We posted this video about the publication of C.G. Jung’s The Red Book when it first came out, commenting on the impact of his work and the field of Depth Psychology. So much emphasis in the fields of psychology and psychiatry are now placed on the treatment approach of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Neuroscience, and Psychopharmacology. Depth psychology has been largely dismissed for years by the vast majority of professionals who practice psychology and psychiatry. If you bring up you have a background in Depth Psychology you can be immediately dismissed as not serious by practitioners. But, if you press back against these dismissals you can find a measure of fascination many of them have with the material of Depth Psychology, its use of myth and the imagination and the romantic attraction that comes with considering the idea of the soul.
I find myself existing somewhere in between these competing fields, voices, and levels of fascination and attraction. Studying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Depth Psychology and tracking what is going on in neuroscience and the use of psychiatric medications I see how different elements of each of these fields of study feed off of one another and where they are in stark contrast. So I spend a great deal of time asking what does this middle ground I find myself in between all of these fields look like and how do I translate it into some kind of practical application that helps others. The many posts on this blog are a testament and documented history of my process of discovery, application, and transmission.
What I think of is how the myths of our time and place are living in us, much like they did for Jung and his time. In fact, in many respects these myths are from the same stream but with different characters, symbols and narratives that are relevant to our place and time. Our search for meaning and depth is embedded in the myths we make and seek. Mythmaking can be considered a cognitive and spiritual process of discovery, application, and transmission. All of us are telling stories and creating images to figure out what it means to be here and human. I still believe that Depth Psychology has a place in this process of discovery and a way of telling us to go deeper, think, feel, and create more imaginatively, and recognize that the myths we are in have a long chain of memory and cocreators.
We have commented frequently on the value of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for treating many psychological disorders, specifically those related to depression and anxiety, and the risks associated with using psychiatric medications like antipsychotics when treating children. However, we seem to undervalue the use of clinical treatment approaches like CBT because it is time consuming, requires indepth training, real effort and a long term commitment and focus. The use of psychiatric medications is overemphasized because they offer the promise of more immediate results without the intensive and sustain effort that comes with applying cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.
For a number of children and adults a combination of CBT and medications shows real promise and in others CBT alone can make a difference helping stabilize a child or adult. But in no circumstance can medications on their own treat someone’s disorder. Therapy of some kind is needed to address the more extreme behavioral and underlying emotional issues that are causing symptoms like anxiety and depression to manifest and cause real harm. The Psychiatric Times has posted two articles that address the value of CBT and the risks associated with medicating children titled “Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Childhood Anxiety and Depression” and “Atypical Antipsychotics Increase Cardiometabolic Risk in Children.”Here is an important excerpt from the article on CBT:
There is mounting evidence to support CBT as an important component of the treatment regimen for anxiety and depression in youths. Unfortunately, the availability of adequately trained cognitive-behavioral therapists in the community is quite limited. Typically, the CBT administered in treatment studies is provided by individuals who receive training in specific manualized treatment as well as supervision; their sessions are recorded for training purposes. To generalize the results of studies of the efficacy of CBT, clinicians would need similar training.
It is important that residency training programs—particularly in child and adolescent psychiatry—include CBT as an essential component. Ideally, child psychiatry residents should develop equal expertise in pharmacotherapy and in CBT. It is clear from our evidence-based treatments that CBT has become a core skill for clinicians who treat youths with anxiety or depressive disorders.
The NYT highlights another study showing the growing prevalence of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report suggests that “Nearly 1 in 100 American 8-year-olds struggle with autism, Asperger’s syndrome or a related developmental problem,” confirming close to the same rate as earlier studies in 2009. Again the fact that autism is now viewed and diagnosed on a broader spectrum then in the past and the multiple ways the diagnosis is given by different mental health and medical professionals has to be considered in the dramatically rising prevalence rates. Also, autism is now a high profile industry with lobbyists, celebrities, and business people involved in the selling of the “science” of autism. What we have is a fast moving mix of market factors, advocacy, the unknowns of the origins of a psychiatric condition, and the real and pervasive fear and anxiety of parents creating the kind of storm that causes numbers to rise. Read more…
Our ability to make the right decisions hinge in many cases on whether we should in fact make any decision at all. Yes, we mostly have to decide and act to get things done and move forward with our lives, but how and why we make decisions needs to be rooted in our intent. When we rush head on into a decision or impulsively act on some need, wish, or desire, we find ourselves boxed in or leaving a wake of destruction in our path. Sandy Andrews, Ph.D at Blogging Behavioral has another great post titled “decide not to decide” that offers clear advice and techniques for when and/or if to make decisions. Here is an excerpt:
It is quite common for people to enter therapy in the midst of a crisis. They want answers.
Is my marriage over?
Cognitive therapy is all about replacement thinking. A cognitive therapist will listen for faulty or dysfunctional thinking patterns that are contributing toward a client’s lowered mood, anxiety, anger, or indecision.
And sometimes those problematic thoughts are questions. Especially questions whose answers involve major life decisions. Upheaval.
My job is horrible! Should I quit now or find a new job first?
One calming thought replacement is decide not to decide. At this moment, anyway. Perhaps for an undetermined period of time, if the situation allows. Give yourself the time to make a more informed decision.
I’m not happy here. Should I move back to the West Coast?
First we must explore whether there is an urgency to decide now. Many, if not most, of life’s crises do not require immediate action. They may, at some point, require a decision. But right now? Not usually. And hasty decisions are often the source of regret or self-doubt down the road.
Check out the rest of her post and follow her blog.
I missed posting the release of Jung’s The Red Book, but wanted to make sure I marked the occasion because he is such a big part of my life and training even if I don’t focus on much of his writing or theories any longer. This is the notebook he kept during what is known as his period of ‘creative illness’ where many of his most notable ideas/theories were formed. The NYT has an article titled “The Holy Grail of the Unconscious” about the publication of the book and what it means to “Jungian” studies. Here is an excerpt from the intro to the article, which sounds like the opening to one of the many epic mythic narratives he brought back to life for us:
This is a story about a nearly 100-year-old book, bound in red leather, which has spent the last quarter century secreted away in a bank vault in Switzerland. The book is big and heavy and its spine is etched with gold letters that say “Liber Novus,” which is Latin for “New Book.” Its pages are made from thick cream-colored parchment and filled with paintings of otherworldly creatures and handwritten dialogues with gods and devils. If you didn’t know the book’s vintage, you might confuse it for a lost medieval tome.
And yet between the book’s heavy covers, a very modern story unfolds. It goes as follows: Man skids into midlife and loses his soul. Man goes looking for soul. After a lot of instructive hardship and adventure — taking place entirely in his head — he finds it again.
Although I value Jung’s effort, intellect, creativity and contribution to the field, owe him a debt of gratitude for receiving a doctorate associated to his theories, and have a romantic tendency toward his work with myths I find myself gravitating elsewhere for practical guidance, tools, and insight into how to help people and comment on the culture. So for me Jung’s work is a place I wish I could stay forever, but the world pulls back into getting things done. I do, to whatever degree is possible, blend my background in Depth Psychology and Jung’s theories with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as noted in a previous post “Assessing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Depth Psychology.” This said, of course I will be getting the book and losing myself in it and once again to Jung’s mystical spell trying to find the secrets that we want to believe are hidden within its pages.
The New Atlantis has an interesting article by Ari N. Schulman titled “Why Minds Are Not Like Computers.” We do tend to use the computer as a dominant metaphor for the human mind in the age of computer technology, neuroscience and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It is a comparison that on some levels makes sense, but once you actually analyze it and dig deeper, as Shulman does, the idea of mind as a computer cannot hold up. He writes in the introduction to the article:
People who believe that the mind can be replicated on a computer tend to explain the mind in terms of a computer. When theorizing about the mind, especially to outsiders but also to one another, defenders of artificial intelligence (AI) often rely on computational concepts. They regularly describe the mind and brain as the “software and hardware” of thinking, the mind as a “pattern” and the brain as a “substrate,” senses as “inputs” and behaviors as “outputs,” neurons as “processing units” and synapses as “circuitry,” to give just a few common examples.
Those who employ this analogy tend to do so with casual presumption. They rarely justify it by reference to the actual workings of computers, and they misuse and abuse terms that have clear and established definitions in computer science—established not merely because they are well understood, but because they in fact are products of human engineering. An examination of what this usage means and whether it is correct reveals a great deal about the history and present state of artificial intelligence research. And it highlights the aspirations of some of the luminaries of AI—researchers, writers, and advocates for whom the metaphor of mind-as-machine is dogma rather than discipline.
Here is an article from The American Scholar titled “The Doctor Is IN: At 88, Aaron Beck is now revered for an approach to psychotherapy that pushed Freudian analysis aside.” The following excerpts help illuminate who Dr. Beck is and interesting distinctions about the field of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Read more…
The goal of this site and our work is to identify the many ways we name and treat ourselves, others, and the world around us. On our home page you can find interesting commentary and research about what is going on in homes, schools, consulting rooms, courtrooms, laboratories, workplaces and the culture. As consultants through our agency we help individuals, couples, children and families (re)claim a more stable and sustainable path forward in their lives.
Our dedication is to finding what we call realistic hope and establishing accountability whenever and wherever possible. We look forward to hearing back from you in an effort to build awareness and community around the challenges we must face together and for our children. It is in the spirit of healing that we welcome you.
Katy Gaddess PI, MFT
Investigator, Therapist, Social Worker
Jeff Gaddess PhD, MA
Consultant, Case Analyst, Cultural Mythologist
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