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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!hao!woods
From: woods@hao.UUCP (Greg Woods)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: self-actualization
Message-ID: <1690@hao.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 11-Aug-85 15:48:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: hao.1690
Posted: Sun Aug 11 15:48:37 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Aug-85 03:21:44 EDT
References: <1744@reed.UUCP> <621@ttidcc.UUCP> <1680@hao.UUCP> <313@tove.UUCP>
Organization: High Altitude Obs./NCAR, Boulder CO
Lines: 62

> >... The Lifespring course, and other awareness training courses, are
> >designed for people whose lives basically work, but somehow know they
> >could have it better than they do ...
> 
> So is therapy.

  That's not what I learned when I was a Psych major in college. Therapy is
for treating things defined as "disorders" or, in extreme cases, "diseases".

> I know several people who are in therapy for the same reasons you gave for
> taking Lifespring.  And most of them are quite the opposite of "messed up"!

 To each their own. If therapy works for them, great. A lot of it, of course,
has to do with your expectations. If you expect therapy to work for you,
then it probably will, no matter what your "problem" is. 

> In my opinion, many people go into groups like Lifespring with expectations
> of achieving some of the growth that they might achieve in therapy--but with
> hopes of avoiding the stigma that some people (apparently including you!)
> associate with therapy.  

  Expectations, expectations. Much pain in this world is caused by comparing
expectations to reality. It is this comparison that causes the damage, not
Lifespring or bad therapists. And I would appreciate it if you would not
put thoughts in my head that are not there, especially negative ones.
I associate no stigma with therapy. Being sick happens to all of us
and is not a "bad" thing, whether physical or psychological in origin. It is
a fact of life that illness happens.

>I think that the ways these groups are advertised encourage such expectations.

   I would like to see an example of this. That has not been MY experience.
In the case of Lifespring, there is no "advertising" at all, except through
word-of-mouth from those who graduated from the course and felt that it was
sufficiently valuable for them that they want to encourage those they care
about to have that experience too.

> Personally, I think seeing a therapist would
> work out better in the long run--provided that the therapist is a good one.

  Given your beliefs, I have no doubt that that is true FOR YOU, should you
ever feel such a need. But don't presume to speak for everyone. I have
been to therapists before (to treat depression) with limited or no success
and lots of time and money wasted. After a 5-day, $400 course (which carries
a money back guarantee -- how many therapists do you know who do that?)
I was able to see that my depression was caused by comparing reality to the
way I "wished" the world was. Dropping the comparison "cured" the depression.
No, *I* won't speak for everyone either. I'm sure some people (particularly
those who have strong negative beliefs about awareness trainings) would not
get much out of a Lifespring-like course. But *I* happen to know lots
of people who benefitted more from Lifespring than they did from previous
therapy, so it just goes to show that it can go either way depending on the
person.

--Greg

{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!noao | harpo!seismo | ihnp4!noao}
       		        !hao!woods

CSNET: woods@NCAR  ARPA: woods%ncar@CSNET-RELAY

"Comes a time, when a blind man takes your hand, says don't you see..."