Category Archives: Psychotherapy
Understanding Stress – A Basic Outline
Thursday, March 24th, 2011Stress is that physiological state in which the body is aroused, strained, or taxed beyond the state of rest. There are two basic kinds of stress: 1) physical stress (e.g. walking up stairs or carrying bags of groceries); 2) psycho-emotional stress (e.g. being late for an appointment or being stuck in traffic). Both physical and psycho-emotional stress make the same demands upon the body’s resources, reserves, and defenses. (The emphasis in the outline here is on psycho-emotional stress). We can define stress as the physiological state in which demands are put upon the body’s energy production, distribution, and supplies in…
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The Dynamics of Bad Moral Habits
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010The awakening or bestirring of carnal desire/passion carries with it the potential seed of a bad moral habit (e.g. gluttony, masturbation, alcoholism, prostitution, drug abuse, etc.). Satisfying and feeding (i.e., conditioning) a carnal desire/passion creates a bad moral habit. Desire/passion provides the driving power behind a moral habit; personal needs (e.g. the need for security, self-worth, etc.) provide the impetus. The essence of a bad moral habit simply consists of the inner constraint, through practice or training, to satisfy a carnal desire/passion. The experience of pleasure satisfies the desire/passion. The experience of pleasure is the ‘pay off’, and thus the…
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Breaking a Bad Moral Habit
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010Realize and admit that you have a bad moral habit. This realization and admission often require brutal honest self-examination. Feel the guilt, shame and grief of having the bad moral habit. The experience requires dwelling on and considering the negative character of the habit, as well as its damaging consequences. Evidence a desire and commitment to break the bad moral habit. (Usually a desire to change emerges from a sense of desperation or of guilt and its concomitants). Clearly, one must assume personal responsibility. Confess the sinfulness or inappropriateness of the bad moral habit, and mentally disown (i.e., repudiate any…
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