Marty L. Cooper, MFT
4831 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94118
martycooper@mlcooper.com
www.mlcooper.com
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November 2009 Vol. 2, Issue 8
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Greetings!
Greetings!
I hope you all are enjoying the move into fall, and keeping warm inside and out.
The article for this issue of the newsletter is a short piece on the importance of good maps in healing from chronic anxiety or depression. As always, I love to hear back on your thoughts about the topics raised, if you're so moved to share them.
Be well,
Marty |
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Good Maps get more Colorful Over Time
Wouldn't it be SO nice if healing would come in just a
straight line? You do a, and then b, and pretty soon your at z, and voila! Done!
Some healing pretty much does happen that way.
A broken leg, baring complications, pretty much heals in this a to z
fashion: it breaks, gets set, and some
weeks later the cast comes off, you beef up the muscles, and it's pretty much
back to normal. The rules for this
healing are pretty straightforward.
I have found it really important in the process of mental
healing to have a good map of the process, because "misinterpretations" can be
very disabling, as if we kept taking the cast off our leg as it is
mending. It's good to know in that case
that you need to keep the cast on for healing to happen. Not having a simple map like that can result
in misunderstandings of the process, such that you end up with a crooked,
partially healed leg.
So too with the mind.
We often will think, in dealing with anxiety and depression...well, all
sorts of things about how we or it are supposed to heal. For instance, success/healing can be seen as:
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"I am supposed to suppress the symptoms and gut it out."
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"Only by finding out the first cause of them will I heal."
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"I have to find the right mix of medications, then I'll be
healed."
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"I have to give this over totally to God/Buddha/Allah/Spirit
to win."
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"I have to be aggressive and beat these moods; I've got to be stronger."
All of which are summations of maps of the process, and all
of which are fine as starting points, but if we cling to them too strongly, we
can keep ourselves going round in circles without any real healing
happening. We need to be constantly
updating our maps just like an explorer moving through new terrain.
So here is (like "keep the cast on for 6 weeks") a rule
about healing from chronic low moods:
"Openness to new information facilitates healing."
Depression and anxiety both are rather "information poor,"
and tend to present dumbed down versions of the world: "Everything is overwhelming" and "Everything
is dangerous." The resulting stances
become ones of contraction and collapse, different results than if the map were
"The world is bountiful, safe and welcoming."
So it is very important in healing from anxiety and depression
to keep updating one's map of the terrain as one explores it. Then the particular ways you work with these
low moods become "supple," responsive to new insight, and reflective of what
you actually know at the time.
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Online Articles
Past articles can be found at my articles page by clicking here. |
About Marty
Marty Cooper is a San Francisco psychotherapist who helps individuals
struggling with anxiety and depression to not only manage these "wild
moods," but eventually learn how to overcome them. His background in
both Western approaches to healing, as well as Eastern mindfulness
practices (meditation) give a wide range of perspectives and techniques to bring to the work of taming mood.
Marty's passion arises out of his
deep understanding of how painful anxiety and depression can be, and
his wish to help others learn how to avoid overwhelm, as well as to
find meaning in experience that can otherwise at times just seem pointless.
Joy, connection, and a life not ruled by fear are all truly possible.
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EMDR
So, what is EMDR? EMDR stands for "Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing," and is an extremely effective, evidence-based, way of working with trauma, that can lead to a full recovery from post traumatic symptoms, in some cases within a few sessions. Even very old, entrenched sufferings can be loosened and removed. People really do experience freedom from beliefs and pains that have pained them for decades.
But EMDR is also effective for clearing old memories that are not overt traumas. For instance, issues such as phobias, stuck patterns in relationships, general anxiety and depression, all can be helped with the targeted use of EMDR. Sometimes, because of the more "systemic" quality of these issues, more time and sessions are needed, but the results can still be remarkable and deep.
If you are interested in more information, you can look at the information on my website (click here), or feel free to give me a call.
(For a fuller introduction to EMDR, Transforming Trauma by Laurel Parnell, is a great place to start. Click here.)
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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT)
I offer Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT) classes and one-days 3-4 times a year. MBCT is a way of working to prevent repeated depression through using mindfulness practice and cultivating an attitude of acceptance, not "fixing," towards the experience of depression. Outcome research has shown it to be quite effective in decreasing the chance of falling into another serious depression. It's really essential stuff.
Click here for information about MBCT in SF, and here for a calendar of MBCT events throughout the Bay Area. |
Services
I offer psychotherapy to those who are wanting to learn deeper and more effective management strategies for their anxiety and depression, as well those who wish to find out how to overcome these wild moods. I work comprehensively with mental, emotional, bodily, and spiritual dimensions, all of which are necessary to overcome the chronic quality of anxiety and depression.
If
you are looking to make changes that last, then please call me and set up an initial phone consultation, so we can see if or how I can best be of service.
Marty L. Cooper, MFT
415.835.2162
martycooper@mlcooper.com
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