Active Pause

This recording is different from the other recordings in this podcast series. Instead of a conversation, it features Serge Prengel talking about polarization and the Relational Implicit. You can also read this as a text (below the audio player).

What happens when we get polarized? How can we avoid polarization to engage in more enriching discussions? I would like to share some thoughts based on an experiential exploration of polarization.

The experience I am drawing upon was not a polarized discussion. It was a collaborative endeavor: Remembering experiences of polarization to better understand them. I will be bringing up a contrast between this collaborative atmosphere and the circumstances under which we get more polarized.

The initial shift

The conversation started as an interview. The roles were clear. I was the interviewer, and Kirk Schneider was the person interviewed. We were going to talk about a topic he has thought about a lot and written a book about: “The Polarized Mind.” We didn’t go very far with the conventional interview portion. Soon after the beginning, we shifted the format of the conversation.

It started with my suggestion that we proceed carefully: We were not discussing a neutral topic, but one which could emotionally touch our audience. I disclosed that I could, at times, have a polarized mind. Kirk suggested that we explore the topic experientially. Effectively, we shifted roles, with him leading me through a process of experiential exploration. Before we went any further into this process, we established some rules for safety. All of this evolved organically.

When an interview takes place, some things are so evident that it is not necessary to state them explicitly. There are specific roles: the interviewer and the interviewee. The manner of the interview may vary, but both parties share the implicit assumptions. They constitute a stable framework for the interchange—I think about it as the Shared Implicit.

Through a process of attunement, we restructured our Shared Implicit. This involved paying attention to implicit clues and resulted in making the space safe and comfortable. This early step set the tone for the possibility of further expansion during the rest of the conversation.

Embodied Experience 

An experiential exploration means paying attention to the experience from inside, as opposed to talking about it as if it were outside. Exploring inner experience involves paying attention to body sensations.

Here is what came up for me as I was recollecting polarized interactions to access my inner experience of them. I noticed the tightening of my shoulders, a shallower breath, a sense of my spine folding in. All of this, subtly, not necessarily visible to an outside observer.

These physical sensations were not random. They were the result of my whole organism reacting to the situation. They were “bottom-up,” implicit reactions, as opposed to “top-down.” Through neuroscience findings, we are keenly aware that much of our functioning is at a “bottom-up,” implicit level. Somatic mindfulness involves being in touch with embodied experience, i.e., the Somatic Implicit.

As we stay present with our experience, a felt sense forms, which is the way we experience the Somatic Implicit. In this case, my felt sense of the experience came down to a simple handle: a sense of rigidity. Conversely, as I shifted away from polarization, the experience was a sense of fluidity.

Interestingly, Kirk had defined the polarized mind as a “fixation on a single point of view to the utter exclusion of competing points of view.” The bodily sense of rigidity, the opposite of fluidity, made this concept come to life. It was not an abstract idea, but a felt experience of the Somatic Implicit.

Tracking the Somatic Implicit

This conversation started with Serge Prengel interviewing Kirk Schneider. Very quickly, Kirk became the listener, guiding Serge into an experiential exploration of polarization.

We touched upon the personal and embodied impact of the polarized mind (or fixation on a single point of view to the utter exclusion of competing points of view), as well as some ways of depolarizing the mind (and body).

This interchange addresses the concepts of polarization and depolarization, as well as how one might work with them. It also hints at a larger perspective: how we might develop an inner democracy for the outer democracy to flourish. See also the essay related to this conversation, Polarized Mind & Relational Implicit.

Kirk J. Schneider, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and leading spokesperson for contemporary existential-humanistic psychology. Dr. Schneider is the current president of the Existential-Humanistic Institute (EHI), Council Member of the American Psychological Association (APA), past president (2015-2016) of the Society for Humanistic Psychology (Division 32) of the APA, recent past editor of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (2005-2012), and adjunct faculty member at Saybrook University and Teachers College, Columbia University. A Fellow of the APA, Dr. Schneider has published over 200 articles, interviews and chapters and has authored or edited 13 books including The Spirituality of Awe, The Polarized Mind, Awakening to Awe, The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology, Existential-Humanistic therapy, Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy, and the Wiley World Handbook of Existential Therapy. Dr. Schneider’s work has been featured in Scientific American, the New York Times, Psychology Today and many other health and psychology outlets. See his website.

Published February 2020.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Bill Epperly discusses his sources of inspiration and renewal as well as the role of vulnerability in awakened living. The conversation ends with a discussion of how to be an awake, mindful person in today’s chaotic, unbalanced world. Bill offers a practice that can help us remain grounded in the present moment during daily life.

Bill Epperly, Ph.D., is an intuitive spiritual guide, healer and coach who guides clients towards embodied awakening and post-awakening healing and integration. Bill has a BS in Biology and a Ph.D. in biochemistry as well as extensive formal training in contemplative Christianity and Zen Buddhism. He is a long-time student of integral spirituality and a Mentor in the Trillium Awakening community. During graduate school, Bill experienced an initial glimpse of non-dual consciousness that re-oriented his life towards spirituality. He works with people of all spiritual orientations, helping them find their unique paths to healing, awakening, and integration. He teaches mindfulness at DePaul University and offers workshops throughout the greater Chicago area. Bill is on the Board of Sacred Ground Chicago and Chicago Area Spiritual Directors. See website.

Published January 2020

In this conversation, Leslie Ellis talks about how working with dreams engages client and therapist in a co-creative process from which much can emerge.

Dr. Leslie Ellis is a teacher, author and psychotherapist. She is currently offering online dreamwork instruction based on her book, A Clinician’s Guide to Dream Therapy (publication date: August 2019). She also offers individual dreamwork sessions and training in somatic approaches to psychotherapy. Leslie has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and a Masters from Pacific Graduate Institute. She is vice president and a Certifying Coordinator with The International Focusing Institute. See her website.

Published January 2020.

In this conversation, which is part of a series on society issues, we explore Climate Change from a perspective informed by somatic psychotherapy.

Dr. Sharon Stanley has educated thousands of psychotherapists in Canada, the USA and Israel in the principles and practices of somatic psychotherapy.  Sharon has served on graduate level faculties including the University of Victoria and the Foundation for Human Enrichment, developing curriculum and teaching mental health professionals.  Building on her doctoral research on empathy with traumatized youth, Sharon founded Somatic Transformation, a trauma model and educational curriculum guiding practitioners in treating physiological, psychological and spiritual dynamics of relational trauma. Sharon’s work with indigenous people, the study of Afro-Brazilian healing practices and  phenomenological research has led to a convergence of neuroscience, somatic therapy and cross cultural wisdom to heal “soul wounds”.   Sharon has a private clinical practice on Bainbridge Island, Washington. See: Somatic-Transformation.org.

Published December 2019. See also conversation with Sharon Stanley about Somatic Transformation and conversation about what sustains her.

Carmen Joanne Ablack, President of the European Association for Body Psychotherapy (EABP) talks about the association as a polyphonic endeavor.

Carmen Joanne Ablack holds BA Hons in Psychology and Sociology, PG Diploma in Body Psychotherapy, and an MSc in Leading and Managing Health and Social Care (Advanced Professional Practice). She is an individual, group, couples and relationships psychotherapist, trainer and supervisor. She has published on clinical contemporary practice in Body Psychotherapy and Integrative Psychotherapy, intercultural communications, diversity dilemmas, trauma, access to the profession and regulation. Carmen is currently President of EABP. She is a former chair of Chiron Association for Body Psychotherapy and trained with the Chiron Centre for Body Psychotherapy; additionally she is a registered Gestalt Psychotherapist and Gestalt Group Psychotherapist. Carmen has particular interest in mental health, social responsibility and educational access. She was External Consultant to Pink Therapy (the UK’s largest independent therapy organisation working with gender and sexual diversity). Carmen is a member of the Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN) Leadership Group.  See website.

Published December 2019.

Loch Kelly talks about effortless mindfulness, and how he sees access to awakening as the next natural stage of human development.

Loch Kelly, M.Div., LCSW, is an author, meditation teacher, psychotherapist, and founder of the 501c3 non-profit, Open-Hearted Awareness Institute. Loch teaches in a non-sectarian human being lineage using an adult education style based in the earliest non-dual wisdom traditions, modern science and psychotherapy. He has collaborated with neuroscientists at Yale, UPenn and NYU in the study of how awareness training can enhance compassion and wellbeing. As a licensed psychotherapist, Loch has been teaching seminars, supervising clinicians and practicing awareness psychotherapy in NYC for 30 years. Loch is a graduate of Columbia University and Union Theological. He has studied with teachers from around the world. He served on the New York Insight Teachers Council, studied extensively with Mingyur Rinpoche, and was invited to teach direct realization by Adyashanti. His most recent book is The Way of Effortless Mindfulness: A Revolutionary Guide for Living an Awakened Life. See website.

Published December 2019.

In this conversation, David Mars Ph.D. gives us an experiential sense of AEDP for Couples. Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy for Couples is a cutting edge approach that combines affective neuroscience and attachment research into a love-inspiring way for couples and the therapists who treat them to find refreshing, healing and restorative ways to bring about lasting and naturally satisfying change.

David Mars, Ph.D., is the developer of AEDP For Couples. He has specialized in the somatically focused treatment of couples and groups for four decades, as an innovator in developing process-oriented, somatically focused couple treatment. David has trained, supervised and consulted with Dr. Diana Fosha, the originator of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy since 2005.

David develops and presents training seminars and workshops nationally and internationally that focus on the AEDP for Couples model. He is the lead supervisor of AEDP for Couples Core Trainings.  He is one of the founders of AEDP West. David is also on the adjunct faculty of the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco where he infused AEDP into his teaching of courses on the Clinical Relationship.  He is the author of many articles and papers on AEDP for Couples, which are available at cfttsite.com/CAMFT3.

Published November 2019. See also: Diana Fosha on AEDP.

In this talk, Edgardo Riveros Aedo gives a spontaneous demonstration of the kind of inner dialogue that makes it possible for something new to emerge.

The video is in Spanish. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, I suggest you look at it (at least part of it): It is a beautiful demonstration of the process of connecting to a bodily felt sense and learning from it. Notice the cadences of Edgardo’s speech and his connection to his body. While words are used and reflected upon, much of the process is nonverbal.

There are several options to make this accessible to people who don’t speak Spanish very well, or who don’t speak Spanish at all:

– If you understand some Spanish, and want to follow the original video in Spanish, there is a transcript that includes both the Spanish and an English translation. See: bilingual transcript.

– If you don’t understand Spanish and want to hear it in English, there is an audio recording in English (see below the video).

– There is also a PDF of the whole text in English. See English transcript.

Audio recording: The voice you hear in the recording, below, is not Edgardo Riveros Aedo. The translation (by Tomas Jimenes) is read by Serge Prengel. See also English transcript.

Edgardo Riveros Aedo, Experiential Psychotherapist, translated Eugene Gendlin’s Theory of Change of Personality (1973) into Spanish at the University of Chile. Published books: Experiencing: A new paradigm (2000), Focusing experiential and existential (2005), Focusing a new paradigm for the 21st century (2008), Focusing from the Heart and towards the Heart (2015). He has translated the two central philosophical works of Gendlin: Experience and the creation of meaning (ECM) and A Process Model. He is a psychotherapist in private practice, and teaches Focusing. He was appointed as Coordinator of Focusing for Chile by Eugene Gendlin. He founded the Continental Focusing School in Spanish in Santiago de Chile, offering a blended training system for all Spanish-speaking countries. www.ecfe.cl and www.focusingchile.cl . Currently, Edgardo is a member of the teaching team of the Weeklong (2017,2019,2020) where he has shown the experiential and philosophical dimension of Focusing as an attitude and a phenomenon for change.

Published November 2019

This is a continuation of the previous conversation with Lisa Dale Miller… but it can be listened to without listening to the first one. Here, we explore the experience of having a sense of connection.

Lisa Dale Miller, LMFT, LPCC, SEP is licensed to practice integrative psychotherapy in California, New York, and Oregon and is a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP). Lisa has been an outpatient clinician for the Veterans Administration San Jose, a teacher of Mindfulness-based Interventions and trains clinicians in the clinical applications of Buddhist psychology. She is a dharma teacher and has been a yogic and Buddhist meditation practitioner for over four decades. Lisa authored a highly-regarded scholarly, clinical textbook on Buddhist psychology for mental health professionals, Effortless Mindfulness: Genuine mental health through awakened presence. Her most recent project is the Groundless Ground Podcast. See her website.

Published October 2019.