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  • A PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN DIGNITY

    Ad Dekkers

    A PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN DIGNITY

    Originally published in the Netherlands in 2011, this book is the result of a life's work devoted to developing the craft of psychotherapy in a way that leaves the therapist's and the client's own responsibilities intact and that stimulates a direct, open, and honest link with day-to-day reality.

    From his deep commitment to raising the consciousness of both therapists and clients regarding the profound relevance of the larger world situation we find ourselves in (history), as well as one's own current stage of life, Ad Dekkers has spent the past thirty years developing a battery of detailed, yet flexible, psychotherapeutic exercises. These organically developed exercises, useful and stimulating for both the practitioner and the general reader, constitute the core of this book.

    Although written with practicing psychotherapists in mind, anyone interested in the history of the twentieth century or the biographical stages of human life will be rewarded here with a singular and caring picture of the human experience in our time.

    CONTENTS:

    Foreword by William Bento, PhD
    Introduction
    The Continuing Development of psychotherapy
    Developing the Psychotherapeutic Craft
    The History of the Exercises
    The Psychological Sensation
    The Natural Development of the Exercises

    1. Perception, Memory, and More
    Observation
    Remembering
    The Importance of Memories
    Case—Bringing memories to the surface: A therapeutic dialogue
    “Situations” and “Events”
    Case—Restoring the capacity to observe after damage caused by ideological indoctrination
    The Complex Term “Event”
    Case—A suicide attempt. The destructive power of the ban on observation
    Rudolf Steiner: Twelve Senses
    The Effects of Completing Memory Depictions: About the Sentient Soul
    Case—“Don’t get involved in anything that throws you off balance.” A suffocating climate for the sentient soul
    Continuing the Internal Activity: The Organizing Role of the Rational-Feeling Soul
    The Future Perspective. The Role of the Consciousness Soul
    Case—The therapy develops: Collecting facts—making interpretations—reevaluating decisions
    Exercises

    2. Phases of Life: The Focus on Development
    How Can Age Be Made Visible?
    Case—Age as a therapeutic gateway. The 21st year of life
    The Factor of Age in Therapy
    Case—A trouble-free past and problems nonetheless. The “I” comes on the scene and demands its rights
    An Interim Overview of the Exercises
    The Power of Imagination
    Case—Age as a therapeutic gateway. The 42nd year of life
    Self-Knowledge
    Case—Exploring the mirroring age
    Exercises

    3. The Impact of History: The Generations as a Conduit
    Dilemmas in Psychotherapy
    The Aftereffects of the First World War: An Example
    Case—The absence of war memories
    From Perception to Understanding to Effect: Processing the Example
    Memories in the Context of History: Two Examples
    Therapeutic Effect of the Historical Perspective
    Case—The 1970s and 1980s: “Everything is possible” parents
    The Influence of Our Material Surroundings
    The Parents as Conduits
    Case—The children of the spiritual revolution
    Transgenerational Transference and the Differences between Parents and Children
    Wibke Bruhns: Germany’s War Record
    At the Back Door of History
    Case—The Netherlands and slavery. The therapist is wide of the mark
    The Struggle to Deal with the Past: Quelling Rebellion in the Dutch East Indies
    Case—Acknowledging our colonial past
    Proposal for a Transgenerational Principle
    Case—“Hardened and affected by the Second World War”
    An Example of Positive Transgenerational Transference: Oliver Sacks
    Exercises

    4. The Self-Aware “I”
    The Development of the “I” during the Stages of Life. The Birth of the “I”: The First Memory
    The Development of the “I” during the Stages of Life. Up to the Age of 21: The “I” Takes Possession of the Body
    The Development of the “I” during the Stages of Life. The 21st Year: The “I” Ascends the Throne: The Sentient Soul
    The Development of the “I” during the Stages of Life. The Hypomochlion: The Rational-Feeling Soul
    The Development of the “I” during the Stages of Life. The Twin-Track Decision around the 35th Year: The Consciousness Soul
    The Development of the “I” during the Stages of Life. The 42nd Year: The Midlife Crisis. The Spirit Comes on the Scene
    The Awakening of Self-Awareness: Observation of the Will: Actual Intentions
    Awakening Self-Awareness: About Warmth
    Case—Contact with one’s own source of creation through warmth
    Awakening Self-Awareness: Reincarnation as a Theme in Therapy?
    Case—Ten rights of the human being. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”
    Awakening Self-Awareness: Karmic Encounters
    Awakening Self-Awareness: Role-reversal in “I” Perspective
    Case—A conciliatory role-reversal
    Awakening self-awareness: Spontaneous role-reversal during the near-death experience
    Case—The end of a psychosomatic problem: compassion “His war has become part of me”
    Awakening Self-Awareness: Karmic Compensation
    Awakening Self-Awareness: The Conscience
    Case—The broken heart; or, The conscience as real power
    Exercises

    This book is a translation from Dutch of Psychotherapie van de menselijke waardigheid (Christofoor, 2011).

    23 February 2016; Trans. Ed O’Sullivan; SB; 424; 23 x 15 cm; pb;

    £30.00  ISBN 9781621481126