Readers often send me emails with their comments and questions concerning different aspects of depth psychology, inner conflict, and the process of psychotherapy. Here I answer six of them, mostly related to inner passivity. I’ve done some light editing of the questions, and my … [Read more...] about Answers to Questions from Readers (Part 8)
Inner Passivity
Our Compulsion to Self-Punish
For many of us, a steady stream of emotional self-punishment can feel as natural as breathing. The process of punishing oneself can operate so subtly that people don’t detect its pernicious nature. This is not a discussion of physical self-injury or self-harm such as skin … [Read more...] about Our Compulsion to Self-Punish
How Meditation and Depth Psychology Overlap
I have long been interested in meditation, and I practiced it on and off for many years when I was a young man. Meditation held me together through my neurotic shenanigans, until depth psychology crossed my path and cleaned out the worst of my inner discombobulations. I used to … [Read more...] about How Meditation and Depth Psychology Overlap
Guilt: A Favorite Way to Suffer
Is guilt our favorite way to suffer? I think it is. Shame, fear, and anxiety might be more intense as torments go, but guilt (life’s “fitful fever”—Shakespeare) is the emotional hotspot that flares up most frequently in the backwoods of human nature. And it doesn’t take … [Read more...] about Guilt: A Favorite Way to Suffer
Understanding the Psyche of Boys
Boys are being bad, again. They’re displaying “a stunted masculinity,” says the cover story in the current issue of The Atlantic magazine. The article, titled “The Miseducation of the American Boy,” bemoans “the brutal language” of teenagers and young men whose primary values, … [Read more...] about Understanding the Psyche of Boys