My Dark Night of the Soul

[yossarian]

Is this a joke?

Not at all, I think that most 'standard' therapists use out-dated paradigms regarding consciousness and the mind, and have no idea, at all, about the spiritual nature of catalyst and the nature of time.

Well that applies to pretty much everyone doesn't it.

There are many cases in which subjects have been with the same therapist for years, with little improvement. Some have even caused further damage by perpetually referencing the (painful) past before the subject is mentally/emotionally ready to do so. There are also cases in which the subject becomes addicted/dependant upon therapy.

It's not a panacea and there are tragedies, just like any endeavor. Doctors save some lives but often fail. That's life!

In my personal opinion, there are better options. Hypnotherapy, for example, along with guidance from a person who has a balanced understanding of both scientific and spiritual aspects of consciousness/mind. Treatment can be holistic. Those that practice just one side of the coin, as such, are oblivious to much wisdom.

Most modern psychologists take a holistic point of view and address both the person as a whole as well as each aspect of the person: meaning physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social. Psychologists are keenly aware that health in one aspect can help or hurt the other aspects.

It's funny you mention hypnotherapy because that is what Freud started with! He found that it wasn't as effective for his patients because while it allowed them to face their issues while hypnotized, they would have great trouble retaining those insights in their waking life. So he eventually switched to the more lengthy and difficulty free association process. Hypnotherapy gets results for some people but at least Freud and many others have found it is generally less useful than other types of therapy.

Bashar and Abraham also state that learning to accept that the past and future do no exist, and do not define you, is a means to springboard to the place of mental stability that would then entail the reviewing of said memories, but from a more empowered position. I personally find this an invaluable stage in the process, one which is not part of the 'standard' curriculum. They have even said that revisiting the past continually can be of no value whatsoever. I trust those sources. Whether you do or not, is up to you.

Actually a tremendous amount of psychology these days is about transcending your beliefs about the past and realizing that you don't have to be defined by your past.

Traumatic pasts are dealt with in pretty specific ways and modern psychs are trained to be careful not to dwell too much on it.

Anyway your criticisms really just sound like someone with very little contact with the field. You've heard a few horror stories but beyond that never really delved into how psychology is done these days.

By the way, for the record, pretty much no one uses Freudian psychoanalysis anymore.

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I have always wondered why therapy education doesn't take into account the very psychological relationship between therapist and patient.

The very first paper published on psychoanalysis talked about how important the relationship between therapist and patient is, and how it is tricky and influences the therapy and stuff. Transference and countertransference were "invented" in 1896. Psychology itself was only founded in 1881!

So basically... they do take that into account! Whether they succeed is a deeper question but there isn't a therapist in the last 100 years who has not considered the effect the "very psychological relationships" between therapist and patient to be highly important.