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Julie Cohen is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist MFT and a Child Mental Health Specialist with a private practice in Los Angeles Her areas of focus include depression anxiety panic post-traumatic stress bipolar…
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A friend of mine sent me a link to this amazing article, "Saying Thanks To My Ghosts" written by Amy Tan. This article touched me both personally and professionally. It's about her coming to terms with a spiritual connection with her loved ones that have passed on. Whether or not you believe in ghosts, I would encourage you to read this moving story as we all can related to losing those we love and the desire to stay connected.
Personally, it reminds me of my grandmother and mother who have both passed on. More recently having lost my mother, I have felt her around me in profound ways and Ms Tan's article was truly validating.
As a therapist, it reminds me of clients that I have seen who experience auditory or visual hallucinations. Often clients may ask me if they "are crazy" or if they are actually seeing "visions." This is an interesting question as I have no actual "proof."
What I do have are two different hats that I wear; one professional and the other personal. It's difficult when those two hats cross but ever so important to keep them clear. I often tell my clients: "If I put on my therapist hat then what you are experiencing is considered psychotic symptoms. If those symptoms are bothering you or getting in the way of you living the life that you want to lead or if they are causing you to be unsafe I would recommend a psychiatric evaluation."
However, if the "hallucinations" are not causing harm and the client likes them and believes them to be visions then who am I to force them to change. I do not impose my own beliefs but at the same time I cannot discount a client's strong belief that what they see are visions with a spiritual tie versus psychotic symptoms. As a therapist and as a person I have learned over the years that there is so much more that I continue not to know and I enjoy that process tremendously.
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Displaying comments 9-1 of 9
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But if your ghosts are evil doers you need to terminate them..... seriously.
When I learned to say no, I became isolated as well.
All the rules I fought for years, I do not need to know any longer.
Off I go to read of Amy Tan's ghost/s..
Mary
in my 50's, i saw no reason for it and it took me years to find out that the source of their rage was the fact that i had been divorced several decades before from my first husband who left me penniless and proceeded to become a very rich man with his second wife. my father and mother were absolutely vitriolic, and they are gone. if they are hanging around that would be really scary. same for my inlaws. i was laughed at, called names,lost friends,etc.This did not occur at work,i was successful,or in community organizations , i was very active, or in my 2nd happy marriage. However every now and then i feel a dark entity. i pay no attention, have no visions,voices, just an occasional cloud. My firs husband is still alive.
he has never helped with my son and daughter who are more than adults. i am philosuophical about having done the hard work and he appointed the hero. Am i fully adjusted to this rather bizarre situation??
not quite. I have had 2 joints replaced and am due for another one in a few months. this from being hit by a car as a pedestrian. I am out of pain for the first time since the accident. I have lost friends over this. #1's 2nd wife was a celebrity, and passed away in 07. It is sometimes a cloud over my life but i cant explain the
feeling.Many people like to talk about it becauseof the celebrity factor. I feel as if it was not an 'accident" but dont choose to try to figure it out. Any comments???Murs
There is more than one way to be a therapist. Personally, if you were mine, I'd want your best self instead of your supposed-to-be-this-way-only therapist self and I'd want you to want my highest good. That mental block that folks with a lot of education get is why Christ chose fisherman for his disciples rather than the Phds of his time.