Articles
We live in an Information Age. More than at any time in our history we are besieged with new information that may have relevance to us, but which is easily missed in our hectic lives.
Our articles are based on our stated aim to constantly search for new and emerging BodyMind science information from the many diverse schools of thought that contribute to our evolving understanding of the human condition. These articles are intended to educate the community in Integrative Body Mind Psychotherapy and related topics in human development. These articles may be fuller explanations and commentary that we have stated in our newsletters, postings or blogs. We also include published and unpublished articles from various writers including our psychotherapists.
Conditions & Disorders
Anxiety
by Richard Boyd According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Anxiety disorders are affecting over 250 million people worldwide, and are growing in alarming numbers. Anxiety affects women more than men according to the United States National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) website. This statistic persists despite ethnic, racial or economic differences between women. Read More... |
Depression
by Richard Boyd According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Depression is a common illness which affects about 120 million people worldwide, and is growing in numbers. In Australia, according to some surveys, if one includes people who have Depression but remain undiagnosed, then the statistic may be 1 in 5 people are suffering some form of this condition. Read More... |
Trauma
by Richard Boyd Trauma is an often used but little understood word in our society. The condition it describes has relatively recent awareness, with the term "shell shock" commonly being used to describe trauma during World War 1(1914-1918), and "war nerves" during World War 2(1939-1945) to again describe war trauma. It was not until the 1950's when advances in Psychology, Psychiatry, and medicine all started to reveal a picture of a condition that appeared both Neurochemical (Psychiatry), behavioural (Psychology), and nervous system derived (Medicine), that models for trauma first were seriously considered. Read More... |
Bruxism (TMJ)
by Helena Boyd Do you often wake up with a dull headache, ear ache or pain in your jaws ? Do your teeth seem super sensitive ? You may suffer from bruxism. Bruxism is the medical term for the unconscious act of grinding of teeth or the clenching of jaws, especially during deep sleep or while under stress. Damage can be so severe that it renders the teeth useless. Nocturnal bruxism occurs in an estimated 5% to 20% of adults. Read More... |
Narcissism
by Richard Boyd The word narcissism is one that has in recent years has been increasingly used in popular press to describe personalities and lifestyles. One form of Narcissism is however a little understood personality disorder which is increasingly showing up in our leaders across political, business, sporting, psychological and spiritual institutions(Behary:2008). Indeed narcissism and narcissistic is increasingly being used to describe the mass cultural shift to a "self" obsessed culture where there is rampant consumerism, the pursuit of power, excesses, and the abuse of others in the pursuit of these ends. Read More... |
Borderline Personalityby Richard Boyd The term “Borderline Personality” is a largely misunderstood label that often gets used to categorise and generalise a person who exhibits a number of volatile, emotional and unstable behaviours. The psychiatric term “Borderline Personality” was only agreed and defined as late as the 1980’s. It is variously described by the American Psychiatric Association as “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity”. Read More... |
General Articles
The Concept of Soul and Spirituality in Life and in Therapyby Richard Boyd The Materialistic and Reductionistic framework that has dominated Western sciences since the 17th century denounces the concept of spirit in nature and in man, and by extension this includes the idea of a soul in mankind. As a consequence the human soul which was once the province of religions, has largely been denounced and ignored by contemporary society. Read More... |
Embodied Spirituality - Compassion and Care of Oneselfby Richard Boyd In my companion article "The Concept of Soul and Spirituality in Life and in Therapy", I wrote of the need to reclaim our soul into our life if we are to authentically progress on a spiritual path, and heal many physical, emotional and mental ailments that can afflict us in life. There is a need for such a reclamation as the Materialistic and Reductionistic framework that has dominated Western sciences since the 17th century denounces the concept of spirit in nature and man. Read More... |
Triune Brain - The Evolutionary Designby Richard Boyd According to neuroscience, our brain design is a three-fold design based on our human evolutionary journey. Simply put we have a three layered brain or “Triune Brain”. The rear most and oldest evolved part of the 3 layered brain is called the “Reptilian brain”, and has a primary role in managing the arousal machinery of the human condition. Read More... |
Grounded and Present - Embodied Leadership and Sacred Activism
by Richard Boyd In my companion article "The Critical Need for a New Embodied Form of Leadership", I articulated the malaise of the narcissistic cult of “I/Me” which has come to dominate society and our collective leaders over the last 40 years. This self-grasping way of going about life has led us collectively to a precipice from where at the very least scientists agree that a severe degradation of the quality of life now awaits us. Read More... |
Narcissism as Prophecyby Richard Boyd The topic of Narcissism is gaining wide circulation in society. Examples of narcissistic excess in our societal leaders, sports stars and society figures is increasing if the number of media reports is anything to go by. Any number of authors, commentators and books are now observing, recording and documenting the destructive advent of narcissistic lifestyles and narcissism in men and women today. Read More... |
Narcissistic Leaders and their Manipulation in Group Dynamics
by Richard Boyd In Walt Disney’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s famous “Jungle Book”, there is a song whose jingle goes, “Never smile at a crocodile, Don’t be taken in by his welcome grin, He’s imagining how well you’ll look within his skin.” In this song and in the Jungle Book characters of the crocodile and the snake, we find the archetypes of the predator and narcissist, which are an increasingly common subtype of individuals in our modern society. Read More... |
Hooking Up and the Effects of a Sexualised Society
by Richard Boyd Human sexuality is a topic that involves us all, and usually will capture the attention and provoke a reaction in all who are asked about it. In the last 100 years there have been major shifts in our understanding of sexuality as well as our attitudes toward it. This topic shows a divergence of views across the generations still alive today and manifests a range of beliefs, attitudes, and expressions of sexuality in our society. Read More... |
The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse
by Richard Boyd Western society is undergoing an epidemic of reported childhood sexual abuse. Various authors attribute this to several causes, including the lifting of the stigma and shame of sexual abuse as a topic of conversation, better policies and law enforcement measures for victims, press interest in the topic, evolving childhood developmental psychology models that recognize and accept the severity of the impact of such abuse, and the reclaiming of rights and a voice by women and children who are over represented as victims in this type of abuse. Read More... |
Meditiation and Mindfulness Strategies
by Richard Boyd Eastern thought has never separated the interdependency between the body and the mind. Eastern traditional medicine and psychology has always had a sense of holism or the assumption of the need to consider the whole person when viewing one aspect of their nature that may be manifesting illness or dis-ease. Meditation and mindfulness have come to be powerful tools in the diagnostic and healing approaches of the Eastern traditions, which are now increasingly being adopted into Western society and within medicine and psychology as credible tools for healing and self development. Read More... |
Manifestation - The Mindspace of Quantum Physics and Neuroscience
by Richard Boyd The concept of reality and the search for our ultimate reality has dogged humans ever since we stood upright and noticed the starry heavens above us. Much of our human existence is devoted to trying to make sense of our place in the universe and the role and interaction we have within that reality. Various schools of philosophical, spiritual and scientific thought now exist which attempt to explain this dominant question of our human existence. Read More... |
How Early Life Attachment Affects Adult Intimacy and Relationships
by Richard Boyd At the dawn of the 21st century there exists an increasing isolation and separateness in men and women like never before. This resulting dissatisfaction has its roots based in the misplaced expectations that society now places on external objects, other people, and our relationship to both of these, as the basis for creating happiness in our lives. The idea that happiness is “out there” or an inherent characteristic in some external object or person dogs western consciousness. Read More... |
How Childhood Oedipal Narcissistic Development Affects Later Adult Intimacy and Relationships
by Richard Boyd Regardless of what happened during this formative stage of childhood development from birth to just before the age of 2, then the child will then evolve and have to navigate another important childhood development stage. This next stage will also impact its later adult ability to enter and sustain adult intimate relationships. There are 2 actual stages which are commonly known as the Narcissistic and the oedipal stage of childhood development and both are critical stages in the child’s development. Read More... |
Where East Meets West The Buddhist Wheel of Life
by Richard Boyd Over the ages man has attempted to explain his self and psychology via various myths, systems, depictions and wisdoms. Many cultures developed a system of archetypes to explain the various types of human consciousness outcomes found in its societal members(Campbell: 1990). Some of these systems were woven into the spiritual systems and frameworks of their culture because psychology and spirituality were not seen to be separate or divisible. Read More... |
Bullying
by Richard Boyd Bullying is an increasing problem in society today. Bullying occurs by and against children, by and against adults, and now remotely via electronic mediums such as the internet, mobile phone, social media and text messaging. Being a bully and being bullied have now been firmly linked in studies to a variety of detrimental mental health conditions for both parties. Children who bully others in childhood are known to go on and develop other more serious anti-social behaviours in teenage and adult life. Read More... |
The Scientific Basis for the Spiritual Concept of the Third Eye
by Richard Boyd Eastern spiritual paths and certain occult traditions have emphasised the concept of the “Third Eye”. This psycho-physical feature was correlated in diagrams, artwork and explanations as being situated approximately above the physical eyes, in the middle of the forehead, and just above the central line of the nose. The “Third Eye” was described as the seat of intuitive wisdom, of clairvoyance, of subtle information and spiritual or occult power. Read More... |
The Role of Play and Exploration in Human Happinessby Richard Boyd Happiness is a topic that provokes much comment and advice. The search for happiness has become more central in many people’s lives as they satisfy their survival needs in our society and start to seek actualization along the more altruistic parts of life. Despite the rise in living standards across Western society as a whole, and in Australia as a notable change in lifestyle since WW2, many people are still manifestly unhappy. Read More... |
The Epigenetics of Human Happinessby Richard Boyd If one looks at all the behaviours and actions of human beings, regardless of sex or culture, then you may rightly say that at the end of the day, all their actions come down to one of two categories. We either are consciously or unconsciously driven to find and maintain our happiness, or we are seeking to avoid and stay away from suffering or unhappiness. If one looks at how we collectively go about achieving these aims we find that our chosen paths often create the basis for suffering and not happiness. Read More... |
The Wizard of Oz - A Myth for Our Ageby Richard Boyd “We’re off to see the Wizard!!......The Wonderful Wizard of OZ”. Films have been a technological medium of the 20th century enabling the great movie makers to create powerful emotional experiences for audiences. One of the most loved films of the 20th century is “The Wizard of Oz”. It continually rates in surveys as one of the 5 greatest films of all time. If one looks at how we collectively go about achieving these aims we find that our chosen paths often create the basis for suffering and not happiness. Read More... |
Alice in Wonderland - A Borderline Personality Taleby Richard Boyd As a child we all read the various children’s stories that had been written up until that time. Most of these tales presented well to a young audience and allowed a young mind to identify and enter that world of innocence. We all read and identified with such tales as children. For many the one exception to that rule was “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, by Lewis Carroll. This strange tale had a strange and disjointed or fragmented feel to it, and never actually arrived at a satisfying or logical conclusion. Read More... |
The Loss of Spirit in Religionby Richard Boyd Today Christmas is largely about the worship of materialism rather than anything spiritual. The spiritual themes get lost in the noise of the clang of cash registers ringing, and the stimulus of sales and wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. The key themes of birth, renewal, and the fostering of forgiveness and compassion are largely relegated to those who attend church, or who watch an old Hollywood rerun of one of the biblical epics that tend to run at this time of year. Read More... |
The Role of Emotions in Healing and Healthby Richard Boyd Basic emotions are fundamental powers of the human body and mind and have key roles in determining mental and physical health, as well as associated disorders. For a long time emotions were side-lined by science, medicine and mainstream psychology as unquantifiable and therefore irrelevant parts of the human condition. Read More... |
Fibromyalgia - The Phantom Pain Conditionby Richard Boyd There are a number of illnesses and conditions that modern medicine has struggled to understand, define, diagnose and treat. Conditions such as Chronic Fatigue, Restless Legs Syndrome and other related conditions such as Fibromyalgia are real and debilitating to those who suffer from the bodily symptoms which then create suffering in the mind of those afflicted. Read More... |
Guilt and its Relation to Individual and Group Conscienceby Richard Boyd Guilt is a feeling that can dramatically affect the quality of one’s life. The feelings of guilt have been known to cripple people’s ability to move on in their life after whatever event evoked the guilt. Guilt as a feeling can partly trace its triggers to safety and survival. It is understood that a person must firstly satisfy one’s safety and security needs before being able to actualise further and then seek other pursuits around play and exploration. Read More... |
Equality Between Men and Women
by Helena Boyd How can man be equal to woman without being weak ? How can woman have her emotional fulfillment and still be an autonomous adult ? In duality consciousness, man will feel superior and believe woman to be inferior. He will consequently exploit her but will also feel exploited by her. In such a relationship fulfillment is impossible. The woman will feel that she is being unfairly exploited by the physically stronger man and will blame him for victimizing her. Both will fail to see the other side. Read More... |
Core Energetics and Shamanic Practiceby Helena Boyd Shamanism is the world’s most ancient spiritual and healing practice. Archaeological evidence suggests that shamanism is at least 20,000 years old and is found in 5,000 societies. It is a very practical profession that engages and expresses all the possibilities of human nature. It provides service to others through healing and ritual, and the re-creation of the self and society. Shamanism involves a technology for changing consciousness to access various resources e.g. wisdom, guidance and intuition. It has proved difficult to define since it is applied to a variety of cultural and social structures. Read More... |
Committed Relationships
by Leslee Hughes Committed relationships are a playground to explore the depths of intimacy, love and passion. Each challenge, argument, difference gives you an opportunity to open to a deeper level. A challenge yes a defeat NO. It is easy to blame our partners when the going gets tough – can you accept the imperfection in your partner, have you started to judge and criticize, this is the quickest way for your partner to shut down and withdraw. Read More... |
Fear and Need of the Feminine
by Leslee Hughes |
Pleasure Anxiety
by Leslee Hughes People who are brought up with a negative attitude towards life and sex usually acquire a pleasure anxiety; the fear of pleasure is the fear of pain not only in the physical pain but psychological pain of loss, frustration and humiliation. In the course of growing up we overcome these pains by suppressing our sadness, our fear and our anger. Read More... |
The Pleaure of Movement
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eligion
by Richard Boyd
Today Christmas is largely about the worship of materialism rather than anything spiritual. The spiritual themes get lost in the noise of the clang of cash registers ringing, and the stimulus of sales and wrapped presents under the Christmas tree. The key themes of birth, renewal, and the fostering of forgiveness and compassion are largely relegated to those who attend church, or who watch an old Hollywood rerun of one of the biblical epics that tend to run at this time of year. Read More...
The Role of Emotions in Healing and Health
by Richard Boyd
Basic emotions are fundamental powers of the human body and mind and have key roles in determining mental and physical health, as well as associated disorders. For a long time emotions were side-lined by science, medicine and mainstream psychology as unquantifiable and therefore irrelevant parts of the human condition. Read More...