Tag Archives: Attention Therapy

Tough Love for Insomnia

Posted on January 2, 2019 by Joel

During my entire working career, I suffered from insomnia. I’d get in bed and just lie there wide awake. As the night progressed, my anxiety grew to panic. “How am I going to feel tomorrow?” I’ve got to get to … Continue reading →

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Drowning in Feelings & Emotions

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Joel

Jaak Panksepp’s research goes deep into the wordless territory of affect or feelings and emotions where few psychologists, psychiatrists, or other researchers have gone. After years of work with lab animals he came up with seven primary affect systems:

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PANIC/GRIEF

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Joel

Jaak Panksepp initially called the sixth affect system the PANIC SYSTEM to reflect what goes on deep in the subcortical brain.

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RAGE vs PC

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Joel

Jaak Panksepp in his encyclopedic “The Archeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins” discusses Seven Primary Affective (intense emotional) Systems:

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Metaphysical Paradox

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Joel

Metaphysical Paradox My brain stopped filtering, allowing me to perceive a suddenly revealed external reality. This happened more than forty years ago and I have never shared it because it is like describing being abducted by aliens. Had I heard … Continue reading →

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Finding Flow

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Joel

Finding Flow Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who coined the term “flow,” said that the natural state of the mind is chaos and this is why we need to constantly work at flow.

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Realities Taken to be True

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Joel

We Believe What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based on our perceptions. What we perceive depends on what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we … Continue reading →

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Emotional Brain

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Joel

Emotional Brain Talk therapy did not affect the transformation from mild-mannered man to raging, destroying, out-of-control monster. It was that dramatic and it took place in shockingly brief moments. In a matter of minutes, I destroyed an entire living room … Continue reading →

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Ahead of the Game

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Joel

Ahead of the Game Here is a passage I fortuitously came across, perfect for this blog post— something written by a girl in one of my eleventh-grade high school English classes. I was teaching the talk and she was walking … Continue reading →

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Dissolving Pain

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Joel

Dissolving Pain Dissolving pain requires doing the opposite of what we want to do. When we feel pain, we automatically want to distance ourselves from it and fight it, thinking that resisting or otherwise avoiding the pain will give us … Continue reading →

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