Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 28
What a strange word! It originated with the ancient Greeks, and although unfamiliar to most of us, its meaning is critical. Do you remember the old grandfather clocks with a pendulum? The pendulum swings from one side to the other to enable the clock to function and maintain time. It's the pendulum movement that helps us understand the meaning of this word. The pendulum repeatedly swings from one extreme to another – from one side to the other side. That's basically what our strange word means ...
By Ken Silvestro, PhD There is a sense that the earth we stand on is becoming soft and muddy, that the foundation on which we function each day now has holes or is not solid. The feeling is one of walking on a cloud. There is nothing firm about our standpoints. Usually, this feeling or sensation is temporary but it's always disturbing. What is happening? It is our egos (our sense of identity or I-ness) that is undergoing a change. The ego anchors us in the world and is closely associated with...
I've often referred to a person's ego as values, beliefs and identity. Now, we can experience ego and these characteristics first-hand in our social lives. Today, there is an enormous divide between people in our society. The divide has a lot to do with ego. At this time, one of the simplest, yet prominent, areas displaying ego in our society is mask wearing. Not wearing or wearing a mask has become a statement, a competition and a behavior for non-mask promoters as well as mask promoters. By...
I think we all know what it means to control a situation or a pet. Basically, it means the person expressing control dominates through commands, ideas, behaviors and aggression. And control can be applied externally and internally-in relationships and individually. Since we possess consciousness, that is awareness, we have a natural need to control the events in our lives and ourselves. Conscious control enables us to produce order, organize, be disciplined and dictate our free wills. For...
Previous articles described the dark side of the personality or the shadow. Since each person possesses a personal and collective psychology, the shadow has two forms: the personal and the collective. Remember that the collective psychology refers to social and group membership. Earlier articles also presented the idea of meeting the shadow and building a relationship with it to diminish its power, which means that the shadow would be less likely to be expressed unconsciously (from a person's...
In past articles, I presented conscious and unconscious parts of our psychologies in many different ways. Believe it or not, there are still many other ways to describe and discuss these critical parts of human nature. In this article, I thought that I would present some additional details about consciousness in response to a commonly asked question: Why are there such huge differences and tensions, or divided interests, in our country? Of course, the answer is complex but I want to present one major reason – variations in consciousness. R...
Denial is word commonly used in the therapeutic world because many people deny their surrounding reality and their emotions. It is important to ask: Why is denial so common and what does that really mean? When a person has an illness and doesn't admit that she/he is ill, that is an example of denial. If a person hears that a loved one is dying and doesn't accept that fact, then denial is present. These descriptions are clear examples of denial. In both cases, the person is not willing to face...
When people experience crises, such as the fire crisis in Seeley Lake or the loss of a loved one, there can be a variety of reactions. One of the most common reactions is to avoid their psychological needs and attempt to continue life as if nothing happened. People use phrases such: keep a stiff upper lip, cowboy-up, cowgirl-up or buck-up, to indicate that they are strong or should be strong, while experiencing crises. Ironically, this reaction is contrary to what people believe because it actua...
This past week, a reader asked me a question. The question was basically the following: I'm really good at what I do for living. So why do I dislike it? The answer can vary from person to person and be quite complex. So, I'll provide some common reasons that should be helpful to everyone, revealing psychological complexities as well. Just the fact that humans are both unconscious (have a hidden psychology) and conscious (are aware) is enough to understand that psychology is complex. In previous...
Many people experience frequent excessive delays in life or the inability to make a decision, as well as to complete or begin projects. There can be many different psychological reasons for these delays and inabilities but procrastination is high on the list. The following can be considered examples of procrastination: a person prolongs making a decision by considering the many different possibilities, by simply ignoring the decision or by failing to follow schedules. Procrastination can be...
Rituals surround us every day in small and big ways. In a previous article, I described that our morning and evening routines are rituals. Of course, we never think of our routines as rituals because these ritual behaviors can be so common and familiar. For example, we might exercise at 8 a.m. every day, eat breakfast after exercising, shower after breakfast, feed the dog and go to work. Such behaviors are scheduled in our minds as patterns for our daily routines but patterned behaviors are...
What is paranoia and how can we recognize it? Let's begin with the emotional side of paranoia. In the last article, the emotion of fear was central to the topic of superstition. Again, fear is central to the topic of this article – paranoia. Paranoia brings to mind many different descriptions. For example, you might enter an empty house at night and feel fear, which can then shift to a fantasy or belief that someone is hiding behind the chair or in the closet. Or, in an extreme example, you m...
We might ask if superstition is actually related to psychology. The answer to this question simply requires an understanding that everything a person does, thinks and feels is related to psychology. Psychology is the foundation of human nature and experiences. So, superstition and psychology certainly are related. Superstitions can be simple or complex. For example, one person might place a horseshoe above a doorway to summon good luck to enter. Another person might avoid stepping on cracks. An athlete might wear the same hat, or shirt,...
Have you ever found yourself performing a particular behavior and immediately repeating it, or thinking about something that was followed by a specific behavior, and repeating the combination at different times during the day or week? Or maybe there is a special routine that you perform to help you overcome anxiety or difficulties. Most people experience one, or more, of these behaviors in their daily lives. For example, you're leaving the house to meet a friend but the woodstove is full of...
There are several common answers to this question. For example, an older person is mature. Or, a person who is wise is mature. Another common belief is that a moral person is mature. Although there is some value to these answers, none of the answers are accurate enough. Don't we often see or hear people who are older making immature statements and behaving childishly? And, isn't the news full of moral people doing immoral acts? So, the question remains: What is maturity? There isn't a maturity...
Many people see behavior, or the way we function in life, as an answer to all our problems. In other words, if we change our behaviors, we can change our concerns or problems. Of course, there is some truth to this statement but behavior is only the tip of the iceberg. Even though we walk, talk, join groups, argue, play sports and perform many other behaviors, people often don't consider that these behaviors are associated with other parts of human nature. Another part of human nature is our...
As a follow-up to the previous article describing groups and collectives, I want to describe the differences between social Self and individual Self. A social Self is directly related to groups and collectives. This means that a person's social identity, or Self, is based on group membership. Since groups or collectives have specific values, beliefs, mannerisms, dress styles, languages and more, a member typically adopts most, if not all, of the group's characteristics as her/his social Self....
Groups are collectives. Groups are made up of people, which is true for collectives. As it turns out, we all are members of groups and collectives. If we take a moment, it isn't difficult to list several collectives in our lives. There are families, communities, sports teams, political and religious affiliations and on and on. The question is this: Is there a psychology associated with groups and collectives? Naturally there is. Anytime people are involved in anything, there is psychology involv...
Staying with the theme of changes, I want to introduce some changes that are influenced by the inner Self. Recall, that in previous articles the Self was described as the center of the unconscious (hidden psychology). The Self is the psychological element that influences all parts of a person’s psychology and that assists a person find authentic meaning and direction in life. Changes that originate from the Self can be accepted or rejected. If the changes are rejected, a person’s personal development is blocked. The meaning of a person’s life...
Personality is often considered a fixed characteristic or function within a person's psychology, however, this is far from the case. Personalities can change as much as any other psychological function. In a previous article, I described the four basic types associated with personalities – thinking, sensation, feeling and intuition. Thinking is concerned with details. Sensation stays focused in the moment, helping us know that something simply exists. Feeling evaluates people and situations, a...
In the previous article, a willingness and a resistance to change were introduced in a general way. In this article, I want to be more specific. So, let's look at changes with respect to complexes. Remember that complexes are part of our personal unconscious (hidden) psychologies and are triggered/activated by situations, people or comments in our daily lives. When triggered, the complex overrides our personalities and we express ourselves through the complex until the activated complex moves...
All things change, so we are told. In other words, nature and human nature eventually change. We only need to look at photos of ourselves from years ago, compared to the present, to see evidence of our physical changes. If we look at our car, comparing the original performance and appearance to the present condition, the changes are obvious. So we must ask: Can we see changes in a person's psychology? Most people don't want to change or want any changes in their lives. Other people invite...
At this point, it might be obvious that our psychologies are constantly involved in our lives. Every thought, emotion, creative expression, conversation, argument, relationship, loving gesture, physical action, value, belief and so on, follows from psychological influences. But why is this important? It’s important for an endless number of reasons. For example, many people are not aware, or aware enough, of these influences. If more people recognized their psychological influences, then more people would consider their expressions, gestures, re...
The last article considered the relationship between psychosis, hallucinations and dreams. The commonality was the unconscious (hidden) psychology of each person. Dream symbols are related to psychotic symbols and the symbols associated with hallucinations because all symbols are expressions of the unconscious. Clearly, the symbols in dreams, psychosis and hallucinations are not logical, in other words rational. If not rational, then the symbols must be illogical or irrational. Since we dream...
When people think about psychosis and hallucinations, they usually think about severe mental illness, loss of reality and drugs. We never think in terms of dreams. So, is there really a relationship between psychosis, hallucinations and dreams? First, let me briefly describe psychosis and hallucinations. When someone sees or hears something that isn't really there, it can be considered a hallucination. Psychosis occurs when a person sees and hears hallucinations all the time, or for a period of...
