SYCHOLOGY
is often described in textbooks as the science of behavior.
All that I say on this website is evidence based, but the evidence does
not come just from scientific experimentation; much evidence comes from ages of
experience and wisdom. Therefore, clinical psychology,
which tries to solve the problems and symptoms
individuals encounter because of their behavior, is in part a science; but
in its study of the mindespecially the
unconsciousit often moves away from pure science
and becomes a philosophy and an art. The unconscious, after all, is, well,
unconscious and therefore unknown to conscious reason and scientific research,
so it has to be encountered through language and
dreams.
This website,
A Guide to Psychology and its Practice, is written in a straight-forward, plain, conversational English
that anyone should be able to understand. Moreover, for the sake of truth, there is no advertising on this website. You will find here three different kinds of information:
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First,
for many issues I give an overview written
from the perspective of my own experience. |
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Second,
I refer you to Additional Resources on
the Internet that provide additional information about the topics I discuss.
I have selected non-profit sites that, in general, do not try to sell you
anything: professional organizations, foundations, national support
organizations, etc. Through these sources you should be able to find the
type of help you desire. |
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Finally,
I have provided self-help information
that you can use without professional help to learn relaxation
techniques such as autogenics and
progressive muscle relaxation, overcome simple phobias
(such as fear of flying) with systematic
desensitization, and stop
smoking. |
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Altogether, these
pages provide an effective guide to the practice of clinical
psychology. If you are a student looking for information about sensation,
perception, learning theory, and so on, you should read a basic textbook
on the principles of general psychology.
Perhaps you are
wondering, Who made this website? All the writing on this website,
and the layout, graphics, and programming, are my own original
work.
And please note
that I do not allow advertising on this website, nor do I have a sponsor
trying to sell you something.
Therefore, if
you find that my work has been informative and helpful, perhaps you will
realize that a small freewill donation is truly
affordable to most persons in industrialized countries, and that it will
help to offset my costs in making this website available without charge and
without advertising to everyoneespecially those in great financial
need.
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In all of this, my goal is simply to help you realize that
although life can be painful, unfair, and brutal, it doesnt have to
be misery.
Dont get
me wrongI fully appreciate the ecstasy of
spiritual experience, and I am something of a mystic
at heart. Yet I have learned from experience that the practice of good clinical
psychology involves somethingcall it comfortwhich does
not mean sympathy or soothing, and it certainly doesnt mean to have
your pain taken away. It really means to be urged on to take
up the cup of your destiny with courage
and honesty.
I have a background
in literature, theology, and art, and came to study psychology as a
middle-adulthood career change. On this website, I speak about values such
as compassion and forgiveness not for religious reasons but simply because
they are good, common-sense ways to true and lasting mental health. Its
that simple.
But the task
of teaching the general public the difference between happiness and mental
health has all the satisfaction of trying to fill a sieve with water. And
yet, to paraphrase Saint Francis of Assisi, if we accept the worlds
injustice, cruelty, and contempt with patience, without being ruffled, and
without murmuring, then we have found the path to perfect joyand we
do our work anyway.
So, as much as
we all yearn for peace on earth, we wont get it through laws, by
protest, by hatred, or
by war. No matter what was done to you or to your ancestors, it does not give
you permission to use violence or commit crime in protest. We will have peace
only by setting aside our psychological defenses and
learning to treat others with honesty and
forgiveness. May it all begin in your own
heart.
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