Archive for the ‘Psychotherapy’ Category

Hopeful research for healing trauma

My friend George Matchette, MFT, who works at the Community Healing Center in SF, recently sent me a link to some really promising research about getting real, durable resolution of traumatic memories.

Apparently, when we remember events that evoke anxiety, there is a window of time during which it is possible to eliminate the associated fear. This is different than previous understandings which seemed to suggest that the best we could learn to do was manage them.

The research was conducted by NYU psychologist Elizabeth Phelps. Listen to her interview on NPR’s Science Friday.

Jamal’s Blog

Welcome to my blog. The intention of this blog is to connect. With whom would I like to connect? Hopefully, my extended community of people with shared interests, such as:

• transpersonal psychotherapy
• presence
• the process of conducting psychotherapy
• spirituality and psychology
• integrative therapy
• psychotherapy theory
• research about effectiveness in therapy
• mind-body approaches
• giftedness
• creativity
• indigenous psychologies

So, who might be interested in this site?
• clients or potential clients
• other therapists
• healers
• friends
• anyone who is interested in my work

The hub of my professional work is “presence,” researching both clinically and academically how it manifests in the process of psychotherapy.

Something of note: I am intentionally not separating this blog into a commercial site (i.e., for clients) and professional site (i.e., for colleagues). I am doing this as an experiment. After all, I claim to be “holistic”, among other things. If the arbitrary separation of the individual into “parts” (e.g., mind, body, spirit) is reductionistic, perhaps separating my community into “consumers” and “practitioners” is as well.

We are all growing. We are all learners. Knowledge is not the exclusive property of any particular interest group. So, I am hoping that this site will be a place where I can express myself transparently, in the context of my work, and engage community from that position.

My purpose or intention for this blog is:
• to connect with my “tribe”, by which I mean a community of shared interests and values
• to express my professional self in a public venue
• to share resources, as I come upon them
• to bring my work, both clinical and academic, into a larger domain
• to invite dialogue
• to elicit co-participation in research
• to provide updates on my professional activities