Psychomechanics Has Arrived! - Blog#19 - 16 June 2019
Available on Amazon - June 21, 2019
During my past four decades in clinical psychology, I gradually developed an understanding of what produces personal change, and I began writing. In 2002, my wife, D’Lane, and I broke loose from our psychiatric colleagues and formed our Turning Point Center for Psychological and Family Growth (yes, I’ve been accused of being verbose). D’Lane used her cyber-talents to create a website (www.turningpoint4u.com) for our practice, dragging your narrator into the digital professional world. Adding to our website resources, I compiled my various writings on recovery, growth, trauma, relationships, etc. into an online compendium, Psychomechanics, for the benefit of my clients. As I entered the seventh decade of my life (7th! And now on the doorstep of my 8th? How did…), my spiritual void increasingly tugged at me. I began to explore the spiritual alternatives to organized religion, and as is my habit, I began to write. Four years later, this all coalesced into a book designed for those who check the box, “Spiritual but not religious.” Beyond Atheism – A Secular Approach to Spiritual. Moral, and Psychological Practices, addresses beliefs, but prioritizes practices. Beliefs are cheap; practices are more difficult, and more rewarding. After addressing spiritual and moral practices from a secular angle in BA, it was right up my alley to address psychological practices, so I updated my online self-help writings, and included the revised version of Psychomechanics as the third and final section of BA.
But I also wanted to offer a freestanding, updated version of Psychomechanics to my clients and others seeking psychological growth, without the spiritual angle of BA. In this version, I have steered clear of religious and spiritual commentary, except for a chapter encouraging everyone to translate their chosen beliefs into day-to-day practices. My intent is to offer my clinical angle on psychological recovery, without the philosophical, religious, and spiritual meanderings of the far lengthier BA. Psychomechanics starts with global personality issues, presenting a simplified view of the structure of personality, the wisdom of selective vulnerability, and the subjectivity of normalcy and craziness. It then targets the concept of stress, as well as specific emotions and syndromes: guilt and shame, sadness and depression, anxiety and avoidance, frustration and anger. Subsequent chapters address the unique challenge of coping with trauma, our need for both internal and external attachment, and the benefits of positive psychology in tempering the traditional clinical focus on psychopathology. My hope is that these 11 chapters will help you understand the workings of the mind, and offer you techniques for managing your own mind, particularly your emotions. We’re all on the road to find out. Hopefully, I can add a few signposts to your road. Thanks for listening. Ed
Psychomechanics will be available on Amazon June 21, 2019.
View Ed’s Current Books - https://www.edchandlerandbeyond.com/books