Off Script Therapy When You Are Off Script And I Am Off Script, We Are Alive To Each Other

This book is about how to heal using psychotherapy, not just remain on a maintenance program. As one of my mentors called it, it is about “real therapy.” It is a book written with anyone interested in psychotherapy from the consumer of psychotherapy to the student, from the therapist to the educator, from the psychiatrist to the select group of people behind the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. I wrote this book for many reasons, the most important of which is I had several clients who had years if not decades of time spent in therapy with no changes in their well-being. But when they worked with me, it did not take long to see wonderful progress. Other therapists have had similar experiences but somehow we all remain in the alternative world of therapy. It is time that our work be included in all psychotherapy curriculum. So this is a book to give hope to those who have not had successes yet with therapy and to lay out the playing ground where healing is possible and nurtured. This is a book that offers the experience and the rationale to challenge accepted beliefs that hinder progress, for instance the belief that mental illness is a personality disorder. In my experience, mental illness is a hint on our journey that something needs attention and it points exactly where attention is needed. So, with that in mind, taking meds can only smooth out mental health challenges temporarily because our being will want to let us know where attention is needed and will find a way to bypass the effect of medication. Mental illness is not something to be ashamed of. Instead, it is the natural human experience given our ability to integrate life’s experiences. This concept is not always easy to understand because we have been bombarded with a different perception. But the current cultural perception of mental illness leaves one powerless, whereas what I describe here is empowering and powerful. We have a choice in the world of psychotherapy today to continue to perfect the art of maintenance with psychotherapeutic drugs and avoid the real issues, or remember the art of healing. This book is a call for the second option which paves the way for a deeper harmony within the fragmented world of psychotherapy, a coming together of all healing and spiritual practices, and a deep understanding of our own human nature. This is one element toward peace in the world.