self-help skills

Positive Psychology: Raising Happy, Kind Children Evolutionarily Adaptive

In contrast to "every man for himself" interpretations of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, Dacher Keltner, a UC Berkeley psychologist and author of "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life," and his fellow social scientists are building the case that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our nurturing, altruistic and compassionate traits. Christine Carter writes "Raising Happiness" (Yasmin Anwar, AlterNet, March 4, 2010)

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HARD-WIRED FOR COLLABORATION: PHYSICAL TOUCH INCREASES PERFORMANCE

Physical touch stengthens creative problem solving and performance. In Born To Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life (Norton, 2009), Dacher Keltner cites research indicating that simply giving a reassuring physical touch (a high-five, a chest bump, a shoulder pat) can increase performance on the basketball court, in intimate relationship, in the classroom, everywhere! Humans are wired to seek collaborative effort to "share the load" of problem solving.

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Focusing and Architecture: Designing From The Inside Out

Architecture is revisioned through Susanka's Not So Big concept, design which starts with the wants and needs of owners. "Masculine" vs. "Feminine" struggle archetypically with house design. Gendlin's Focusing, and Active Listening look for compromise in designing from the inside (unique wants/needs/functions) out as well as the outside (site, location, artistic vision) in.

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MICHAEL JACKSON: CREATIVITY AND BIPOLAR DISORDER

Kay Redfield Jamison studied the relationship between creativity and madness. She terms manic-depressive, or bipolar, disorder "a terminal illness," e.g., if not treated with appropriate medication and/or psychotherapy, ending in death. Did Michael Jackson and other extremely creative people who died prematurely from addiction, suicide, and reckless living suffer from manic-depressive disorder? Is there a way to treat the "super-human" energy of creativity without dimming its spark?

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TRANSITION TOWNS: LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY FOR GLOBAL CHANGE

The Transition Town movement is an example of bottom-up empowerment, local community organization for global climate change. Political action and emotional growth and support are combined with conflict resolution skill training, so that Head, Heart, and Hands are all enlisted in common cause. Listening/Focusing Communities are one model of peer support that could be incorporated into Transition Towns.

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CREATIVE EDGE LISTENING: ACTIVE, EMPATHIC, FOCUSED LISTENING ALLOWS CREATIVITY TO EMERGE

Creativity comes from inside, from articulation of The Creative Edge, the "something-more-than-words" experienced as intuitions, gut instincts, the vague, blurry "feel" of "the whole thing." Creative Edge Listening and Creative Edge Focusing are self-help skills that facilitate exploration of the "not-yet-known. Applications at home and work, alone, for interpersonal conflict and for creative problem solving in organizations.

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INTUITIVE FOCUSING: THE ONE MINUTE PAUSE — REFLECTING, NOT REACTING

Self-reflection, the "pause" before acting or reacting, is a learnable skill. Based upon Gendlin's Focusing (Bantam, 1981, 1984), the PRISMS/S Problem Solving Process, including Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening, teaches basic self-help skills for self-reflection. The kaleidoscope turns, and new ideas and action steps become possible.

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INTUITIVE FOCUSING: FROM INTUITION TO CREATIVITY, TRANSFORMATION, PARADIGM SHIFTS.PHOTOS OF CHILD’S FIRST CHRISTMAS PRESENT ILLUSTRATE CLICK!

Intuitive Focusing, based on Gendlin's Focusing, is a six-step self-help process for going deeper into vague, bodily-felt discomforts, intuitions, gut instincts legitimated by Malcolm Gladwell in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. When just-right words and images are found for the "bodily-felt sense" of issues and ideas, "Ahah!" experiences, transformation, paradigm shifts follow. George Soros uses something like Intuitive Focusing in deciding when to rearrange his portfolio. Focusing can be used for problem solving at home and at work. A child's first exploration of a Christmas present makes a good visual image of this "going deeper" into the "implicit" information held in the "bodily-felt sense.

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INTUITIVE FOCUSING: THE GIFT IN EMOTIONAL DEPRESSION, ECONOMIC RECESSION, AND OTHER TIMES OF “IMPRISONMENT”

Times of emotional depression, economic recession, turbulent social change can also be times for "fishing in the storm." Intuitive Focusing and Focused Listening provide simple self-help tools and empathic support for going deeply inside and "fishing up" new ideas and energies. Examples are given from the lives of those like Gandhi, King, and Mandela, and the creativity of their times in prison

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