Psychology Articles

English grammar of all things! There are few days in the world more beautiful than a perfect summer’s afternoon in England. And there we sat, hot and bored stiff, listening to the first eleven practicing at the nets, the sound of bat on ball.

The lecturer droned on about participles, parsing, the imperfect tense and all things we could so easily have done without. It took us a few moments, but all of a sudden we were aware that he was no longer speaking English. It turned out to be fluent Arabic.

He was a popular teacher, a man of whimsy, who was usually able to keep us amused with his style of teaching. But even he was defeated by this particular day, as were we, and he knew it. But suddenly we were upright, our ears a-quiver, as the strange, exotic words rolled off his tongue. Then he stopped.

“Strange how I was able to hold your attention by speaking in a tongue of which you have no understanding. Now, perhaps, you’ll do me the goodness of concentrating on your mother tongue of which most of you at any rate possess a passing knowledge.” He turned back to the blackboard, a wry smile on his face.

We probably learned more about English grammar in the half hour that was left, than we’d learned in all previous lessons put together. Why was this?

We’d been shocked out of our mindless lethargy by totally unfamiliar sounds, so that when we were brought back to the subject at hand, our concentration had been perked, our lethargy had left us, and we were quite prepared to listen to the rest of the lesson.

For the achievement of anything in life, concentration is vital. So how do you improve your concentration?

Interest, of course, plays a large part. If you’re studying something in which you really have no interest, then concentration on that subject is well nigh impossible. You’ll be looking for excuses to duck out from under, as it were, and do other things.

First of all, you must make sure that, as far as possible, you’re free from distractions. If someone’s continually interrupting you, then concentration is impossible. Real concentration is a form of trance. You should be totally unaware of everything else around you, except the task at hand.

We use computers so much these days, that it’s tempting to suddenly break off from what we’re engaged in to check our E-mail. We checked it half an hour ago, but no matter. There might be something else that’s turned up.

There’s no doubt that concentration does require discipline. You make a point of checking your E-mail twice a day, at set times. The remainder of the day is spent on productive work, which will entail concentration.

After all, we used to survive perfectly well without E-mails, Twitters, Facebooks, etc. When you’re working, try to forget that they exist. Check them first before you start work, so that your curiosity is satisfied, and then forget them.

Mike Bond, and I hope I answered the question; ‘how do you improve your concentration?’ At least in part. There’s lots more on psychology on my website, as well as two excellent downloads. You can access them by clicking on The Hypnosis Attraction

We’ve already seen how important concentration is for achievement. It does require discipline and hand in hand with discipline goes practice. Practice, in the sense that you become used to starting work at a set time in the morning and finishing… when you finish!

Personally, I find it a good idea to prepare for the next day, so that I’m not dithering around, wondering whether I’ll do this first or that. I’ve made up a schedule and I do my best to stick to it.

So what are five ways to improve concentration and memory? Let’s list them.

1. Look To Your Comfort.

If you sit down to start work and suddenly realize you’re desperate to go to the toilet, concentration won’t stand much of a chance! So make sure you’ve ‘been,’ that you have a mug of coffee close by, that you’re not hungry… in short, that you’ll be unable to find any further excuse to leave your desk.

2. Clear The Routine Work.

Go through your E-mails, making notes of the more important ones you’ll deal with later. If you have to ‘tweet,’ or look on Facebook, do so, but don’t spend half the morning at it. Only go on these sites for business. Alternatively, schedule half an hour first thing every morning to surf these sites and any other site that interests you, so that you have a bit of enjoyment before you start work.

3. Move Into Concentration Mode!

You’ve had your fun, now it’s time to work. You know, or should know, what you have to do. So, focus on it. Here’s a little exercise that may help.

Think of someone you really admire. An athlete, perhaps, or a great musician or artist. Close your eyes and imagine for a few seconds that you’re them. Try to immerse yourself in their level of intense concentration, how they must feel just before the conductor’s baton comes down or the starting gun goes off. Slide your mind off them, open your eyes and you should be in good focus to begin your own work.

4. Tricks Of Recall.

The method of remembering through association helps a great deal. For instance. I’m sure you’ve heard of Socrates, who taught… Plato, who taught… Aristotle. Well, just imagine these giants of thought being pampered at a luxurious S P A… and there you have it! This method is known as ‘mnemonics.’ (The first ‘m’ is silent, as in ‘elbow!!’).

5. State For Ultimate Concentration.

When you’re trying to remember something, it helps if you’re in a similar state of mind when you were actually learning it. It’s known as ’state-bound recall.’ When trying to remember something, take a few seconds to recall how you felt and your physical surroundings when you actually learned the information.

Try these tips. Despite my odd flippant remark, they really do work

Mike Bond again, and I really hope these tips on the 5 ways to improve concentration and memory help you. There’s so much more to find on my website, especially the two downloads which you’ll find by simply clicking onto The Hypnosis Attraction

MODE of Cosmic Therapy: We Gravitate to How We Initially Vibrate

Childhood inner disciplinary dynamics continually play themselves out in our day to day lives, especially where romantic involvements are concerned. We are constantly ‘on guard’ either consciously or unconsciously, gauging our manner of speaking, acting and filtering our thoughts of tenuous strings through the corset of our most intimate relationships. We stand as a caustic regent on the thresh hold of our most pearlized cherished emotions, deprecating ourselves and the other, for not paying homage to them in the correct manner expected. We accept nothing less than the idolized perception of ‘what should be’ as we have jack hammered the illustrious opinions into our brain’s circuitry

‘The perfectly acceptable relationship standard’ is based upon a faulty premise, however. WE approach our relationships with an infiltrated barrier of commanding pre-exiting expectation. The thwarted anticipation saturates the union prior to unification of ideas. We have been somewhat damaged, in some way or another, simply by being on earth and engaging in this calibrated emotional ‘roller coaster’ journey. The carefree spontaneity and joyful playful spirit was haltingly tainted along the way due to no fault except that we previously (cosmically) asked to be able to experience human emotions at the deepest most horrendous level. In other words, we carried over, a specifically spoiled view of ‘how things were supposed to be.’

One does not have to believe in previous lives to ascribe to this ‘carrying accumulated garbage’ theory; the immediate family penetrative archetypal dynamics from this ONE life is proof enough. Of course, the radical idea that, in fact, no one has ever harmed us in any way nor have we been truly cheated, abused, abandoned, neglected, deserted, forsaken, isolated, or neglected to the point of irrefutable destruction is hard to swallow but none the less demonstrably relevant. We may have experienced the pain of these earth emotionally “what’s in it for me” driven experiences but the irresolute injury never occurred. We may have gone though the intolerable incalculable motions of appearing to lose our sense of self worth, esteem and motivation but not without the notary seal of our designated approval. Truth wounds but never destroys.

Circumstances which occurred when we were quite young ineradicably forged a groove in our brain circuitry which cast us on the ‘potter’s wheel’ of derisive firing. But, the friction, ‘bumps and lumps’ were implanted to produce an immaculate creation as a by-product of injurious spinning. In other words, the early environmental circumstances were perfectly prescribed which enabled us to survive, thrive, and dive into a life filled to overflowing relationships bounty. The result of our continued childhood experience being lived every day remains as repeated fresh cow manure used as fertilization.

We gravitate to the people we need to associate with. We vibrate to the person and/or persons who is/are carrying the delineated frequency our electrical brain’s nodules recognize as necessary. It is only by and through the superficial IDEAS attached; in the process of early parental defective interpretation do we experience deflation. Another word would be: bitterness. We have never been betrayed nor have we been deceived. No one has the definitive power to do so. It is absolutely impossible to be cheated in this life. The intricate pieces fall in the perfectly stimulated ridged cosmic design.In all actuality, the memories we reflect upon are no more real than the traumatic or exalted life affirming story we repeat convincingly.

We tell and re-tell these life stories in order to remain vigilant. We can’t possibly let our guard down for one second. “Something might take us unaware.” We create a craft-fully designed world of such grandeur or defeat (one being the same) so that we remain the victim or hero. Either way, we are always ‘looking out for our initial interest and warranted investment’. As long as we continue to deny this ‘untouchable sphere of mind generated reality’, we will prolong the amorphous experience of being suspicious, caustic, paranoid, bitter, resentful, untrusting, scared, unapproachable, desperate, remorseful and quick to judge. While at the same time, we’ll recognize and admit to nothing but the guileless generosity we think we possess and how it is being misrepresented and mal-aligned.

If we continue to believe that someone has cheated us out of something or denied us opportunity or of our rightful place, person or thing, we will continue to communicate poorly and ineffectually. When we feel we deserve more than we are receiving, our minds are cluttered with unending anxiety and despairing emptiness. The overall state of our health [along with our mental functioning faculties: stress, apprehension, insomnia, depression, high blood pressure, nervousness, inability to relax, and on and on and on] will surely suffer. Our relationships won’t even get a bull fighter’s chance since we will be too absorbed in the past to show up for our present involvements. We will be strewn with jealousy, envy, pride, and grievous gluttony.

NO one owes us anything; except that which we decided upon on the prior bargaining table of options. And, moreover we would be highly pissed IF another tried to offer us a ‘way out.’ We don’t want out, we want in: to the sacred sanctuary of our deepest motivations in understanding our relationships as the true mirrors of our undetected perpetrating selves. Why insult ourselves or the other by asking and receiving an unnecessary allowance of advantage in the relationship?

It can not be stated enough: when we place another in an elevated position, it causes him/her to be in an unnatural, awkward and uncomfortable position. No good can come from that surreal place. Elevation is impossible to regulate and maintain. The lofty unnatural arrangement makes it impossible for him/her to be able to communicate. And, when we place ourselves or the other in such an elevated so-called honorable spot, it is then ‘we’ who are the most vulnerable. How dare we be so transparently superfluous! Apt to be chained to flattery, praise and clothed in a ‘false cloak of goodness.’

The unfortunate result is that we both end up competing, comparing, and worst of all ‘performing.’ Beset with all manners of devious vexation; we fume. The conjured creature disguised under a cheap imitation of “who can shine the most” armor; easily will be tarnished, broken and discarded. This cloak of pretended goodness invariably hides any genuine good. Superficiality makes for an uneasy inconvenient and perverted way to interact in any relationship. Intimate interaction can not take place from afar.

In other words, we must bring the all the scraps to the table. No need to use the fine china to impress. Don’t show a polish face; show the mysteriously undisciplined unrevealed blemished face we are at the moment with all of our accumulated debris. Whatever THAT is, let it breathe and dance uninhibitedly. I guarantee the sublime radiance will astound. The enigmatic authenticity of the hour precedes us..Although the throne of romantic deceptive pretense lures; refuse to sit upon it. Be as unpretentiously assertive as is uncomfortable. We’ll get use to it; it’s in our genes.

I have a BS in Communication with a MA in Art Education currently pursuing a Ph.D in Educational Psychology. I am an Executive Cosmic Therapist, Sexual Psycho-analyst,artist, author,entertainer, motivational speaker,teacher, singer/songwriter, musician, composer, playwright,, professional astrologer, tarot consultant, Numerologist, poet and self-taught chef.

I am also the creator/ host of the entertainingly popular MODE Of Cosmic Therapy Hour television show. [Currently on air in Raleigh and Asheville North Carolina] In addition, I am the Founder/Director/C.E.O. of M.O.D.E International School of Esoteric Arts and Sciences

“I am really not only a man of practice whatsoever….
I’m practically nothing but a conquistador by temperament, an adventurer.”

(Sigmund Freud, letter to Fleiss, 1900)

“If you deliver forth that which can be in you, that which you produce forth will be your salvation”.

(The Gospel of Thomas)

“No, our practice is no illusion. But an illusion it would be to suppose that what science are not able to give us we are unable to get elsewhere.”

(Sigmund Freud, “The Long term of an Illusion”)

Harold Bloom called Freud “The central imagination of our age”. That psychoanalysis will not be a scientific concept within a strict, rigorous sense of this word has extended been established. However, most criticisms of Freud’s operate (with the likes of Karl Popper, Adolf Grunbaum, Havelock Ellis, Malcolm Macmillan, and Frederick Crews) pertain to his – long-debunked – scientific pretensions.

Nowadays it’s always widely accepted that psychoanalysis – even though some of its tenets are testable and, certainly, tend to be experimentally tried and invariably discovered to become false or uncorroborated – is really a program of ideas. It will be a cultural construct, along with a (advised) deconstruction of your human thoughts. Despite aspirations for the contrary, psychoanalysis is just not – and in no way have been – a value-neutral physics or dynamics with the psyche.

Freud also stands accused of generalizing his very own perversions and of reinterpreting his patients’ accounts of the memories to fit his preconceived notions of a unconscious. The train of psychoanalysis being a treatment have been castigated like a crude form of brainwashing in just cult-like settings.

Feminists criticize Freud for casting women inside part of “defective” (naturally castrated and inferior) men. Scholars of traditions expose the Victorian and middle-class roots of his theories about suppressed sexuality. Historians deride and decry his stifling authoritarianism and frequent and expedient conceptual reversals.

Freud himself would have attributed countless of these diatribes towards the defense mechanisms of his critics. Projection, resistance, and displacement do seem being playing a prominent role. Psychologists are taunted with the lack of rigor of the profession, by its literary and artistic qualities, through the dearth of empirical support for its assertions and fundaments, from the ambiguity of its terminology and ontology, through the derision of “proper” scientists with the “hard” disciplines, and from the limitations imposed by their experimental subjects (humans). These are precisely the shortcomings that they attribute to psychoanalysis.

Certainly, mental narratives – psychoanalysis 1st and foremost – are not “scientific theories” by any stretch with this much-bandied label. They may be also unlikely to actually become ones. Instead – like myths, religions, and ideologies – they’re organizing principles.

Psychological “theories” do not describe the globe. At ideal, they describe actuality and give it “true”, emotionally-resonant, heuristic and hermeneutic meaning. There’re much less concerned with predictive feats than with “healing” – the restoration of harmony amid persons and interior them.

Therapies – the useful applications of psychological “theories” – are much more worried with functionality, order, type, and ritual than with essence and replicable overall performance. The interaction between individual and therapist is a really microcosm of society, an encapsulation and reification of all other types of social intercourse. Granted, it will be further structured and relies on the entire body of knowledge gleaned from millions of similar encounters. Still, the therapeutic procedure is absolutely nothing a lot more than an insightful and informed dialog whose usefulness is well-attested to.

The two psychological and medical practices are creatures of the instances, children to the civilizations and societies where they were conceived, context-dependent and culture-bound. As this kind of, their validity and longevity are constantly suspect. The two hard-edged experts and thinkers inside the “softer” disciplines are influenced by modern values, mores, occasions, and interpellations.

The difference between “proper” practices of dynamics and psychodynamic theories is that the former asymptotically aspire to an objective “truth” “out there” – although the latter emerge and emanate from a kernel of inner, introspective, truth that’s instantly familiar and may be the bedrock of the speculations. Medical practices – as opposed to psychological “theories” – need to have, hence, to become tried, falsified, and modified because their truth isn’t self-contained.

Still, psychoanalysis was, when elaborated, a Kuhnian paradigm shift. It broke with the past totally and dramatically. It generated an inordinate amount of new, unsolved, issues. It advised new methodological processes for gathering empirical evidence (investigation techniques).

It had been based on observations (however scant and biased).

To put it differently, it absolutely was experimental in nature, not simply theoretical. It offered a framework of reference, a conceptual sphere after only which new suggestions formulated.

That it failed to generate a wealth of testable hypotheses and to account for discoveries in neurology doesn’t detract from its importance. The two relativity hypotheses had been and, currently, string theories are, in exactly the same position in relation to their topic matter, physics.

In 1963, Karl Jaspers created an essential distinction involving the medical activities of Erklaren and Verstehen. Erklaren is about discovering pairs of leads to and results. Verstehen is about grasping connections amongst occasions, occasionally intuitively and non-causally. Psychoanalysis is all about Verstehen, not about Erklaren. It will be a hypothetico-deductive approach for gleaning occasions inside a person’s life and creating insights concerning their connection to his present state of mind and functioning.

So, is psychoanalysis a research, pseudo-science, or sui generis?

Psychoanalysis can be described as field of analyze, not a concept. It is usually replete with neologisms and formalism but, like Quantum Mechanics, it has a variety of incompatible interpretations. It is actually, as a result, equivocal and self-contained (recursive). Psychoanalysis dictates which of its hypotheses are testable and what constitutes its very own falsification. To put it differently, it truly is a meta-theory: a concept about making practices in psychology.

Moreover, psychoanalysis the concept is generally perplexed with psychoanalysis the therapy. Conclusively proving that the therapy works doesn’t create the veridicality, the historicity, and even the usefulness for the conceptual edifice of one’s concept. Furthermore, therapeutic techniques evolve much more swiftly and significantly than the practices that ostensibly yield them. They may be self-modifying “moving targets” – not rigid and replicable processes and rituals.

Another obstacle in attempting to create the scientific value of psychoanalysis is its ambiguity. It really is unclear, for example, what in psychoanalysis qualify as causes – and what as their results.

Look at the essential construct of a unconscious. Is it the cause for – does it bring about – our behavior, conscious thoughts, and feelings? Does it produce them having a “ratio” (explanation)? Or are they mere signs or symptoms of inexorable underlying processes? Even these fundamental questions obtain no “dynamic” or “physical” treatment in classic (Freudian) psychoanalytic concept. So a lot for its pretensions being a medical endeavor.

Psychoanalysis is circumstantial and supported by epistemic accounts, beginning using the master himself. It appeals to one’s common sense and prior encounter. Its statements are of those forms: “given X, Y, and Z reported because of the affected individual – does not it stand to (everyday) cause that the triggered X?” or “We realize that B brings about M, that M is quite comparable to X, and that B is really comparable to some. Is not it reasonable to presume that a causes X?”.

In therapy, the individual later confirms these insights by feeling that they’re “right” and “correct”, that they are epiphanous and revelatory, which they possess retrodictive and predictive powers, and by reporting his reactions towards the therapist-interpreter. This acclamation seals the narrative’s probative worth being a fundamental (not to say primitive) type of explanation which offers a time frame, a coincident pattern, and sets of teleological aims, ideas and values.

Juan Rivera is appropriate that Freud’s statements about infantile life can not be proven, not even with a Gedankenexperimental movie camera, as Robert Vaelder advised. It is usually equally correct that the theory’s etiological statements are epidemiologically untestable, as Grunbaum repeatedly says. But these failures miss the point and aim of psychoanalysis: to offer an coordinating and extensive, non-tendentious, and persuasive narrative of human psychological improvement.

Ought to such a narrative be testable and falsifiable or else discarded (since the Logical Positivists insist)?

Depends if we desire to deal with it as discipline or as an art kind. This could be the circularity you get with the arguments against psychoanalysis. If Freud’s operate is regarded as for being the current equivalent of myth, religion, or literature – it need not be tried to get regarded “true” in your deepest sense in the term. Following all, how a great deal for the research for this 19th century has survived to this day anyhow?

Los Angeles Psychologist

Defending Psychology