Friday, May 10, 2013

Why do I Mistrust The Intuition By Cognitive Therapists? By Jan Johnson


Why do I Mistrust The Intuition By Cognitive Therapists?
Because I sometimes get asked how I dare to be so sure of my judgmental attitude to Cognitive psychology, I have tried to identify my basic reasons, guided by the Primal Theory and critical thoughts from Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow”.

Having been involved in Primal therapy during four decades and having worked in various positions with human resources and recruitment experts in my career, I have met and gotten to know (even privately) a number of psychologists. Most of them have been ambitious and genuine professionals, whether they have worked in the therapy context, or if they worked as selection or test psychologists. I had, according to a female friend, since my teens a psychological aptitude (whatever that is?), and I can say that I have mostly had a positive relationship to this profession.

However, my attitude to the psychologic corps has over the years become increasingly split as my knowledge of the brain and the feelings has deepened when I experienced a fascinating demystification of my problems caused by an epileptic stigma which was caused by a painful and horrific birthing process. During the years, it took to be cured, Primal Therapy and the understanding of the evolutionary process played a crucial role.

The more I hear about Cognitive Therapy treatment from different contexts, the more skeptical I have been. The lack of cure causes an intellectual, short term attitude to reason and to medicate depressions away, instead of feeling / reliving the cause of the underlying anxiety and pain. My frustration is all the greater that the alternative to Cognitive Therapy, for example, Primal Therapy, for various reasons do not seem practically capable of filling the endless need to be met.

Add to that the fact that many sufferers / patients choose Cognitive therapy / medication as a delusion and a quick fix. By repressing their anxiety / pain, they think they have found a rapid solution, but in most cases, they may soon find another quick solution, etc., etc., an eternal recurrence. All this, of course, plays into the hands of the Pharmaceutical industry that develops and markets painkillers, by the name of science, that patients in the absence of natural solutions are forced to eat at an accelerating extent to enable society to function.

An experienced psychotherapist is skilled in working out what is going on in her/his patients mind and has good intuition what the patient will say next. Why? Because the shrink and the patient are having a left brain oriented intellectual / verbal communication. As a consequence it is tempting to the shrink to conclude how the patient will do in the next near future. However, this conclusion is not equally justified. Why? Because the medium / long term forecasting is a different task dominated by deep lying (2nd and 1st line) feelings which the shrink has not had the opportunity to learn. This is the main reason why psychologists in spite of certain skills in their tasks, mainly fail.

They have not learned to identify the unpredictable situations in which intuition will betray them. These situations are due to unique 2nd and 1st line experiences / imprints, from early childhood and from life before birth, in their patients. This shortcoming to identify the patients history is further confused / enhanced by the shrink's own, unidentified, unique and unresolved imprints. The shrink and the patient can share and draw conclusions from intellectual reasoning and agree on short-term solutions. However, prediction of long term cures, based on intuitions about not relived feelings / imprints, both on the shrink’s and the patients’s side, always ends in a betrayal. To claim correct intuitions in an unpredictable situation are self-delusional at best, often worse.

In the absence of valid hints, intuitive “hits” are either due to luck or lies. If you find this conclusion surprising, you have a stubborn belief that intuition is magic. Remember the rule that intuition cannot be trusted in the absence of stable regularities in the environment. For example, in Primal Therapy a number of hints, to follow your development in the therapeutical process, are being used. The most important of these hints are the vital signs (pulse, blood pressure and body temperature), which can be measured regularly before and after sessions. The more repressed, imprinted 1st line pain the patient can relive the more normal and stable the vital sign. Mainly a cured Primal patient has healthy vital signs which is one of the prerequisites for a long and full life. How often can that be said of patients undergoing Cognitive therapy?

I’m not looking for one right general truth of existence. What I am looking for is the individual human right to our own inner truth, which, if it becomes clouded by the repressed pain due to lack of love or neglect, leads to a distorted and neurotic personality. Moreover, if  people with these shortcomings under the cover of psychiatric expertise treat other people according to standard manuals, how can we ever get a healthy society?

Jan Johnsson

15 comments:

  1. does a sick patient trust his choices? if he does he will choose cognitive therapist. they are predictible to each other. it is two way trust to keep the promise of better life.
    all intuition and reasoning is there only to support the expected. what is already known.
    just reinforced. but is a good preparation for life to always choose life?

    primal therapist is unpredictible beast. can not be chosen. but can be really trusted. to help real exploration.
    they first of all trust the intimacy of each other. in the not so predictible us. and then the myriad of vital signs of any kind can be trusted in search for patterns.

    later the primal patient can also choose the therapist... but than it means that he doesn't need any.
    then he can do it on his own. trust the intimate self.

    this is my current view. i may think differently
    tomorrow. so don't trust me ).



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  2. Hi Jan & all.

    Only last Monday was I marvelling at how completely different a world the emotional is from the rational. I had just recovered from that total collapse followed by a powerful Primal I reported on this blog then.

    When Art talks about the left / right connection and you put this critique of cognitivism to us, I can see clearly how much of a deceit there is in the 'talking / thinking relationship' with anyone.

    In my quest for a diagnosis I got a psychologist's report saying that I was: "eloquent and clear in my speech" (no confusion or slurred words) , clean and tidy in my appearance and therefore showing no obvious signs of trauma. Consequently the shrink concluded that though I reported 'PTSD like symptoms' and causes sufficient to traumatise any one, he could not give me a diagnosis for PTSD.

    Actually he emphasised my need for state benefits. He implied (in his report) that I was looking for a diagnosis so that I could claim state benefits. This implication alone suggests the shrink's limited repertoire; IE: he had to imply I was some kind of 'dole scrounging', borderline personality disordered, immoral and quasi criminal.

    On the other hand when I 'lost control' in my Doctors' office (after he tried to sell me "Re-Wire therapy") the Dr. said "oh yes, you obviously have PTSD".

    So, this state funded shrink was quite able to deceive himself and marginalise my needs JUST BECAUSE we could keep my history and my problems in a 3rd line conversation.

    My parents and brother used to do this to me and frankly so have a whole load of other people.
    Actually if I am really honest I can say I used to be like it too; it is a seductive and powerful deception.

    The sad reality is, I have learned, that the Neo-Cortex is an extremely effective 'Defence Mechanism'. Cognitivism IS it's Modus Operandi.

    Oh shit! ! Where are my feelings?

    -Submerged beneath all this "eloquent verbal de-scription".

    Paul G.

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  3. Why do I Mistrust The Intuition By Rolphers? By Richard Atkin

    "So if pain is directly related to anxiety and depression, and we know that structural integration can be great at relieving pain, then we also know that structural integration can have a direct impact on one’s levels of anxiety and depression." – Matt Hsu, Certified RolferTM – San Francisco

    Rolphing therapists do not look for the cause of the pain. Rolphing, Cognitive Therapy, Electroconvulsive Therapy and Drugs are all the same. All of them are therapies designed to address the symptom -- not the cause. Sometimes it is necessary to address the symptom immediately, regardless of the side effects, but all too often it is not. The symptom is part of the defense. When we try to correct it, we end up putting pressure on the mind to find another defense....another outlet..another way to discharge all of that traumatic energy. Patients can go either way -- they can become even more repressed or they can become a wreck.

    I believe patients who mix Primal Therapy with other therapies are not in a position to properly gauge the effectiveness of either therapy because they are dealing with opposites. I cannot see how a disconnected therapy can enhance a connected therapy. Surely Rolfing can only put a spanner in the works as it ignores the natural order of communication between mind and body.

    Art has a tendency to say "If you are feeling better, that's all I ask for" but to me that's just a political maneuver. My cousin is nearly dead from taking a huge cocktail of drugs every day, and she says she is feeling better, but she also says she wants to kill herself.

    And we should all know that grand mal epilepsy eventually disappears completely and permanently in most cases, with or without therapy. So why do I mistrust the subjective opinion of a patient who repeatedly endorses a disconnected therapy, in this website of all places, while condemning another, and doesn't pay attention to the facts on epilepsy, and then describes my opinion as "unlimited stupidity" ?

    Jan, your article above was well-written and I agree with it. I am responding to your hypocrisy here because I think you and others might miss this reply if I post it under your latest comment on Rolfing. And your ability to chat with your daughter after you have disrespected her is not what I would call a sign of healing. I would call it deliberate offloading and then looking for a way to ease the guilt. That's not primal....that's cognitive.

    We do so much talking in this blog. We should write to the authorities but we shouldn't because they will never get close to Primal. Open up a third-liner like poor Emma and you get a first-liner who has but three months to deal with it before she is forced to leave America. Sandie, I don't have USA residency. A lot of American chicks think I am a creep, and the Primal Center currently has no USA patients waiting to be seduced.

    So let's just keep chatting in this blog....bragging about our so-called feelings....begging Art to do MORE to change this world....and keep on talking without ever listening. We are all crazy.

    Amen.

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    Replies
    1. Can the limited genius of Art Janov cure an unlimited stupidity?

      Under the elegant cover of “we are all crazy” you are saying Rolfing, Cognitive Therapy, Electroconvulsive Therapy and drugs are the same. Now, I obviously do not know whom you are mandated to include in the group you consider being crazy, but I would be surprised if Art Janov and his staff want to be included and for my part I thank no to be included in your community.

      I’m happy that my re-living, guided by the Primal Principals and supported i.e. Rolfing, of my birth-trauma cured my epilepsy. Your sensational information that grand mal epilepsy eventually disappears completely and permanently in most cases is a great novelty. You should write a book about this natural process and refer to your sources behind it. You will bring hope to 1% of the global population. I just hope that you do not confuse the eventual disappearance (of the grand mal epilepsy) with the fact life eventually ceases.

      Not even Primal Therapy can cure unlimited stupidity so I won’t give you any false hopes. It apparently had been easier if you to had suffered from epilepsy, then, according to your own opinion, you would eventually have been cured completely and permanently with or without therapy...

      Still confident a genius has limits and that much stupidity is unlimited.

      Jan Johnsson

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    2. Richard,

      I'd rather be a member of this 'crazy' group than any of the others I tried.

      I quite like your variety of crazy. Welcome to the club.


      Paul G.

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    3. Hi,

      Jan has pointed out several times the 'need' for some 'external' work.

      I do carpentry, perhaps I should take up yoga again too.

      Some 'external type body work I feel is very important to help the body 'acquire' it's new set points at an 'optimum' running temperature, metabolic rate etc.

      Even simple walking / hiking and basic activities (washing up. chores etc) can be done 'consciously' so that progress made through feeling and sensing (Primals) do not go to waste but are 'incorporated' back into the organism more effectively with greater clarity and full body 'knowing'.

      Paul G..

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    4. Paul, carpentry is natural -- forceful manipulation of the body and breathing is not. You want to acquire new set points? I read a letter from one of Art's patients; his body arched and stretched and strained as all his bones made cracking noises. His body was returning to it's normal posture after being hunched and clenched up for decades. He wasn't examining and controlling his body like a Rolpher would. Rolphers apply a lot of physical force. I think Art warned about the psychological hazards of Rolphing. Or was it some other therapy, Art? I can't remember.

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    5. Hi Richard,

      There is no activity similar to Primalling, re-living traumas is a unique 'behavior'. But this does not mean that all other therapeutic activities are purely palliative or distraction from trauma.

      I'm not sure that carpentry is natural. What is 'natural'? Let me get back to my point. We are naturally inclined to focus our attention in the external world and that is one way the 3rd line mediates our sensing / feeling relation with our environment.

      Physical activities that relate to our metabolism and / or physical relationship with our physical incarnation and environment are extremely important. This shouldn't need to be said but repression makes it an issue. We are physically incarnated arn't we? I mean, it's daft to have to say that but also a very sound way to demonstrate the absurd power of the 3rd line. That we have to remind ourselves that we exist, in a physical world.

      If there were no pain, repression and strife then this would not be an issue. But repression and the 3rd line concoct a dissociation which only feeling and sensing can identify. Your dissociation is invisible to you. You are blind to it even when others notice it. . . Therefore I am certain that various 'bodywork' activities can really help, should really help, must really help. We are physically incarnated. Gaining connection to our bodies and to our emotional bodies results in a revelation about that. "At ease in one's own skin" is an expression I have heard many times.
      Alternative therapies will get you to this 'ease' but it will be only a temporary state, not a permanent station. You will have to keep on doing the bodywork to feel ok. You will become addicted to it to stay 'normal'.
      Combining a bodywork with Primal seems to me to be an essential way to test emotional progress against actual physical changes, for the individual.
      Ok, it may be that some patients experience sudden and dramatic body changes but the majority I suspect, do not. The majority I suspect have to re-learn and practice "Good Practice" as they go along!

      Paul G.

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    6. Richard
      Interesting comments but I was talking about New Zealand not the U.S.A. I'm English, not American. If you want to go for therapy I am sure you could get a visa for longer than 3 months if Paul can get one for a year or longer. (Referring to his report about going to stay in LA for a year and possibly longer. He's from England too. I should think it's even easier for New Zealanders and your country is much closer to the west coast than England is. I know because I flew there from New Zealand 22 years ago. The island I live in (unfortunately!) seems out on a limb... far from anywhere (at least ... where I want to be! Sandie.

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    7. Richard
      p.s.I was only joking what I said about marrying me so i could get N.Z. residency. Have some humour! Actually you have plenty. I recall your past comments! I want to inform you I am not crazy and don't fit into the box of such a casual definition. So please don't insult me. It's very sad that U.S. visas are so limited with the time span now. It never used to be the case. I wonder if Art can help if you wanted to stay longer after 3 months. I mean, therapy is a very legitimate reason to stay longer, I surmise.

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    8. We will do what we can but since 9/11 the visa situation is terrible. art

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  4. Art
    I realise what you have said about the visa situation now being terrible but you have invited Paul, he says, for one year or eighteen months, and also Richard Atkins so I wonder how is this possible given the restrictions, please? Also Richard is from N.Z. I wonder if that might make it easier to stay longer. After all, his country has no recent history of terrorist attacks, unlike England.

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous: Let them answer. art

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    2. Hi,

      I have had a few shots at responding to this, every one so far doesn't hit the target and the reason for that is because I have been concealing a terrifying insight that started many decades ago when I first heard the idea "Man Has No Will".

      What we have is a way to deceive ourselves with tiny little feelings of 'reward' and confirmation of our little (or maybe not so little) false selves. Little 'boosts' here and there that allow us to survive, to get by until the next injection of false hope.

      Let's not beat about the bush. I am deeply depressed, under that blanket of suppressed despair I am terrified, to the point of wanting to die, but not actually, just on the edge. Somehow I get by with my 'pharmacy' of little injections: Beer, smoke, a little achievement at work here or there, a smile from a fellow passenger at the bus stop. Laughter with my kids for a while, until it is all taken away again and I am alone with my grief and despair.

      When I had that insight, "Man Cannot Do". . . . "Man Has No Will" I began to hide away the real jewels in my safe until later. A savings account or worth. You see, out of accepting that terrifying truth (that I personally have no will) I began my very slow but sure discovery of who I really am. I did this through the concerted commitment to train as a carpenter. I hid away my jewels and do you know? those jewels are accumulating, still there, glinting in the folds of my velvet lined safe bag and soon, (actually I have started) now, I am beginning to reveal those jewels and stick them under the noses of the people who could really help me convert them into a real life for me.

      My jewels are my woodwork skills and my 'interpersonal training' abilities. Forgive the psychobabble. I am a qualified design carpenter and also a trained work place counselor. I have a portfolio and CV which combined with a Company Structure aught to allow me to set up a Not for Profit Cultural Exchange of some sort between UK and US.

      I daren't speculate on how obscure this might appear. . . I mean how does Carpentry relate to Primal? Don't ask ! The whole thing could just be another terrible fantasy and dead end.

      Occupational Therapy is a dirty word in UK now. It used to mean therapy first and training for work second but in reality (both in US and UK) it has come to mean training for slavery on low skilled factory production lines. People say how laudable it is to be a traditional craftsman and keep the skills going but for what purpose? In this Neo-cortical boom our lives are made into personal theme parks where we are both 'performer' dressed up in 'garb' and also passive attendee: "Oh look ! There I am performing a traditional task, how wonderful?

      Isn't it amazing how "The Old World Used to Work"?

      The bottom line in all this is in finding like minded individuals who would like to restore their own jewel boxes and grow more crystals of worth through the hard and relentless task of commitment to some real activity that leave a permanent, constructive trace.

      Who would like to be part of a UK / US cultural exchange for occupational therapy and training?

      Jesus Christ ! Such a long shot across the Atlantic with a long bow and a bodkin aimed at Santa Monica.

      SHOOT!

      Paul G.

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  5. Hi Art,

    this one is particularly Scrutinize worth.

    When 'mac primal' (my intake therapist the first time around) recommended me on LinkedIn for carpentry skills I began to wonder who in my construction industry (on LinkedIn in England) would see that and wonder why such an expert in one field was involved in such a different one. . .



    With my "history" splattered all over the pages of this blog (no regrets). . . . It's not worth speculating about it, enough to say I need to open up new channels of communication which are difficult to define without 'help'.

    If my personal purpose to get to California is riding on the back of a not for profit "Occupational Therapy" construction company (membership organisation) somebody in California might be able to INTERFACE with that before I start a movement without a genuine need.

    You know well that cognitive therapists are riding high on the back of psychology and psychiatry and that corporate departmental communication issues are not the best place to help middle managers make a living, even when they always get the batch finished and the work done.

    It's hard to see where I go from here except: I am now selectively self promoting for my carpentry and architectural / history skills. . . a very American / English marriage.

    I am about to move into my son's flat, it's hard but I'm glad to be my grandson's witness.

    Paul G.

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Review of "Beyond Belief"

This thought-provoking and important book shows how people are drawn toward dangerous beliefs.
“Belief can manifest itself in world-changing ways—and did, in some of history’s ugliest moments, from the rise of Adolf Hitler to the Jonestown mass suicide in 1979. Arthur Janov, a renowned psychologist who penned The Primal Scream, fearlessly tackles the subject of why and how strong believers willingly embrace even the most deranged leaders.
Beyond Belief begins with a lucid explanation of belief systems that, writes Janov, “are maps, something to help us navigate through life more effectively.” While belief systems are not presented as inherently bad, the author concentrates not just on why people adopt belief systems, but why “alienated individuals” in particular seek out “belief systems on the fringes.” The result is a book that is both illuminating and sobering. It explores, for example, how a strongly-held belief can lead radical Islamist jihadists to murder others in suicide acts. Janov writes, “I believe if people had more love in this life, they would not be so anxious to end it in favor of some imaginary existence.”
One of the most compelling aspects of Beyond Belief is the author’s liberal use of case studies, most of which are related in the first person by individuals whose lives were dramatically affected by their involvement in cults. These stories offer an exceptional perspective on the manner in which belief systems can take hold and shape one’s experiences. Joan’s tale, for instance, both engaging and disturbing, describes what it was like to join the Hare Krishnas. Even though she left the sect, observing that participants “are stunted in spiritual awareness,” Joan considers returning someday because “there’s a certain protection there.”
Janov’s great insight into cultish leaders is particularly interesting; he believes such people have had childhoods in which they were “rejected and unloved,” because “only unloved people want to become the wise man or woman (although it is usually male) imparting words of wisdom to others.” This is just one reason why Beyond Belief is such a thought-provoking, important book.”
Barry Silverstein, Freelance Writer

Quotes for "Life Before Birth"

“Life Before Birth is a thrilling journey of discovery, a real joy to read. Janov writes like no one else on the human mind—engaging, brilliant, passionate, and honest.
He is the best writer today on what makes us human—he shows us how the mind works, how it goes wrong, and how to put it right . . . He presents a brand-new approach to dealing with depression, emotional pain, anxiety, and addiction.”
Paul Thompson, PhD, Professor of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine

Art Janov, one of the pioneers of fetal and early infant experiences and future mental health issues, offers a robust vision of how the earliest traumas of life can percolate through the brains, minds and lives of individuals. He focuses on both the shifting tides of brain emotional systems and the life-long consequences that can result, as well as the novel interventions, and clinical understanding, that need to be implemented in order to bring about the brain-mind changes that can restore affective equanimity. The transitions from feelings of persistent affective turmoil to psychological wholeness, requires both an understanding of the brain changes and a therapist that can work with the affective mind at primary-process levels. Life Before Birth, is a manifesto that provides a robust argument for increasing attention to the neuro-mental lives of fetuses and infants, and the widespread ramifications on mental health if we do not. Without an accurate developmental history of troubled minds, coordinated with a recognition of the primal emotional powers of the lowest ancestral regions of the human brain, therapists will be lost in their attempt to restore psychological balance.
Jaak Panksepp, Ph.D.
Bailey Endowed Chair of Animal Well Being Science
Washington State University

Dr. Janov’s essential insight—that our earliest experiences strongly influence later well being—is no longer in doubt. Thanks to advances in neuroscience, immunology, and epigenetics, we can now see some of the mechanisms of action at the heart of these developmental processes. His long-held belief that the brain, human development, and psychological well being need to studied in the context of evolution—from the brainstem up—now lies at the heart of the integration of neuroscience and psychotherapy.
Grounded in these two principles, Dr. Janov continues to explore the lifelong impact of prenatal, birth, and early experiences on our brains and minds. Simultaneously “old school” and revolutionary, he synthesizes traditional psychodynamic theories with cutting-edge science while consistently highlighting the limitations of a strict, “top-down” talking cure. Whether or not you agree with his philosophical assumptions, therapeutic practices, or theoretical conclusions, I promise you an interesting and thought-provoking journey.
Lou Cozolino, PsyD, Professor of Psychology, Pepperdine University


In Life Before Birth Dr. Arthur Janov illuminates the sources of much that happens during life after birth. Lucidly, the pioneer of primal therapy provides the scientific rationale for treatments that take us through our original, non-verbal memories—to essential depths of experience that the superficial cognitive-behavioral modalities currently in fashion cannot possibly touch, let alone transform.
Gabor Maté MD, author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction

An expansive analysis! This book attempts to explain the impact of critical developmental windows in the past, implores us to improve the lives of pregnant women in the present, and has implications for understanding our children, ourselves, and our collective future. I’m not sure whether primal therapy works or not, but it certainly deserves systematic testing in well-designed, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trials.
K.J.S. Anand, MBBS, D. Phil, FAACP, FCCM, FRCPCH, Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Anatomy & Neurobiology, Senior Scholar, Center for Excellence in Faith and Health, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare System


A baby's brain grows more while in the womb than at any time in a child's life. Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script That Rules Our Lives is a valuable guide to creating healthier babies and offers insight into healing our early primal wounds. Dr. Janov integrates the most recent scientific research about prenatal development with the psychobiological reality that these early experiences do cast a long shadow over our entire lifespan. With a wealth of experience and a history of successful psychotherapeutic treatment, Dr. Janov is well positioned to speak with clarity and precision on a topic that remains critically important.
Paula Thomson, PsyD, Associate Professor, California State University, Northridge & Professor Emeritus, York University

"I am enthralled.
Dr. Janov has crafted a compelling and prophetic opus that could rightly dictate
PhD thesis topics for decades to come. Devoid of any "New Age" pseudoscience,
this work never strays from scientific orthodoxy and yet is perfectly accessible and
downright fascinating to any lay person interested in the mysteries of the human psyche."
Dr. Bernard Park, MD, MPH

His new book “Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” shows that primal therapy, the lower-brain therapeutic method popularized in the 1970’s international bestseller “Primal Scream” and his early work with John Lennon, may help alleviate depression and anxiety disorders, normalize blood pressure and serotonin levels, and improve the functioning of the immune system.
One of the book’s most intriguing theories is that fetal imprinting, an evolutionary strategy to prepare children to cope with life, establishes a permanent set-point in a child's physiology. Baby's born to mothers highly anxious during pregnancy, whether from war, natural disasters, failed marriages, or other stressful life conditions, may thus be prone to mental illness and brain dysfunction later in life. Early traumatic events such as low oxygen at birth, painkillers and antidepressants administered to the mother during pregnancy, poor maternal nutrition, and a lack of parental affection in the first years of life may compound the effect.
In making the case for a brand-new, unified field theory of psychotherapy, Dr. Janov weaves together the evolutionary theories of Jean Baptiste Larmarck, the fetal development studies of Vivette Glover and K.J.S. Anand, and fascinating new research by the psychiatrist Elissa Epel suggesting that telomeres—a region of repetitive DNA critical in predicting life expectancy—may be significantly altered during pregnancy.
After explaining how hormonal and neurologic processes in the womb provide a blueprint for later mental illness and disease, Dr. Janov charts a revolutionary new course for psychotherapy. He provides a sharp critique of cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalysis, and other popular “talk therapy” models for treating addiction and mental illness, which he argues do not reach the limbic system and brainstem, where the effects of early trauma are registered in the nervous system.
“Life Before Birth: The Hidden Script that Rules Our Lives” is scheduled to be published by NTI Upstream in October 2011, and has tremendous implications for the future of modern psychology, pediatrics, pregnancy, and women’s health.
Editor