... gestalt therapy growth group: live the questions now! ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

angel and bart, medical students of the u.p. college of medicine, drop by for a session on gestalt therapy.

one theme which we tackled today was about being at a crossroads in one's life and not knowing which direction to take.  

for those of you feeling confused, i would like to share with you this quote from the poetess maria rilke:  

"... have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves .... Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."  

- Maria Rilke, 1903, in Letters to a Young Poet

i hope maria rilke and i have inspired you a bit today.  God bless you all! :D 

... the GREAT Group: Support Group for Friends with Social Anxiety Disorder ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

what inspires me most about the GREAT group is that its members are dedicated to get out of their shells to pursue personal growth and attain their fullest human potential.  

established by mother hen chevlenz buena, the GREAT group meets occasionally to make new acquaintances, to deepen existing friendships, to share stories, to give encouragement to one another, to learn new ways of coping with stress and anxiety, and to have fun.

one of the rewards of the support group meetings is the camaraderie built through the growth activities.  to pixie, tonton, blessie, mimi, and giselle, til we meet again, God bless us all! :D    

... gestalt therapy growth group: sunog! sunog! ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical psychologist, psychiatrist, osteopath, quezon city, manila, philippines)

love nagpala and ronald miranda, both doctors-to-be from the u.p. college of medicine, dropped by for an experience of gestalt therapy.

the theme that emerged from today's growth activity was on "self-nurture and self-care."  many of the roles we play in life require us to take care of other people.  however, in putting the need of others ahead of ours, we place ourselves at the risk of burning out.  

what comes to my mind is this verse in the bible which says, "love others as you love yourself."  it is a verse that implies self-love as a pre-requisite for loving others.  we simply cannot give what we do not have.  and we cannot fully give what we ourselves are deficient in.  

just to put this "preaching" into practice, ronald and i decided to do cranio-sacral therapy on love nagpala, whose stream has run a little dry from helping others.  notice her delight as she gets recharged! :D

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: gumuho ang aking mundo habang namimili sa divisoria ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

when we least expect, our world sometimes just crumbles down on us, leaving us confused, disillusioned, angry, sad, or afraid.  

we may get emotionally knocked out for a while, but when we start coming to our senses, what else can we do but to slowly pick ourselves up, shake the dust off ourselves, take our shaky first steps, and get moving again.   

a world that's crumbled down only offers us the opportunity to create a new one- a world that's hopefully better, more joyful, and more meaningful.

here are friends from universidad de manila: 

kc santos, wats watanabe, berlin perales, marielle paraiso, and charmaine bilan.  

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: malaking ahas na nilulon ng arowana sa aquarium ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

student doctors from the u.p. college of medicine visited my place to get a taste of gestalt psychotherapy. 

we did an activity which generated a number of issues:


> we need to step up to the challenges of life. -(tonicci/ jayson)


> we need to ask for help when we feel afraid and helpless. -(julie)


> we may be harboring a seething anger within that seeks to destroy. -(nico)


> despite feeling small and vulnerable, we need to have a confidence that we can overcome the hurdles of life. -(patrick)

well, to cap off our meeting, we (Jayson Panganiban, Patrick See, Tonicci Paulino, and Julie Reyes) did some tuning fork therapy on Nico Rogelio to revitalize him after playing a very convincing portrayal of an angry slithering snake in our gestalt activity.

we all wondered how he ever learned to play that part so well! :D

... personality disorders in the philippines ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

today, anna maria, anelie samson, mia tabangcora, gemelyn paz, dgie santos, john carl gerez, sarah sepillo, ar-ar crawford -- all psychology students from new era university, and i had a discussion on personality disorders.  


people with personality disorders are stand-outs in a crowd because of their prominent traits.  in a way, just like cartoon characters, they are "caricatures"  because they have one fixed and exaggerated "style" in dealing with people and situations.  


check out the personality disorders below.  i'm sure you've encountered people with personality disorders.  in fact, before anyone else, first check yourself out.  you may have a personality disorder yourself!

o   The distrustful/suspicious type:  Paranoid personality disorder

o   The aloof introvert/loner type:  Schizoid personality disorder

o   The eccentric/odd type:  Schizotypal personality disorder

o   The sociopathic/unlawful type:  Antisocial personality disorder

o   The emotionally intense/unstable/unpredictable type:  Borderline personality disorder

o   The flamboyant/theatrical/seductive type:  Histrionic personality disorder

o   The conceited/egotistical type:  Narcissistic personality disorder

o   The perfectionist/overly-organized type:  Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

o   The extremely shy/socially-inept type:  Avoidant personality disorder

o   The clingy/insecure type:  Dependent personality disorder

o   The inefficient/overly laid-back type:  Passive-aggressive personality disorder

... GREAT (Growth and Recovery Enhancement for Anxious Thinkers): support group in the philippines for people with social anxiety/ phobia ...

GREAT: Growth and Recovery Enhancement for Anxious Thinkers

A group of brave souls who go out of their comfort zones in support of one another to break free from social anxiety and depression in the quest for a joyful and meaningful life.

Our Vision: A joyful and meaningful life

Our Mission: To support one another in order grow, evolve, and be empowered to break free from social anxiety and depression


Our GREAT Goals:

G - ood social interaction
R - ecovery from depression
E - nhancement of life’s growth
A - nxiety-free positive thoughts
T - ime-tested support for one another




Membership in this group is free but an essential requirement is that the member should willingly attend and actively participate in the group therapy sessions facilitated by a competent psychotherapist/life coach.



The group schedules therapy sessions at most twice a month, and each member attending gives donation for maintenance costs to our facilitator, the amount depending on the number of attendees and his capacity to contribute financially.

Activities for each session vary but mainly the group applies Gestalt therapy which is about the "here and now" experiential learning. Gestalt therapy emphasizes the importance of personal growth by working on one's unfinished business, and by being responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, choices, and actions. One's thoughts will be validated with what the group is actually thinking. The members are also challenged to do or experience the thing they fear. The group may also have healing sessions at times, like the facilitator may administer psychiatric acupuncture and may be teaching the group emotional freedom techniques (EFT) and how to perform reiki healing.

In between sessions, the group members continue to connect and support each other through the GREAT group page.

Website:

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f161/quezon-city-growth-and-recovery-enhancement-for-anxious-thinkers-great-137266/t.com/forum/f161/quezon-city-growth-and-recovery-enhancement-for-anxious-thinkers-great-137266/

E-mail address:

great711@groups.facebook.com
chevlenz@yahoo.com.

... Gestalt Therapy growth group activity: chopping up a snake and reviving a skeleton back to life ... (life coach, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

medical students from u.p. manila dropped by for a growth group activity experience. shown here with me are ralph mendoza, april lapuz, jean mendoza, and bryan mesina.

the activity entitled "chopping up a snake" revealed how intimate relationships can surface our insecurities and fears, make us feel vulnerable, and result in trust issues.

the activity entitled "reviving a skeleton back to life" revealed how past situations still get resurrected when they should really be buried for good.

i hope that ralph, april, jean, and bryan gained insights that can guide them well in their journey through life.

... growth group activity: swimming in a slimy pool with dead chickens floating ... (psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, philippines)

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growth group participants were college students from holy angel university, pampangga. there was abby, airee, camille, gretch, irma, joy, kim, krisan, patrick, and thea.

today's theme was again on parent-children relationships.

parents always have to be reminded that they either make or break their children. when parents have serious marital conflict, or when parents mistreat their children, or when parents are conflicted individuals, they inflict emotional wounds on their children which may scar them for life.

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one of the participants mentioned something that stuck to my mind: that the people we live with are sometimes the ones [emotionally] furthest away from us.

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what a challenge parents have in the rearing of their children!
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... growth group activity: the forest burns as the demon kills the fairy ... (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, life coach, philippines))

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today's growth group was composed of psychology students from san beda-- adam, arthur, chey, jico, karen, mark, and mayel.

. the topic was on dysfunctional parent-child relationships, particularly about children being raised by childish or immature parents.

. when parents are childish or immature, the children may model after their parents and grow up to be childish adults themselves.

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another possibility is for a role reversal to take place, wherein the children become more "adult" than their age and start acting like parents to their own parents. others call this the "adult child" syndrome.

. childish or immature parents inflict deep and long-term psychological damage on their children. as they get older, these children may need psychotherapy to undo the damage. in psychotherapy, they'll learn how to "reparent and nurture their inner child."

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hopefully, through psychotherapy, the "sins" of their parents won't get passed on to their children and the generations that follow.

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... growth group activity: don't let dead people pull you down from your floating pedicab ...

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the title of today's growth group activity sounds kind of gruesome, but its lesson is not.
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the activity offered the participants a simple reminder to live balanced lives.

. . clint puts it this way: "in pursuing our life goals, we don't need to give up our other interests. we just have to make sure that our other interests don't derail us from being on track."
.well, if daisy, joanne, justin, clint, and arnold ever get derailed from pursuing their medical/ nursing career, they certainly can turn to dancing as an alternative career! their hot dance moves are sure to make michael jackson (rock and) roll in his grave!
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... body-mind integration and body-centered psychotherapy in the philippines ... (psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, counselor, life coach)

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medical students from u.p. pgh got a first-hand experience of body-centered psychotherapy.

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body-centered psychotherapy is way of integrating the body, mind, and emotions. when the body, mind, and emotions are disintegrated or split from each other, emotional disturbances, psychosomatic illnesses, and medical problems result.

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the disintegration usually happens when negative emotions are suppressed, minimized, or denied. when emotions are not given an outlet for expression, the energy of the emotion gets trapped in the body thereby disturbing the body equilibrium. unexpressed anger, grief, guilt, and fear can cause hypertension, hyperacidity, irritable bowel syndrome, panic attacks, depression, asthma, acne, allergies, headaches, etc.

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body-centered psychotherapy is a wonderful way of befriending our bodies and releasing the emotions and memories trapped within. because this therapy is body-based, it can accomplish a level of healing which ordinary "talk therapies" cannot.

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the disposal of emotional baggage which had been trapped in the body creates fresh and fertile space for positive emotions to reside and flourish within the person.

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... gestalt therapy in the philippines ... (life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist)

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just to give you a brief and simple backgrounder on gestalt therapy, it is a type of psychotherapy which focuses on the "here and now." gestalt therapy emphasizes the importance of personal growth by working on one's unfinished business, and by being responsible for one's thoughts, feelings, choices, and actions.

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every so often, i facilitate gestalt therapy growth groups which always prove insightful and fun. below, you'll see dinj, june, bart, basha, and topher enjoying this type of growth-oriented psychotherapy.

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