![]() We all share the same general structure of the body and so the cure for a broken leg, an infection, or a virus will require similar steps for each of us. Far too often people view psychological ailments exactly as they do those of the physical body. But what tools will work best for us can never be known in advance. More of the same will only perpetuate our problems and therefore our goal at this stage is to search for techniques and tools that change the way we experience and interact with our inner world. The strategies we devise, however, must obey one overriding criteria – they must introduce a tangible degree of novelty into our life. ![]() But if we answer the question of what exactly is ailing us then we can focus our attention on devising strategies to overcome our problems. Trying to solve the riddle of ‘why’ will often lead us on a never-ending search that only produces self-pity, resentment and no clear answers. Are we crippled by anxiety and self-doubt, are we consumed by hopelessness and depression, or do intrusive thoughts haunt our every move? Identifying what is wrong with us is far more important than answering the question of “why we are the way we are”. Once we are willing to face up to what is taking place in our psyche, we can then determine what is causing our inner discord. This has a calming effect, because the patient then sees that he is not alone in a strange world which nobody understands, but is part of the great stream of human history, which has experienced countless times the very things that he regards as a pathological proof of his craziness.”Ĭarl Jung, Collected Works Volume 13: Alchemical Studies show my patient his terrifying fantasy in the form in which it appeared four hundred years ago. More than once I have had to reach for a book on my shelves. “When a patient begins to feel the inescapable nature of his inner development, he may easily be overcome by a panic fear that he is slipping helplessly into some kind of madness that he can no longer understand. The psychologist Carl Jung noticed that many of his patients had this very concern, but he believed this concern could be tempered when we recognize that this is but a natural phase in the process of inner growth: We may even wonder if the state of our psyche is in such disarray that a descent into madness is possible. For the longer we have spent denying what is going on within the less comfortable we will be with the strange thoughts and disturbing emotions that may rise to the fore. If shame is preventing us from admitting to our psychological problems, then it can be helpful to realize that psychological discord is far more the norm, than the exception and that inner demons are but an inevitable part of what it means to be human.Īs we begin this process of opening up to our inner world, we may be frightened by what we discover. ![]() The path to inner harmony always goes through our psychic conflicts as denial will only cause such conflicts to intensify. But the more we seal ourselves off from our inner world, the more we create a threat from what should be our greatest ally. Many people, afraid or ashamed of what they may see if they take an honest look within, resort to drugs and alcohol, or other defense mechanisms, to quiet any psychic conflicts. The first step toward attaining a greater mastery of our inner world is to stop denying, ignoring or numbing ourselves to the events of our psyche. James Baldwin, As Much Truth as One Can Bear “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” In this video we are going to provide a guide for achieving a more harmonious relationship to this world within. But this choice can come with great costs, for our inner world is the one place from which escape is impossible and so the quality of our life is always contingent on the state of our psyche. In our day, where success is primarily measured by external metrics, most of us devote more energy to conquering the world outside of us than we do to mastering the world within. On the other hand, the world may be crumbling around us, but if we have learned to conquer our psyche we can still exist in relative peace. We can be a great success in the external world and all the while be wracked by immense inner suffering. These two worlds also differ in the skills needed for their navigation. The outer world we share with others, while our inner world is a place where we stand alone. There is the outer world of people, places, and things, and there is the inner world of our thoughts, feelings, sensations and intuitions. I am studying that mystery because I want to be a human being.”Įach of us occupies two worlds. It needs to be unraveled, and if you spend your whole life unravelling it, don’t say that you’ve wasted time.
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