The above 1959 interview with the famous psychologist and psychiatrist is fascinating.
I firmly believe that EVERYONE would be a better, happier and more balanced person if they engaged in counselling and psychotherapy.
And I can say this based on personal experience of having voluntarily placed myself in psychotherapy over a 5 year period in my late 30s and early 40s.
The therapist I chose was/ is from the psychological school called psychosynthesis
( PSYCHOSYNTHESIS is an approach to psychology that expands the boundaries of the field by identifying that a deeper center of identity, which is the postulate of the Self.
It considers each individual unique in terms of purpose in life and places value on the exploration of human potential.
The approach combines spiritual development with psychological healing by including the life journey of an individual or his unique path to self-realization.
The integrative framework of psychosynthesis is based on Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious and addresses psychological distress and intra-psychic and interpersonal conflicts. )
During the above interview Jung talks about becoming aware of his own individual consciousness at the age of 11. He describes it as coming out of a mist and stepping into clarity.
The difference between the self I was before therapy and after therapy was the same. I stepped out of a mist into the clear light of day.
It also gave me a total new freedom that I had never experienced before. After therapy I really knew what it felt like to have the freedom of a son of God.
Henry David Thoreau famously stated in Walden that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
If that is true, what a horrible truth it is!
But it is true, that at various times of our lives we all have painful “issues”.
Sometimes we can resolve those issues on our own.
At other times, we need some help with our issues
The secret is to be wise enough to know when we need help and practical and courageous enough to ask for it.
As psychosynthesis combines psychological healing and spiritual development my time in therapy was also a time of spiritual growth.
I also engaged in Primal Therapy with Dr Frank Lake.
Frank Lake (6 June 1914 – 10 May 1982) was one of the pioneers of pastoral counselling in the United Kingdom.
In 1962, he founded the Clinical Theology Association with the primary aim to make clergy more effective in understanding and accepting the psychological origins of their parishioners’ personal difficulties.
However, the training seminars in pastoral counselling, which he began in 1958, eventually enlisted professional and lay people in various fields from various denominations. Many thousands of people attended the seminars.
A PRAYER PLEASE
Please remember a prayer and a thought for Belfast trauma and orthopaedic surgeon Kyle McDonald (38) who passed away suddenly in his sleep the other day leaving a young wife and two babies. (Not Covid related.) RIP.
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 