Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Nurturance as a Primary Motive
Freud made sexuality a primary motive; and aggression another deep motive. Today I realized that nurturance is another profound motivating force—quite deep! I was cutting up a plum for my sweetie and realizing that I got a kick out of feeding her the way a momma bird is driven by the nonverbal cues of hunger […]
Posted in Current Events, Psychological Literacy | 2 Comments
Low-Grade Mysticism?
As I’ve been contemplating the nature of some more vivid dream images, it occurred to me that I’m experiencing in dream-imagery some aspects of the lower levels of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Semi-mythically speaking, “my” angels—the super-conscious forces, personified, of whatever is “growing” me—have been reminding me increasingly of the seemingly infinite horizons in […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Play and Spontaneity, Spirituality and Philosophy | 1 Comment
Distractions
It’s amusing and annoying to realize that multi-tasking is what so many of us do—not with minor things like talking on the cell-phone when driving, but as part of our life-script. I’m thinking of someone who writes and also is a wife and mother. She wants to do all three, and sometimes one role drains […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Wisdom-ing | No Comments
Too Much or Not Enough
The comedian George Carlen remarked, “There are two kinds of people on the road: idiots and nuts. Idiots are those who drive slower than you; nuts are those who drive faster.” A friend wrote that as president of his (church, synagogue, congregation), he was always needing to mediate between those who felt their clergyman (minister, […]
Posted in Current Events, Spirituality and Philosophy | No Comments
Thoughts on Psychology Research
In a conversation with a colleague who brought up the issue of the impact that a disabled child might have on siblings, I warmed up to the different constellations that might be involved. Here are just a few: The type of disability certainly makes a difference. Mental, physical? Retardation, autism, paralysis or weakness of limbs, […]
Posted in Psychotherapy and Psychiatry | No Comments
Sociometry in the Family
Comments on a cover article for Time Magazine of October 3, 2011—title: Mom liked you best* (*of course she would never admit it); (author: Mr. Jeffrey Kluger). It’s good that this theme is brought up again in an era in which social psychology is coming more into prominence, gradually competing with the trend towards focusing […]
Posted in Psychodrama, Psychological Literacy, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry | No Comments
That Explains Everything
“A camel is a horse designed by a committee.” So it has been said. I was pondering the mysteries of the universe, the riddles of existence, and my friend Zordak (the extra-terrestrial buddy who visits from other dimensions, too), reminded me of Universe #9&$(x-1)! , which, he assured me, was not a cuss word, but […]
Posted in Foolin Around, Play and Spontaneity, Zordak's Journal | No Comments
Confabulations 15
Explaining Explaining There are times my meandering thoughts seem inexplicable, I have been told. Alas. I mark this up to the possibility of there being ambiguous alternative interpretations I didn’t think of. If one considers the sheer depth of meaning inherent in whatever, and / or further meanings, not to speak of analogies and reflections […]
Posted in Foolin Around | No Comments
How It Looks from Here
Zordak speaking: So here’s the deal. Pretend that when you talk this way you don’t mean it, you’re just foolin’ around. Okay. So somewhere on the order of 24,000 sprite-souls have been incarnated onto your planet because Earth-people really need them. The species has become caught up in illusion. We’ve been sending liberatory sprite-souls for […]
Posted in Foolin Around, Spirituality and Philosophy, Zordak's Journal | No Comments
Psychiatric “Diagnoses”
Several months ago I sent this to the American Psychiatric Association’s committee in charge of making a new Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM-5). I wrote: Though I’m retired from active practice in psychiatry now, I get questions from neighbors; and also I teach and consult with various mental health professionals in training. My impression is […]
Posted in Psychotherapy and Psychiatry | No Comments