Post Thu Mar 20, 2008 6:42 pm

if it works, when it does

Hey y'all,

The urge to pass on our pain is probably a function of the animal brain that has evolved in all of us. If we are pissed or hurting, we either bear it in silence or "share" our pain with others around us. The recipient can be a friend with a kind ear or it can be a momentary target who seems to blame for, or somewhat connected with what we are feeling.

In a therapeutic setting, this urge to pass along our pain works to take the "burn" out of our feelings, but only to the degree that the recipient actually cares about our plight. It is a trait called empathy. Somehow it allows its owner to transcend animal instincts and reach out to another with care.

It is this reaching out with care, seemingly being willing to feel the other person's pain, that may carry the therapeutic catylist. Somehow the pain gets passed to someone who will experience some of it with us. We see that someone actually cares about us enough to carry a bit of our burden. The relief may occur because another shares our pain.

This, IMO, is what works. The ritualized, formalized, Clockwork Orange, implant 'em and then charge 'em to erase it kind of cult "therapy" actually interferes with this benefit.

Be well,
Dennis
"Here I sit so patiently, waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of going through all these things twice" - B Dylan