Category — Articles - Book Reviews

Healing is Forgiveness… Moment by Moment
A Review of Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice by the Foundation for Inner Peace

A note on the terms used:
The theistic concept of God and Holy Spirit as creator and dynamic manifestation of the creative Source of all, isn’t presented as religious belief but as a living reality that we simply enter and experience first-hand. This is simply the process of being who we are.

“The will of God” here points to the same essential spiritual Source that humans of all religions and spiritual traditions have experienced directly. It’s not about conceptual beliefs or philosophies, but the direct, empirical experience that is the essence of the healing being discussed here. So the theistic terms are just words that point to the living reality beyond them, which is not limited by them.

Now to the heart of the book and the central insight it brings to light:

All illness is mental illness — not pathology in the way we have conceptualized that, but simply a misperception that has led to mistaken strategies, which can be corrected.

And it follows that all therapy is psychotherapy, whether it takes that particular form or another, and that a true therapist/healer would help the person to change his mind about the ‘reality’ of illusions.

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My Voice Will Go With You
by Sidney Rosen

These stories were thoroughly enjoyable, told in the same elegantly concise style as Erickson’s methods. They constitute Erickson’s “teaching tales” that he used with patients and also to train therapists who came to him in the 1970’s.

And they made good bedtime stories as well! I remember reading them to a family member who was in pain, and the stories that I would read in a hypnotic tone of voice would either lull her to sleep or give us both some good laughs! I think that the stories served as indirect suggestions that she made use of in ways that helped her feel better.

Even though they were not tailored to her particular situation, the rich metaphors I’m sure were taken up like good food for a hungry unconscious mind, to digest and process in the way that it knows best.

The stories reminded me of my experience in the 80’s with a hypnotherapist who had trained with Erickson. Now I have a little more insight into his methods (and Erickson’s genius).

Erickson was a master of pacing and leading, in often the most unusual and sometimes delightfully draconian ways! Some of the more severe methods such as having a child stand for four hours, lets you appreciate that specific context and rapport are everything. Certainly not many adults could administer that kind of remedy with such trust and congruence as Erickson could, and have it be a real healing remedy.

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