As the snows finally arrive in force this winter, I'm at work on the February 18th talk: The Inner Life of the Therapist/Physician.
There's something compelling about the way snow adds a layer of insulation and stillness to what lies beneath it. This goes well with reading the work of Robert Wicks, who will be featured in this upcoming presentation. I am feeling out a space of calm within the storms of life.
I don't think we can really feel that calm center unless we can also feel the surrounding cataclysms as well. I'm just finishing up Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. I have not seen the movie, directed by Angelina Jolie, but I'm told it isn't as difficult and painful in its depictions as the book.
Having never been entirely broken, I may never know what it is to be unbroken. And yet, as I read the story of Louis Zamperini, and of his torture and suffering in Japanese POW camps, and then of his post-traumatic nightmares that mercilessly followed, I do not forget that there is only a thin veil of separation between all of us.
Some of us will experience darkness, and some of us will be there to befriend; others of us will create suffering and darkness or spend their lives running from inner darkness. So is made the tapestry of life.
I was pleased to see Carol Hilton's article on the Caring for Self series published in the latest issue of The Medical Post. I was feeling quite tired and vulnerable the day the interviewed me (a Friday afternoon at the end of a long work week). She captured the spirit of what I shared well, I think, and I am very pleased that she interviewed Irit Israeli MSW and Shailla Vadya MD, two of our regular attendees.
Irina, my partner, and also my assistant in presenting this series, loved the article. The only omission, she felt, was in missing out on the importance of my training in sensorimotor psychotherapy, a journey that took place over half a decade, and has been a pivotal and profound cornerstone of my development as a psychotherapist. So my plan is to write a little about that process in one of my next posts.
I have not heard back from anyone in the medical field since the article was published, despite the fact that The Medical Post is quite widely circulated. This might sound strange, with more disquieting articles appearing in the same week from Medscape, noting that burnout rates amongst physicians have risen even higher. One would imagine that in an epidemic of burnout and discontent, this kind of series would strike an interest. Sadly, in our troubled world of contemporary medicine, politics increasingly comes before need. In a field where recognition is harder and harder to come by, there are literal feeding frenzies around whatever scraps are to be had. I think of this as sad, because in current times, when we most require space for reflection, and quiet time with others to share and commune (which is of course the core mission statement of this series), we often are most inclined to turn away from these needed qualities.
It's easier to blame and to look for drastic solutions, which is perhaps why the spiral of burnout and compassion fatigue feels tragic and unstoppable.
Anyway, here's the article. I hope to see some readers at our February and March presentations. Again, please to welcome to share your thoughts, especially on what you think would most serve the healing of our healers.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9knfFKD5cmURjlweWc4dHZRSUE/view?usp=sharing
