Exploring the primal roots of mental health
by Peter Prontzos
Dear Editor,
There are a number of serious problems with your characterization of primal therapy, but I will discuss only the most serious one. The author claims that a “major flaw” with primal “is that studies have cast doubt on the existence of deeply repressed memories.” The truth is the exact opposite.
Continue reading “Peter’s letter to the LA Times”
by Bruce Wilson
On November 15, the LA Times published an article on “four psychology fads,” one of which was primal therapy. In typical fashion, the journalist reported the same tired old errors about primal therapy that have been around since its creation. Peter and I each wrote a letter to the editor, but the paper didn’t publish them. Here is a longer version of mine. The copy I sent to the Times was cut to 150 words, as per the requirements for letters.
Continue reading “Bruce’s letter to the LA Times”
by Bruce Wilson
A health/medical writer colleague, Marijke Durning, alerted me to a cause very worth supporting. Kid’s Help Phone is a free, confidential, bilingual call-in service for Canadian kids in distress, no matter what the issue. We’ve all heard the horror stories of kids pushed to suicide by bullying, or who had to escape to the streets to escape abuse at home. Kid’s Help Phone is a life line for these kids and may mean the difference between life and death. I’m sending some money today. Please do the same.
by Bruce Wilson
A tip of the hat to David Mitchel Stow for his excellent post on primal pain, religion, forgiveness, and the essence of true religion versus the stuff that merely kills pain. Mitch has a way of eloquently expressing these topics so I’ve decided to reproduce some excerpts here.
Continue reading “Primal therapy and religion”
by Peter Prontzos
That was the assessment of Dr. Marti Glenn, one of the keynote speakers at the 2010 International Congress of The Association for Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology & Health (APPPH), which took place from November 11-14 at Asilomar, California.
And while she was not speaking of Primal Therapy per se, much of what she discussed is very relevant to Primal Theory. Indeed, most of the people who presented at the Congress, as well as those I talked with, seemed to have a very positive view of the key elements of Arthur Janov’s work.
This is not to say that there wasn’t some “booga-booga” as well (e.g. “As eternal consciousness, each soul creates a plan for their upcoming ensoulment…”), but most of the Congress focused on the emerging science of the pre- and perinatal periods of life.
Continue reading ““A Paradigm Shift is happening!””
by Bruce Wilson
Jules Roth, co-director of the Denver Primal Center used to tell a story about lectures he gave to university psychology students about primal therapy. Invariably, there were three types of response. The first and largest group of students just took notes with hopes of passing the exam; a second, smaller group would look askance or make sarcastic remarks about “screaming your way to happiness” and a third group, usually consisting of just a few students, would approach him quietly after the lecture to ask more about the therapy or where they could get it. There was a hush-hush quality about their questions, as though being interested in deep feelings was something to be embarrassed about.
Continue reading “No (deep) feelings please, we’re psychologists”