Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Table of Contents:
Psychotherapy and Psychiatry
Co-Morbidity
“Co-morbidity” is the way several things could be off or wrong, and it’s t’s the rule rather than the exception! More, there aren’t just one thing else that goes wrong, but many!: One person is intellectually limited and obsessive, another is narciss-istic and pushy—there may be several factors at play. This is even more so […]
Compelling Distractions: Another “Service” of the Amplifying Unconscious
In a recent series of blogs I laid out my provisional theory of the amplifying unconscious, a way of speaking about psychic energy that notes its capacity to intensify our intentions, whether they be for good, evil, or what most folks do, which is to pursue childish illusions. To that list I would add a […]
Considering Psychiatric “Help”
I’m a retired psychiatrist, and I’m suspicious of psychiatric “help.” I estimate that less than a fifth of those seeking help are healthy enough so that for them psychotherapy is an aesthetic option, one aimed at elaborating a richer life. Then there are those who show deficits in rational thinking, those who "really need it.” […]
Considering Socio-Cultural Factors
We should consider the socio-cultural factors operating in a situation. (Some of the factors in human development are discussed on another paper on my website. In the future, I’ll explore in another paper some of the factors in adulthood, too, including socio-cultural factors—but of course I won’t pretend to be comprehensive.) Considering the socio-cultural factors […]
Creativity Development
This may become another cultural institution, located somewhere between spirituality development (which is one way of thinking about modern religion), education (especially modern kinds, like Montessori for older youngsters), continuing education and recreation (recognizing that one keeps learning and reinventing oneself throughout life), and so forth. Creativity development, in retrospect, has been located to some […]
Creativity Development
Using action explorations are a tool for aiding in creativity development. It may or may not have some therapeutic applications for those who have even a moderate degree of initiative. Action explorations can or may help to meet problems or predicaments in a new way. We’re offering empowerment, liberation, in a world where I don’t […]
Creativity Enhancement
I’m turning away from psychodrama as therapy and more towards "creativity enhancement.” That is to say, I’m turning more towards the use of psychodrama in non-therapeutic environments! I call this shift “action exploration,” rather than ‘psychodrama’ because it is not really “psycho” only, but also “socio”; it is often not dramatic in the sense that […]
Diagnosis and Therapy in Psychiatry
As the American Psychiatric Association has now come out with their fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual—the DSM-5—a number of controversies have arisen. My critique aims at a fairly basic theme: Should we think of all psychiatric disorders as a unitary category, or might they be as different as, say, skin rashes or […]
Dogma in the Postmodern World
As we’ve become increasingly aware of the nature of mind and its intrinsic complexity, I perceive a rationale for a postmodern perspective. The perception of a non-trivial truth must resonate through the wholeness of our being, and as we recognize several elements, the idea that two people can deeply experience (perception plus interpretation) in the […]
Drama Therapy and Psychodrama: How They Belong
Last month I responded to an email announcing a workshop for psychodramatists and other creative arts therapists titled “Where Do I Belong?" I wrote: You belong in the ranks of the cultural creatives, those seeking to help promote the transformation of consciousness on this planet. We’re at a tipping point of learning how to re-integrate […]
Economic Sociology: A Fresh View
I’ve been thinking about what helps people find and sustain an optimal level of a sense of social connectedness. It occurred to me that part of the problem is that it seems mundane, almost a matter of economics—not of money, but of an exchange of talent and interest. Sure, there are some elements of non-neurotic […]
Ego—a Term with Many Meanings
In a number of contexts—“new age,” psychology, consciousness studies, spirituality—the term “ego” has been used as if it’s a problem. There are several meanings of “ego” and it may be worthwhile considering these. First, the word is Latin for “I” and is attributed by the English translators of Freud’s writings to that part of the […]
Enhanced Simulation (More)
Enhanced simulations should be used as a kind of therapy, and indeed, as part of the training of helpers, paid professionals. It’s also a part of therapy, including psychodrama, drama therapy, and related approaches, may be thought of as a kind of education. Simulations should be applied not only as therapy but rather for all […]
Epiphany or “Epiphanosis”?
For several months now I’ve been developing a kind of low-grade epiphany that re-cognizes the unconscious mind as partaking of two levels—one is the ordinary muddle of conflicting desires, immature modes of adjustments, unrealistic expectations, and other elements I discuss in the section called “follies” on this blog, but also another hardly appreciated by Freud […]
Factors in Human Development
There are so many things to take into consideration when trying to understand a human life. Several years ago I made a tentative list on some of the many issues affecting the development of babies, children, and teenagers. Today I posted another paper that offered a preliminary listing of many of the issues that affect […]
Growing More Psychologically-Minded
It may take a century or more before even a moderate number of people become moderately psychologically-minded. Freud set this back a few decades, I fear. But even if Freud didn’t give people excuses to hate the machinations of the mind as viewed through his distorted lens, people would still avoid looking at their own […]
High on Anxiety—Revisited
Gary Schwartz wrote a column in the February 14 Newsweek titled High on Anxiety. This is a most interesting problem that deserves much deeper investigation. What people do may not correlate with what is wise to do. Indeed, many subjects in psychological researchers may be the kinds of students whose idea of fun is getting […]
History of Psychotherapy
For those who might be interested, I’ve just posted several webpages that accompany a lecture I’m giving today on the history of psychotherapy. I would be open to suggestions for additions or revisions. It might be of interest to look at the many other papers I’ve written on different aspects of the art of bringing […]
Hitler Was Not Crazy!
Perhaps he was a little towards the end, when I think he was known to abuse amphetamines to stay awake to cope with the stress of the later stages of the Second World War. But in the early parts, it seems to me that many politicians resort to similar exaggerations or not-easily-disproven lies, and for […]
How Psychodrama Works
I have been contemplating how Moreno’s method works, and tentatively conclude that it makes explicit that which is done implicitly. It unfolds consciousness. Words allow the beginnings of intuition to take form, and, speaking mythically, G-d created people , evolved them painstakingly over a million years, so that they could use words. The neocortex mediates […]
How We Become
This is a contemplation that deals with the need for repeated self-creation, and builds on the system of Individual Psychology that was developed in the 1920s by Alfred Adler. Adler noted that children by the time they’re five tend to have implicitly answered—made up a story—about (1) who they are; (2) who others are; (3) […]
Increasing Sensitivity
I’m happy to realize that even at the age of going-on-74, I am still learning. Times change and so does sensitivity to things that I had taken for granted. Around 1976 my daughter, then not-yet-eight, called to my attention in a rather stark fashion, in all innocence and love, smelling my tobacco-infused beard, “You stink, […]
Integrating Methods of Psychotherapy
Increasingly clinicians are integrating a variety of expressive therapy modalities in with psychodrama, and the point is that wisely done, this is fine. There is no need to be purist: In a recent book by Carnabucci & Ciotola on Eating Disorders they seamlessly incorporate other modalities with action, including music, art, exercise, yoga, Reiki, and […]