Love vs Fear (Adventures of The HEADoc)

Nature can be therapeutic. . . and it doesn't cost a dime to benefit. I have made a couple of entries previously about the process of transference and counter-transference. Freud made these two concepts popular in his practice of psychoanalysis. The subject may transfer emotions on to the therapist that are associated with past encounters with significant people. An example may entail the subject subconciously feeling contempt, resentment, or fear for their controlling and emotionally unavailable father since childhood. For the sake of interest, lets say the father recently died with those issues left unresolved which caused enough internal conflict within to motivate the patient to seek therapy. Since the primary issue with such a patient centers around problems with male authority figures this will almost certainly surface repeatedly in sessions with a male therapist. The therapist has three tools to work with: confront ideas and comments made by the patient, clarify ideas and comments, and make interpretations of how the past may be associated with the present. How and when to make such interpretations is crucial in how effective the therapist is in helping the patient to gain useful insights into their behaviors that will motivate positive change. Counter-transference essentially involves what emotions the patient drums up in their therapist. The therapist is able to interpret that if the patient arouses certain emotions within them then chances are they arouse the very same emotions in others they encounter. Since the therapy session is like a laboratory where ideas can be therapeutically dissected, the therapist over time can help the patient see more clearly why others treat them certain ways and the role they themselves play in that process. Most importantly is finding solutions to their unhappiness or other symptoms they may experience. I wanted to write about animals today but I thought the above preface necessary to help put my ideas into context. Three kittens have found loving homes. One I just couldn't let go. I spent less than two months with them but it was delightful observing them nurse and interact with their mother. As babies they just want to be loved and cared for. Some people deprived of such nurturing during their developmental years can become arrested in a psychological limbo and have ongoing issues and inner conflict. Squeaky is the name I chose for my Alpha kitten because of her high pitched meowing in comparison to the other three kittens. Squeaky was always the first of the litter to explore the environment. She was the most aggressive nurser and the first to discover the food and water bowls. She would follow mother around alone at times. Without her siblings as a reference point now Sqeaky seems traumatized. She is withdrawn and doesn't like being touched much. I think she senses the change in environment without the others and fears she may be taken away next. I kept Squeaky because I like her spirit. She was different. Yesterday I encountered a terrapin in the road on my way to my weekend landscaping project. This isn't the first time this has happened to me and as usual I felt the urge to turn the car around and to go back and rescue the poor terrified creature. I knew it was moments away from being crushed to death by a passing vehicle. He thought he was out of danger by retreating to the safety of the shell. Sometimes I have done the same thing metaphorically, thinking that by avoiding a problem that I had ridded myself of the problem, yet rendering myself oblivious to the potential dangers existing in reality. So I rescued another terrapin and moved him to a safe environment. I feel good about that. On the other hand... I have never resolved my irrational fear of snakes. During my raking and burning I came across a freshly shedded skin of a substantial sized serpent. I now knew that it wasn't all just in my head. He was really in the vicinity, probably watching me at that very moment, and I had no idea where he was. I was extremely cautious in my raking expecting at any moment for an aggressive four footer to hiss and strike at me just like on TV.  Aha! Under a pile of moist leaves there he lay almost ten inches in length. He appeared disoriented and confused as if he had been minding his own business and enjoying a peacful Saturday afternoon. Instinctively, I decapitated and violently beat the head with my rake. Feeling victorious, I picked up the evil serpent to examine the deadly hypodermic fangs I so feared. To my surprise there were no fangs. This meant I had killed an innocent and harmless water snake. Intellectually, I understand terms such as harmless and innocent but somehow haven't learned to view the snake the same as I view the kitty  and the terrapin. I do feel bad sometimes about being a snake killer so maybe I can reform and allow some of those poor creatures to live in peace. I did meet paths with a wasp nest in a small cedar tree that I wished to cut down. As a kid, I never got along with wasps very much and was known to pick a fight and end up being stung. So I have had an irrational fear of wasps, hornets, and bees in addition to snakes. This time, the wasp and I fought to a draw. I stopped chopping on the tree and he went back to finish his nesting business. Another day and another time the tree will be mine. I feel like I conquered yet another phobia in that brief encounter with my foe the wasp. My encounters with nature tapped into my emotions in a unique manner. The only true and rational emotions I believe to be the love for the kittens the compassion for the terrapin, the remorse for killing the snake, and the respect for wasp's residence. I'm glad to have this opportunity to work through my issues and misunderstandings with nature.

psychiatrypsychology