are constituted by a “sender” of parasitic material and a “recipient" who is unconsciously recruited to host the parasite. Once the parasitic material nests and proliferates in the identity of the recipient, the recipient is gradually but inevitably transformed into a perpetrator who then inflicts relational trauma back onto the sender. In this way, the sender’s previous relational trauma is re-experienced in the contemporary relationship, confirming the sender’s rigid construction of the world, of others, and of human relatedness. According to Dr. Tobin, this dynamic of parasitic love explains the patterns of self-sabotage and self-destruction so common in people’s romantic lives. However, it also suggests a paradigm for understanding all forms of aggression including envy, racism, and overt acts of violence: not only are we consistently injecting our parasitic material into others, but we are constantly inundated with parasitic injections into us and ultimately altered in insidious ways that perpetuate cycles of injustice and self-hatred.
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This document discusses the concepts of psychopathy and sociopathy by examining their origins and different types. It explains that psychopaths are born with underdeveloped brain parts related to impulse control and emotion regulation. Sociopaths have a weak or undeveloped conscience and are not ashamed by the same things normal people would be. Common sociopaths enjoy bending rules and have active sex lives, but don't do well in school or careers. The document also discusses how psychopaths and sociopaths differ from those diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
The document discusses the use of music therapy with a 10-year-old boy ("D") who had been sexually abused for the first five years of his life. Through weekly 30-minute sessions, the boy was able to powerfully express his experience of abuse through developing a repertoire of games and interactions. The therapeutic relationship aimed to provide a secure base and emotional containment for the boy to explore painful feelings and experiences from his past in a supported way. The effects of lack of a secure attachment and base during childhood due to abuse, including disorganized attachment patterns and neurological implications, are also examined.
DEFENSE MECHANISM IS THE UNCONSCIOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISM EMPLOYED BY US WHICH PREVENTS US FROM FALLING PREY TO INTOLERABLE ANXIETY, HOWEVER AT TIMES WE OFTEN PAY A HEAVY COST FOR USING IT IN PATHOLOGICAL WAYS.
The document provides information on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), including its history, epidemiology, clinical features, diagnostic criteria, etiology, and treatment. Some key points include:
- OCD has been recognized since ancient times with beliefs that it was caused by demonic possession or religious issues.
- It has a prevalence of around 2% worldwide and was historically considered treatment-resistant.
- The discovery that the antidepressant clomipramine could effectively treat OCD was a major breakthrough.
- OCD is characterized by obsessions (unwanted thoughts, images or urges) and/or compulsions (repetitive behaviors or rituals).
- The cause is believed to involve abnormalities in serotonin
Existential psychotherapy is a philosophical approach that focuses on concepts like freedom, responsibility, and meaning. It views humans as always evolving and defines our existence by our capacity for self-awareness and search for purpose. Key existential philosophers discussed include Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus. Rollo May was influential in introducing existential ideas to psychotherapy in the US. Existential therapy addresses fundamental human concerns like anxiety, death, relationships and uses concepts like creative living to help clients develop authenticity. While flexible, it can also be complex and difficult to apply due to its philosophical nature.
Why We Love Who We Love: A Psychodynamic Perspective on the Loss of Free Will James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin presents a model of romantic love that synthesizes concepts from evolutionary psychology, Freudian thought, interpersonal neurobiology, and intersubjectivity. Notions of free will and conscious decision-making regarding the choice of romantic partners are refuted. Instead, Dr. Tobin presents an unconsciously motivated perspective on romantic love that emphasizes our uncanny tendency to select and induce others to hurt us emotionally iin ways that are familiar and to which we are highly adapted.
Paper On Compassion
Empathy Vs. Compassion Essay
Compassion
What Is Compassion?
On Compassion Analysis Essay
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Similar to Repeating the Trauma: Unconscious Factors that Determine Contemporary Life (7)
Launching a Private Practice: Strategies for Clinical Psychologists and Menta...James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin provides a set of attitudinal and pragmatic recommendations for beginning a private practice in the mental healthcare professions. The central elements of private practice including ethical, legal, marketing, financial, and supervisory factors are introduced. Beyond this, Dr. Tobin suggests that the transition from "trainee" to "entrepreneur" is often fraught with conflict centering on archaic dispositional tendencies residing in many psychologists and psychotherapists. Reviewing Alice Miller's characterization of the "gifted child," Dr. Tobin suggests that many early-career practitioners suppress self-concerned drives and aspirations including financial reward. Yet, establishing a successful clinical practice is a gradual and complex process, one that necessitates a personal resolution of two fundamentally opposed value systems: adherence to the needs of the other vs. the needs of one's self. Professional development is portrayed as the negotiation of these opposing forces across one's career.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin utilizes Alice Miller's characterization of the "gifted child" to suggest that many graduate students in clinical psychology and psychotherapy trainees have suffered early emotional trauma. A consequence of this trauma is a psychological and emotional investment in the mental healthcare professions as a means of continuing to adhere to a particular relational role. For Dr. Tobin, what is problematic about this professional aspiration is the characterological residue from early deprivations which often emerges in trainees' narcissistic and/or co-dependent tendencies as they begin to engage in the therapeutic role. Breaking from these tendencies affords greater perceptional and relational freedoms, an important training and supervisory milestone for trainees and early-career psychotherapists.
Improving Writing and Critical Thinking Competence in Psychology: A Primer a...James Tobin, Ph.D.
This manual was composed to support psychology students' ability at the undergraduate and graduate levels to write more effectively in a variety of contexts within academic and applied settings. The primer is not meant to be a comprehensive writing guide, but focuses instead on the core components of scholarly writing, critical thinking, and the formulation and execution of original ideas. The relevance of these competencies for clinical psychology training is emphasized throughout the manual. Exercises are provided to help the instructor and/or student with practice experiences to support the refinement of the ideas and skills presented.
Socializing the Psychotherapist-in-Training to an Alternative Form of Related...James Tobin, Ph.D.
According to Dr. Tobin, the supervision of psychologists-in-training must facilitate a central transition for the trainee. A major aspect of the trainee is socially-normed attitudes and tendencies which infiltrate the clinical situation and typically impede the development of a distinct "space" or interpersonal field on which psychotherapy relies. Dr. contends that the the supervisory situation and the unfolding dynamics between the supervisor and trainee should optimally support the trainee's capacity to experience him- or herself, and the other, in a more refined mode that liberates the dyad from the psychological and emotional restraints and inhibitions associated with social conventionality.
The Child’s Psychological Use of the Parent: A Workshop James Tobin, Ph.D.
This workshop is designed for parents who would like to improve the quality of their relationship with their children. Dr. Tobin provides a roadmap for parents based on a core paradox of the human condition, i.e., the initial need to bond (to form and sustain early life) and the subsequent need to separate/individuate (in order for the child to secure a distinct personal identity unencumbered by unresolved issues with the family of origin). According to Dr. Tobin, both the parent and the developing child simultaneously press for separation/individuation and resist it. This workshop attempts to alert parents to the underlying dynamics that prolong this ambivalence and provides pragmatic suggestions for how parents can be "of use" psychologically so that their child is more successfully primed for the achievement of autonomy.
The Dynamics of Process and Content in Parent-Teen Communication: A Coding Ma...James Tobin, Ph.D.
This coding manual is designed to provide parents with an approach to understanding their communication and relational difficulties with their children. According to Dr. Tobin, the parent-teen relationship is usually conflictual yet parents often do no understand the specific dynamics of their family system that often result in arguing, stonewalling, oppositionality, distance, and withdrawal. Drawing from scientific research of the conflict dynamics of romantic couples, Dr. Tobin has designed an exercise that consists of the audiotaping of a parent-teen discussion of an issue or problem between them. A set of content codes outlined in the manual is then applied to the transcribed audiotaped dialogue. The scoring sheet for the codes is designed to showcase how what is said, when it is said, and by whom it is said contributes to the facilitation or obstruction of the dialogue. In this way, Dr. Tobin contends that the architecture of the parent-teen relationship can be uncovered and ultimately used in parent guidance and family therapy to improve parents' relationships with their children.
Clinical Case Formulation & Treatment Planning: A Fact-to-Inference Strategy...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Clinical case formulation and treatment planning are core competencies of clinical psychologists and other mental health professionals. Yet there is no clear consensus regarding how to support the development of these skills in formal academic and clinical training. According to Dr. Tobin, the standard approach to supporting the development of these skills is "hierarchical learning," i.e., the trainee is first taught objective facts (declarative knowledge) and then required to transition to more subjective (inferential) forms of thinking in order to understand the cause and maintenance of the patient's problems. Dr. Tobin suggests that this approach is flawed on numerous levels, Instead, using a scene from the film "Dead Poets Society," he argues for the primary need to "subjectify" learning for the clinical trainee. The accomplishment of this initial goal will personalize all subsequent academic and clinical training, thus securing inferential capacities even before object knowledge is fully achieved.
A Therapy Hour: Revisiting Winnicott’s Notion of “Object Usage”James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this talk, Dr. Tobin applies the fundamental constructs of D.W. Winnicott's theorizing including "going on being" and the distinction between "object relatedness" and "object usage" to a clinical patient. The therapy hour selected features the therapist's and patient's complex negotiation of and resistance to aspects transitional junctures of the interpersonal space.
E-Therapy: A Critical Review of Practice Characteristics and Ethical StandardsJames Tobin, Ph.D.
A number of consumers turn to the internet to seek relief from mental distress. Research (Fox & Fallows, 2003) has found 21% of internet users search information on depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. At the same time, a number of clinicians are engaging in the practice of “e-therapy” over the Internet. E-therapy is now used by a range of professionals and applied to a vast array of problems and conditions. Bischoff (2004) believes the interest in online based counseling is growing due to several reasons: technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, the technology is becoming more affordable, and people are becoming more comfortable using technology as a means of communication. Furthermore, the telecommunications system will continue to increase in quality and affordability, and this will be associated with an increased user comfort. According to co-authors Lana Hunter and James Tobin, this will make it important for professionals in the mental health field to become familiar with the format and application of e-therapy available as a method of mental health treatment and the ethical and legal issues involved in choose technology as a treatment medium.
Utilizing clips from the feature films "Ali" and "Magnolia," Dr. Tobin emphasizes the importance of regret in adult development. When pursued in psychotherapy, regrets a patient experiences serve as a bridge into vital aspects of emotional development, mourning, and self-integration. Further, Dr. Tobin introduces the notions of "otherness" and "non-meaning" and characterizes their relevance for personal and existential experience.
The Dynamics of Unconscious Communication: Projection, Projective Identificat...James Tobin, Ph.D.
According to Dr. Tobin, communication occurs at an unconscious level and is organized largely around psychological processes that re-create historical events. This talk seeks to clarify how projection and projective identification are relevant in all romantic relationship and engineer patterns of relatedness oriented toward re-traumatization.
The "Wounded Healer" or the "Worried Well"? What We Know About Graduate Stu...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Doctoral programs consistently struggle with professional competence among their trainees, and numerous studies report significant numbers of expulsions from graduate study based on academic or nonacademic grounds. Widely attributed to Jung (1951), the wounded healer archetype assumes that clinicians, like all persons, have been negatively impacted by their personal histories, traumas, and interpersonal stressors. According to co-authors James Tobin and Anya Oleynik, a key role and responsibility of graduate programs in the helping professions and advanced training sites involves not only a gatekeeping function, but the capacity to identify and remediate students whose own personal challenges may be effectively resolved and transformed into the strengths ascribed to the wounded healer ideal.
Specifying the “Critical Thinking” Construct in Clinical Psychology Training:...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Critical thinking is a complex multidimensional construct whose presence in academic and training curriculums in psychology has largely been limited to scientific courses on research methodology that focus on the logical analysis of data, hypothesis support/refutation and inference-making. Yet the CT competencies required to function as a clinical psychologist expand beyond the analytic and inferential skills pertinent to the scientific method. Graduate training in clinical psychology has been criticized for not cultivating in students a more refined and contextualized set of CT skills that is directly applicable to their future career roles. Specifically, an alternative model of CT that emphasizes specific dispositional and attitudinal components central to self-experience has been lacking. For the psychotherapist, utilizing self-experience in a reflective and informed manner is a primary meta-cognitive ability that appears highly related to the capacity to form efficacious relationships with clients and to treatment outcome. The current project seeks to conceptualize an alternative model of CT uniquely relevant for clinical psychology training.
Clinical Psychology Case Formulation and Treatment Planning: A PrimerJames Tobin, Ph.D.
The aim of this primer is to support the learning of clinical case conceptualization and treatment planning for graduate students in clinical psychology, other trainees in the mental health professions, and early-career psychologists and mental health workers.
This talk presents Dr. Tobin’s view that human relationships, especially intimate romantic bonds, revolve around a central dynamic in which one’s internal representation of relational trauma previously experienced in one’s life (metaphorically called a “parasite”) gets “injected” into the other (or in one’s partner). All human relationships are constituted by a “sender” of parasitic material and a “recipient" who is unconsciously recruited to host the parasite. Once the parasitic material nests and proliferates in the identity of the recipient, the recipient is gradually but inevitably transformed into a perpetrator who then inflicts relational trauma back onto the sender. In this way, the sender’s previous relational trauma is re-experienced in the contemporary relationship, confirming the sender’s rigid construction of the world, of others, and of human relatedness. According to Dr. Tobin, this dynamic of parasitic love explains the patterns of self-sabotage and self-destruction so common in people’s romantic lives. However, it also suggests a paradigm for understanding all forms of aggression including envy, racism, and overt acts of violence: not only are we consistently injecting our parasitic material into others, but we are constantly inundated with parasitic injections into us and ultimately altered in insidious ways that perpetuate cycles of injustice and self-hatred.
Romantic love is parasitic. Unconsciously, we seek out partners who can serve as psychological "hosts" we then use to inhabit our previous relationship traumas. And the host, once recruited, chosen, and "injected" into, houses and nurtures our injured past. As the parasites grow inside our lover/host, he/she is altered and becomes the perpetrator who victimizes and does not love.
Each of us must be aware of how we serve as our partner's host, and how, simultaneously, we seek a host into whom we inject our parasitic material. In this talk, I present the story of "recruitment" and discuss how to recognize the nature of the parasitic material you are receiving. I also address the other side of the equation, i.e., how to understand the parasites already growing within you from previous relational experiences and the particular style of your recruitment and injection strategy.
Academic Cheating Among Youths: A Causal Pathway Model James Tobin, Ph.D.
Academic cheating is a problem more commonly manifested among children and adolescents than one might expect. Researchers estimate that approximately 75% of high school students cheat at some point during their course of academic study (e.g., McCabe, Trevino, & Butterfield, 2001; Whitley, 1998). While cheating appears to be widespread, it has been under-emphasized in the empirical literature and poorly understood as a behavioral phenomenon despite its association with a range of youth risk factors (including low self-esteem and poor academic performance) and its capacity to predict more severe problems in later adolescence and young adulthood. Conducted by co-authors Nicolette de Sumrak, M.A. and James Tobin, Ph.D., this review attempted to organize the current research findings on academic cheating into a comprehensive causal pathway model. Empirical findings were categorized into (1) individual, (2) contextual and (3) moderating factors that interact to increase the likelihood of the onset and maintenance of cheating behavior.
Promoting the Patient's Capacity to Suffer: A Revision of Contemporary Notion...James Tobin, Ph.D.
In this presentation, Dr. Tobin argues that the era of evidence-based treatment has inadvertently placed too much pressure and responsibility on the part of the clinician to "heal" the patient. Symptom reduction and characterologoical transformation are perspectives on therapeutic transformation that oversimplify the clinical situation. According to Dr. Tobin, a principle focus of psychodynamic treatment is increasing the patient's capacity to contact, tolerate, and represent his or her contributions to experience; learning by suffering denotes a psychological competency in which denial, minimization, and other defensive modes of distortion are replaced by more accurate appraisals of reality.
Culture, Norms, and Process in Adult Sex Offender Groups: Getting Reacquaint...James Tobin, Ph.D.
Most clinicians who treat adult sex offenders utilize group therapy. However, facilitation of groups for sex offenders is often highly idiosyncratic, with great variance in the content and process of groups, clinicians’ views of intervention goals, strategies, and technique, and how the cultural fabric of the group is established. Moreover, clinicians who treat sex offenders typically have expertise in the assessment of risk, relapse prevention, and individual factors that impact the nature and magnitude of aberrant sexual beliefs and tendencies, yet have never had or don’t readily recall advanced training in group psychotherapy. To address this issue, this presentation will describe and delineate transtheoretical factors of group psychotherapy, including here-and-now processing, vicarious learning, group-as-a-whole phenomena, and developmental dynamics across the evolution of the group. Attention will be devoted to the relevance of these factors for adult male sex offender groups, with clinical case material used to illustrate significant themes. Additionally, empirically-based measures that assess group process factors showcased in this talk will be introduced. Attendees will leave this presentation with a greater repertoire of intervention strategies from which to draw, and a theoretical framework for understanding the common events and dynamics that emerge in groups for adult male sex offenders.
The Anatomy of Discovery in Psychotherapy: "Something So Familiar, It is Stra...James Tobin, Ph.D.
The document summarizes a presentation given by James Tobin, Ph.D at the Western Psychological Association Annual Convention on April 25, 2014. The presentation discussed the concept of discovery in psychotherapy and argued that true discovery occurs when patients recognize something familiar about themselves that was previously unintegrated or unformulated. The therapist's role is to create an environment that allows patients to self-observe and explore their experiences to promote this recognition, rather than imposing their own interpretations.
3. It was determined!!
This is different from “fate” (which implies
pre-determinism).
Determinism is closer to the idea of,
“Everything happens for a reason.”
Things do not happen randomly, as much as
we might wish to believe that it is the case.
3
4. The work of Ross Rosenberg demonstrates
the magnetic connection between the
narcissist and the codependent.
The bond is pursued no matter how drama-
filled and painful it is.
4
7. Freud was the first to realize this; as early as
the 1890s, he theorized that our rational,
thinking mind is relatively small/powerless in
comparison to the strong motivational
influence of the unconscious.
7
8. 8
They realize/see the “bad choices” they are
making, but they seemingly can’t do anything
about it.
They often talk about this in terms of
patterns, i.e., “I date the same wrong man (or
woman) over and over, but no matter how
hard I try I seem to find him/her again
despite my best efforts not to.”
9. The reason why this is so common is due to
the dominance in our minds of the
unconscious programming that literally takes
away our free will.
9
10. 10
This unconscious programming is our
software: it is not only the operating system
of ours minds and hearts, but also everything
that happens to us – it literally determines
our experience.
14. The mind forms at the moment relational
trauma occurs, i.e., the infant does not have
his/her needs met immediately and perfectly.
Human existence is trauma-based.
Once trauma occurs, the mind begins to
develop.
14
15. As relational traumas occur, the “ego” is
activated and begins its lifetime job of
producing adaptations/defenses.
The ego is a product of evolution: it is in
place to promote our survival and our
capacity to adapt to the demands of reality.
15
16. The adaptive instinct is so powerful that you
can think of the ego as the strongest muscle
of the mind.
16
17. As the child grows, the ego continues to
mature in its capacity to adapt to REALITY
(e.g., which consist largely of relational
traumas).
Ideally, the demands of reality will not be too
great and also will not be too weak/too
diluted, thus allowing the ego to mature in a
reasonable fashion.
17
18. The child has to adapt to the mother .... the
ego is tilted or oriented around appealing to
her (as much as possible) so that the child’s
needs are met.
18
19. The child “reads” mother and adjusts/adapts
to her by compromising the self -- the child
becomes something it is not (this in
inevitable in all of us).
The compromise of the self occurs to a
greater or lesser degree, depending on the
characteristics of mother and child, the
dynamic between them, and the relational
traumas that occur.
19
20. As personality evolves into adolescence and
young adulthood, the self coalesces into
three parts:
(1) the compromised (“false”) self;
(2) the non-compromised (“true”) self;
(3) the part of the true self that was not
given the opportunity to develop (“the lost
self”).
20
21. The False Self
The True Self
The Lost Self
21
22. The evolutionary (survival) genes in our DNA
are so strong that we are programmed to
adapt (the compromised, false self is
activated) over and over again, resulting in
the false self becoming habituated.
The compromised (false) self centers around
a major traumatic relational theme.
The false is stronger and predominates over
the true and the lost parts of the self.
22
23. #1) Our compromised (false) self assumes that
relational trauma will occur (often
erroneously) and, due to this fear, the false
self is perpetually activated even when it is
not needed.
23
24. Kim Bassinger’s character finally arrives at the
home of a painter; she sits next to him on a
bench as he is examining a fish he just
caught ... she tells him his paintings are
beautiful because they somehow capture a
moment; he responds: “It is the moment, a
thing that is so familiar, it is strange.”
24
25. #2) The adaptations habitually generated by
the false self are not flexible – every real or
imaginary trauma is approached in the same
way.
25
26. During childhood, Cindy is shamed by her
mother when she expresses her needs (her
mother yells at her or ignores her when
Cindy’s needs become too taxing for the
mother) .... this occurs over and over again
and is the relational trauma that defines
Cindy’s life.
As an adult, what will be Cindy’s False Self,
True Self, and Lost Self?
26
27. “My needs are too great, overwhelm others,
and are not even valid. I will make sure NOT
to express them anymore and will be
independent and not a bother.”
27
28. “I enjoy revealing what I need to another; I am
able to be honest and direct about what I
need and want.”
28
29. “When my needs are responded to, I feel
legitimized and loved and it makes me want
to share more of myself and also respond to
the needs of others.”
29
31. Ron will be a lot like Cindy’s mother, i.e., easily
taxed at having to respond to Cindy’s needs.
With the choice of Ron, Cindy repeats the
relational trauma that has defined her life (this is
a familiar relationship for her).
There are many theories as to why this occurs,
including the strong press of the compromised
(false) self to continue to find familiar
circumstances to adapt to and the fear of the true
and lost selves being activated.
31
32. Bill is nothing like Cindy’s mother.
With the choice of Bill, Cindy’s relational trauma
is not likely to be repeated.
The compromised (false) self is de-activated and
the true and lost selves are activated, which
Cindy is not accustomed to.
As a result, Cindy feels no chemistry or sexual
attraction toward Bill, or refuses to see him
anymore for any number of reasons.
32
33. Henry is not really all that similar to Cindy’s
mother, though he does share some qualities.
with her.
With the choice of Henry, Cindy’s relational
trauma is not likely to be repeated and the
compromised self will begin to be de-activated.
This is undesirable, so Cindy induces Henry to be
like her mother and treat her as the mother did –
and Henry does.
Cindy’s relational trauma is re-created and
repeated, and so her compromised (false) self is
activated.
33
34. Early in life we adapt to the relational traumas we
are exposed to.
The ego builds with each adaptation, as the true
and lost selves recede.
The compromised (false) self is stronger and
more predominant than the true and lost selves.
In adulthood, we are literally programmed to
adapt (to live with a compromised facade), and
when we are not adapting we feel uncomfortable
and exposed. We seek to adapt, even when we
don’t have to.
34
35. Adult life then amounts to an ongoing series
of circumstances in which we are adapting to
people and situations that are not inherently
traumatizing, and/or we are inducing people
or situations to traumatize us in ways that
our adaptations are accustomed to
addressing.
Either way, relational trauma is repeated over
and over again.
35
37. The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in
the Cultivation of Well-Being
DANIEL J. SIEGEL
The Neuroscience of Human Relationships:
Attachment And the Developing Social Brain
LOUIS COZOLINO
The Haunted Self: Structural Dissociation and the
Treatment of Chronic Traumatization
ONNO VAN DER HART, ELLERT R. S. NIJENHUIS,
KATHY STEELE
37
38. Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self &
Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self
ALLAN N. SCHORE
Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self
ALLAN N. SCHORE
Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self
ALLAN N. SCHORE
Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain
DANIEL J. SIEGEL, MARION SOLOMON
38
39. Love and War in Intimate Relationships: Connection,
Disconnection, and Mutual Regulation in Couple Therapy
MARION SOLOMON, STAN TATKIN
The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social Brain
LOUIS COZOLINO
From Axons to Identity: Neurological Explorations of the
Nature of the Self
TODD E. FEINBERG
Infant/Child Mental Health, Early Intervention, and
Relationship-Based Therapies: A Neurorelational
Framework for Interdisciplnary Practice
CONNIE LILLAS, JANIECE TURNBULL
39
40. Healing the Traumatized Self: Consciousness,
Neuroscience, Treatment
PAUL FREWEN, RUTH LANIUS, BESSEL VAN DER KOLK, ET
AL.
Neurobiologically Informed Trauma Therapy with
Children and Adolescents: Understanding
Mechanisms of Change
LINDA CHAPMAN
Loving with the Brain in Mind: Neurobiology and Couple
Therapy
MONA DEKOVEN FISHBANE, DANIEL J. SIEGEL
40
41. Body Sense: The Science and Practice of Embodied
Self-Awareness
ALAN FOGEL
The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary
Origins of Human Emotions
JAAK PANKSEPP, LUCY BIVEN
Brain-Based Parenting: The Neuroscience of
Caregiving for Healthy Attachment
DANIEL A. HUGHES, JONATHAN BAYLIN, DANIEL J.
SIEGEL
41
43. Our brains and bodies put forth a series of
complex, nonverbal and unconscious
communications that are read by others.
43
44. We see something similar in the animal
kingdom, where the weakest animal in a pack
is sensed, identified and hunted (survival of
the fittest).
In humans, it’s a bit different: the aura
promotes our survival by cuing others to
traumatize us so that we can maintain our
adaptations (conversely, if others were cued
to promote our true or lost selves, we would
be threatened and great anxiety would
ensue).
44
45. The patient is programmed to adapt (use a
facade or adapt to an actual or assumed
trauma) vs. have his/her true self or lost self
acknowledged.
The therapist promotes the true and the lost
over the facade, just as a lover senses his/her
partner’s anxiety about living without trauma
(and preference for maintaining a
compromised/false self).
45
46. Our compromised (false) self must be
gradually reduced in intensity and power
(what has become so familiar is suddenly
strange).
This occurs in part by discovering how we
falsely assume the potential to be injured and
also how we induce others (and are induced)
so that we end up becoming re-traumatized.
46
47. It also occurs by realizing the nature of our
relational traumas and how we managed
them at a primitive level.
The aura of our relationally traumatic past
will never fully disappear so we must
understand in detail how people are likely to
“view” us.
By doing this, there are ways to interfere with
the aura.
47
48. James Tobin, Ph.D.
Licensed Psychologist PSY 22074
220 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1
Newport Beach, CA 92660
949-338-4388
Email: jt@jamestobinphd.com
Website: www.jamestobinphd.com