Wednesday, July 29, 2015

An Unsung Hero


 There is someone who is doing heroic work in the shadows, who does not get paid but who works many hours a day.  She supervises all clinical work, and teaches the basics of the therapy, runs the administrative side of the Center and deals with all outside inquiries.  In short, the pivot around which the clinic revolves.
 She is the engine, the motor for the advancement in  the practice of Primal Therapy. She is there to help therapists work with patients.  Who could do any more?  She is our resident savant……Dr. France Janov.

 It is hard to realize, even for me, how much work goes into directing even a small clinic, a clinic that has patients from 38 countries, and requires communications among people from many countries of the world.  And oh yes, she is my wife of 42 years.

 What does it mean to run a psychiatric clinic?  It means knowing the latest science so as to help therapists know how our therapy fits in with science.  It means knowing the various afflictions people suffer and why.  It involves knowing about people from different countries and how they differ as a population; for ex., what is the most repressed country and what is the least?  It is a wide-ranging job that requires clinical skills, financial ability, relevant science and how to help our therapists relate to foreign patients some who only have minimal skills in English.  Needless to say, it is a job well done, too often done in the shadows by someone who manages to keep it all going well.  She has done this for years without pay.  It is a labor of love or her and also because Primal Therapy saved her life.  She teaches not out of academic persuasion, but because she learned out of her own feelings for a very long time.

Our thanks to France.



 

25 comments:

  1. Thank you France. You are truly an amazing person. I love to watch your training excerpt videos; you teach effortlessly and brilliantly. Thank you for all your help with me and my family. You are so full of heart. Even though you are behind the scenes at the Center I know you are very engaged and integral to the therapy.
    Jean H

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  2. " What does it mean to run a psychiatric clinic"?

    France... this is for everyone who conducts primal therapy around the world without the slightest idea of what they are doing... not least in Sweden!

    To face emotions based on cognitive conditions... it is a primal therapist's task... it for whatever thoughts... symptoms show.
    If he does not have experience on the origins of what symptoms can include he is a danger to his patient!

    To jump from an airplane without a parachute in the faith to be alive at the landing... it can may well be compared to what a therapist shoulders in their attempt to help someone...if they could feel what primal therapy was all about... eagerness to help someone can take drastic forms! It should be a warning pledged by all governments around care establishments!

    To all of you who practice primal therapy! Why is it so drastically? I told you... for you to jump without a parachute in the belief to clear it is what it is all about... your eagerness to help someone has no limits! Some other words will not be enough for you to understand the difference between thinking about primal therapy and feel in it... if ever.

    France!

    Thank you for standing as garnat of what science wants to tell!

    Your Frank

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  3. It`s good to be reminded of the person, France Janov, who will carry on this important work, one, I beleive, destined to eventually have a more widespread impact, IF sufferring mankind makes another big leap forward like it did in the 60s, with many people no longer able to tolerate the superficiality, loneliness, misery, and meaninglessness of their lives. A big IF in my opinion, since I usualy feel pessimistic (perhps unwarranted) about the prospects of neurotic mankind.

    Mes meilleurs souhaits a vous, Mme Janov!

    Marco

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    Replies
    1. France was very moved by your letter, thank you. art

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    2. Yes Marco, I worry too about the "Body Snatchers" of neurosis. Those who live on fear and want to lead others by it. Thinking of the campaigning now in U.S. of those who tap into our fears, hates and insecurities instead of realistic hope and a view to compassion.
      So I say let's hear it for those who buck the negativity and know there is a better way to live.

      I've always loved listening to France's videos. They are a meaningful, valuable interpretation of 'primal'. For me it was a comforting female "mother" voice to explain the complexities of neurosis. Thanks to Art and France, both.

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    3. Sheri: Always excellent writing. Send me again what you wrote on shooting in the dark as I am writing a piece on it. thanks art

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  4. Wanted to post something earlier, when I first saw this....(just one of those "end of the week,busy" and couldn't. Anyway, if I could, I would put a heart around the picture of Dr. Janov and his wife...nice picture. They say "love makes the world go round" and I do believe that,all kinds of love, with different relationships. Even if it isn't an intimate love relationship; (which I have given up on,) there are other ways of love (which I hope everyone knows). There is love & understanding, feelings, and emotions towards ones' fellow man and even one's own feelings and emotions towards animals. Thank you Art for writing this, and France, thank you for what you do and also for what you have done.

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  5. I also think France est magnifiique!

    thanks to both of you....

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  6. An email comment: " The world owes great love and assistance to you both. You have told us here that France is the wind beneath Primal Therapy's wings, I can hear it playing now. How sweet a romance in which one of you created the plane and it's wings, you each perfected it together, and the other understands maintains and supplies it's lift: Romance to its fullest.

    Hugs to you both and the best in life for each of you.
    "

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  7. Art, my first reaction was that you look lost and vulnerable like a child.

    Then my intellect kicked in and told me you were 'lost' in a train of thought and were not quite ready to be photographed.

    France looks confident and friendly and maybe a little protective of you.

    I am curious... what is the most repressed country and what is the least?

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    1. Richard: Try England and Germany. art

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    2. Hi Art,

      do you mean England AND Germany are the most, or Germany the least?

      I think you mean both don't you?

      Paul G

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  8. Hi Art. I don't know if my resending the "dark" comment got thru because it said it was blocked. If so can send in email.

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  9. as a pure gambler i would bet on Germany as the champions of neurosis. though i wouldn't bet a dime myself..

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  10. i don't know much about France, but i remember long time ago i had a terible nightmare were i was feeling hopeless and helpless. as i was "screaming" in that dream i suddenly saw you Art and France on my side making me feel that you were there to help me with my feelings. even in my dream what a huge relief that was!!! i felt a tiny yet important hope as i woke up, that maybe someday it can happen for real. later that day i wrotte a poem about helpless that i sent it to you Art. i think you liked it. Anyway, the 2 of you are my heroes!!! even in my dreams!!!

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    1. Thanasis, Hello whatever gets you through the night, even fantasies can help as you saw. And above all, we are still here. art

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  11. Thanasis, When we had the clinic in Paris we saw many countries represented; Germany was a close winner. art

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