A Justice Site
Healing through Learning
Mirror Sites:
CSUDH - Habermas - UWP
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan, Transcend Art and Peace
Created: December 3, 2001
Latest Update: December 3, 2001
Faculty:
jeannecurran@habermas.org
Olivier at tapcourse@yahoo.com
takata@uwp.edu
Natural Mental Health
Teaching and Review Essay by JeanneCurran and Susan R. Takata.
Copyright: Jeanne Curran, Susan R. Takata, and Individual Authors: November 2001.
"Fair Use" encouraged.
Natural Mental Health: The History of Medicine by Carla Wills-Brandon. Link to Natural Mental Health in the left-most frame. Then scroll down almost to the end of the file and link to Carla's Calamity : The Birth of Natural Mental Health. Scroll down to about an inch from the bottom the Carla's Calamity file to the History of Medicine.See also: Emotional Intelligence Site on Self-Esteem
I heard Carla on KPFK while driving into school one day recently, and ordered her book. The History of Medicine alone convinces me that we need to consider her approach to mental health. It's very much like my approach, except that she's dealing more with mental illness or dysfunction, and I'm dealing with normal folks like you.
On Monday, December 3, 2001, Kara Cain wrote:
Hey Jeanne,It may not have seem that serious in class, but I REALLY needed to let a lot of junk out. I allow things to stress me out, because I don't express how I feel when I should. It's like if I dont express myself when they happen, I just store them. Once I get too many emotions stored up, the container breaks. Then my emotions come oozing out in a distorted manner. I am glad I can come to some come kind of understanding with each situation I deal with in life.The class session last week really helped. I call it my therapy sessions. To just be able to talk about some things makes me feel better.
jeanne's comments: "To just be able to talk" helps all of us, Kara. Even those of us who usually would rather not talk. Just listening to others sharing feelings, and stepping back from those feelings with the social distance theory provides, let's us experience some of that same relief. We are human. Talking is perhaps one of our most significant accomplishments.Like you said in class, it is not necessarily dominant discource, but a fear that I may outshine my supervisor. The theories that we discuss, especially in the second part of social theory, really help me define the craziness that happens in my life. I am really happy that I have theories to explain the behavior of some people. I am also happy that I have agency. This means no matter what happens to me, I have the ability to react rationally or not. I do not have to allow someone to make me upset or depressed because they are. For our next lab session, could we discuss some more theories that we will come across the most in our daily lives. Thanks for the theories and advice. Kara CainI think this is what Vance Peavy refers to on the Socio-Dynamic Counselling