THERAPEUTIC REFLECTIONS BY DR. DAN L. EDMUNDS, ED.D.,B.C.S.A.,DAPA

"The art of therapy is like a shamanic voyage, to create a safe place whereby one might journey with the other to retrieve the broken sole pieces, to help them navigate from that foreign and barren world back to our common meeting ground."

"So often I see the cylces of chaos evoked upon children by parents ensnared in their own self interest. These kids are not broken, they do not have broken brains, rather their hearts have been broken, and their acting out is but a loud signal of their distress, but we drug them to ignore the issues. Continue in self interest. Sometimes, if they are lucky, a caring person may enter their lvies, but often the damage is done, only for them to evoke harm on others, seeking revenge for what was done to them. I always strive to be that caring soul that they just might recall and will lead them from such a vicious cycle.

It appears so common today that people find distractions and ignore their own oppression and that of others, society is based on survival, but it is not a concern for community, but only the self. People are no longer seen as people, but commodities, to be used for ones own purpose and gain. We will continue to decline as a society if we remain selfish and indifferent with no sense of community.


Where we were able to create a safe space, where we met without prejudice or barriers, where we were ourselves, telling stories, having fun, being silly, free to express, sharing struggles, being in community, this has always been the most productive time with clients. It is all about relationship and it is so sad to see the current trend where relationship is nothing, and suppression is all that is offered.


Often I have seen how young people who have experienced chaotic family dynamics, being devoid of genuine caring, losing their sense of identity, and wanting to be heard and validated become a construct of others, never really knowing who they are, and when these so called relationships falter, they are in the brink of despair.

I had a consult with a young man who was quite bright and we connected readily. Sadly I learned that psych meds had caused many problems and he related a prior hospitalization as being the most terrifying event ever. He began hearing voices after many stressors and loss, I began to seek to understand this experience and I knew immediately what one of the voices was, and he confirmed my thought. It is unfortunate that most have not understood or try to suppress his experience. I think much was accomplished just by our brief journeying together.

I did not personally know Ronnie Laing, though I learned he lived for a time a brief distance away when I was a teen, shortly before he left our world. From my beginnings in the field, I saw how it could be dehumanizing and I began to write and speak out. It was not through any course that I discovered Ronnie Laing, but on my own, and I am greatful that I did, for I have found in what he stated nothing more powerful that resonated with my mind, spirit, and vision of how we should be towards others.

The root of distress is easy to see, it is because community has eroded and people are oppressed, many in survival mode, but though easy to see, these truths require efforts and change, so it becomes ignored and people are suppressed and lies about imbalances are generated, so the effort is avoided and an elite few can prosper at the expense and suffering of others.

Behavior we may label strange or disturbing is always a response to something distressing to the individual. It should not be a cause to shame the person or to suppress them. The behavior may be necessary to find their way again, and hopefully they will find others to walk with them as they do.