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Spiritual Growth as a Road to Psychological Well-Being

Bear Psychology Podcast

Release Date: 03/25/2021

Divorce and New Beginnings show art Divorce and New Beginnings

Bear Psychology Podcast

Using Self-Compassion practices after divorce can help both parents and children.  Divorce and/or separation is a stressful but quite common experience for both parents and children. Children often carry guilt, shame, and anger along with many other big feelings that parents often feel ill-equipped to address. In her book, “Two Times as Much Love” Eileen Beltzner tells the story of Alexander, a third-grader struggling with the emotional aftermath of his parents’ divorce, and his journey toward self-understanding and personal growth. Beltzner uses engaging storytelling and...

info_outline Schizoid Personality Disorder and a life of challenge show art Schizoid Personality Disorder and a life of challenge

Bear Psychology Podcast

Blair Sorrel shares her journey of living with Schizoid Personality Disorder and learning to accept and love herself. She undercovers further elements of her life growing up in a family of origin where she experienced ridicule leading to low self-worth, social anxiety and a debilitating fear of authority figures.   She explores a home life with “poor parenting” which undermined her academic and career disappointments. She reflects on the importance of nurturing caregivers to allow the flourishing of Intelligence and genetics toward success. In her book, “A Schizoid at Smith: How...

info_outline Your Historical Trauma show art Your Historical Trauma

Bear Psychology Podcast

Looking for a new approach for self-help or to support individual or group therapy for those who experienced childhood trauma? In his guidebook, “The Historical Trauma Programme - For Self-help or to Support Individual Therapy” Bill Wahl introduces a comprehensive and science-based model of working with trauma. With over ten years in the field, Counselling Psychologist Bill Wahl and 3 dozen NHS colleagues developed workbook-based models of trauma therapy which can be used for self-help, to support individual therapy, or as a comprehensive model of group therapy. The approach is reflected...

info_outline Dopamine Nation – Freeing Ourselves from Overconsumption / Instant Gratification show art Dopamine Nation – Freeing Ourselves from Overconsumption / Instant Gratification

Bear Psychology Podcast

It seems clear to me, that if we are constantly striving to experience only pleasure we will certainly land in a hurting world of pain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger, which the brain produces) that plays a big role in the experience of pleasure. Instant hits of pleasure can keep us hooked into a cycle of gratification that results in an escalating need for reward, but instead leads to anxiety and a thirst for satisfaction that is never fulfilled. Our brains produce chemical jolts that can be evoked by emoji text messages; Facebook “likes”; shopping...

info_outline Use Movement to Heal Trauma show art Use Movement to Heal Trauma

Bear Psychology Podcast

“Embodied” approaches to healing include expressive movement, guided imagery, ritual, music and creative expressive interventions.  This goes beyond static medication and breathing exercises and into more dynamic practices. Pioneer Toni Bergins, brings active movement or “embodiment” into the toolkit offered in her book, “Embody: Feel, Heal, and Transform Your Life Through Movement” Bergins turns the processing of pain and trauma into an expressive art aligned with the most recent research. Her trauma-informed approach helps you release old struggles and shows you to stop...

info_outline Navigating Life’s Ups and Downs show art Navigating Life’s Ups and Downs

Bear Psychology Podcast

In her book, “A Very Narrow Bridge: Reflections of a Psychologist”, Dr. Rickey Miller shares her story guiding readers toward a greater understanding of life and the development of compassion for yourself and others.  Her book takes an important look at suffering, resilience and healing.  This memoir is a follows the author and her patients through heartbreak, grief, and anxiety toward joy, inspiration, and love.   She encourages us to ask questions and truly consider alternative paths to where we are stuck.  She suggests that we fail to ask ourselves if a...

info_outline The Relief of Letting Go show art The Relief of Letting Go

Bear Psychology Podcast

Having dedicated her life to helping others through emotional moments, Dr. Bea MacKay knows better than most that there are many things we cannot control in life. In her book, “Let Go of the Outcome and Let Things Fall Together”, she shares strategies for dealing with events we cannot change without feeling defeated. Her approach to mental health, embraces emotional wellbeing. Listen to our conversation with psychologist & author Dr. Bea MacKay as we talk all about her approach to reconnecting with your emotions and yourself. In this book, she walks you through how you can combine...

info_outline Understanding Narcissism show art Understanding Narcissism

Bear Psychology Podcast

If you have ever struggled with a person in your life that displays behaviors such as: lack of empathy; entitlement; a need to be the center of attention; negative reactions to any critical feedback; a grandiose sense of self; arrogance; manipulation and gaslighting; a need to be in control; demeaning and blaming of others and much more than this conversation will be of interest to you! “Narcissism: A Contemporary Introduction” by Dr. Richard Wood is a well-researched book that provides you with a deep understanding of the psychological terrain of the Narcissist. He distinguishes and...

info_outline Healing from Wounds No One Sees – From Military to Motorcycles show art Healing from Wounds No One Sees – From Military to Motorcycles

Bear Psychology Podcast

Dedicating your life to the safety and freedom of your country is a massive sacrifice military veterans across make every day. One of the largest challenges for these heroes is working through the barriers and stigma of PTSD following service and navigating their path of readjustment and recovery. Kurt Grant, author of “Shiny Side Up: On the Road to Recovery”, used a cross-country motorcycle trip to help integrate and calm some of the chaos in his mind following military service as an infantry sergeant. Listen to our conversation with veteran & author Kurt Grant as we talk about...

info_outline Our Emotional Connection to Pets and how it impact our lives show art Our Emotional Connection to Pets and how it impact our lives

Bear Psychology Podcast

So many of our listeners have pets that they cherish and certainly have shared struggles they might have with these animals.  I am a great animal lover and many of my clients have found solace in their relationships with pets in the home, at times feeling a great emotional boost from the connection.   With this in mind, I wanted to share the work of Denise Mange – who has written about her special approach to building a health relationship with the pets in your life.   A bark is not always just a bark and a bite is not always just a bite. Training a dog (or other animal)...

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Transpersonal Psychology is the section of psychological study that addresses spiritual or transcendent elements of personal experience.  The idea of our transpersonal lives is that which encompasses or goes beyond our typical and practical daily lives and into wider or unexplained aspects of what we may encounter in life. 

This may include peak or mystical experiences, spiritual crisis (in which typical elements of life are no longer sufficient to establish a sense of meaning) and expanded perceptions of life (i.e., who or what we are).

Transpersonal psychology addresses our highest potential or evolutionary states of being that may transcend the ego drivers and ordinary states of consciousness.

We hope you will join us as we explore this fascinating topic with our special guest Steven Taylor! He is a Transpersonal Psychologist University professor and author who has written 13 books on the topic of spiritual growth and emergence.  His extraordinary depth of understanding of this topic and many years of experience delving into this topic have formed a body of work that helps to elevate and inspire.  His work goes beyond what we buy, our education, even specific religious backgrounds, and rather into how we profoundly connect to each other and our planet. https://www.stevenmtaylor.com/books/  

His work shines hope on a time that has led many to feel destabilized and unsatisfied.

His most recent book The Clear Light is an exploration of Spiritual Reflections and Meditations illustrating our ultimate connection with each other and the world around us, and beyond.  His book Spiritual Science addresses the importance of our spiritual growth in making sense of the larger world around us, and is grounded in science.  My favorite is The Leap, which covers stories of individuals unfolding in their own spiritual growth, revealing the mystery that weaves us together as beings on this complicated life journey.

Certainly, when it comes to serious life events and trauma, a well-developed spiritual life can help us navigate the darkest of times.  Dr. Emma Bragdon, author and "spiritual emergence" coach has her own heart wrenching and traumatic life experiences.  She used spiritual practices including meditation to face the suicide of her mother, followed within a year by her father, the end of her marriage and suicide of her employer. 

She explained that "without meditation and my connection to a meaningful spiritual community ... I likely would have shipwrecked and fallen into the deeps ... a very human response to total overwhelm." 

https://www.emmabragdon.com/about

One of the earliest Transpersonal Psychologists was William James (1842 to 1910) who described the experience of oneness!  James said "a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices".  He captured the struggle of our beliefs with realizations that remain important today.  He also recognized that "The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working.  To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds."  This idea that we are more than our beliefs is good medicine even today, more than 100 years after his death.

So let's dive into this discussion to better understand what Transpersonal Psychology is and how your Spiritual Emergence can be a time of healing and integration.

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