"The genius of Tulku Urgyen was that he could point out the nature of mind with precision and matter-of-factness of teaching a person how to thread a needle and could get an ordinary meditator like me to recognize that consciousness is intrinsically free of self ... I came to Tulku Urgyen yearning for the experience of self-transcendence, and in a few minutes he showed me I had no self to transcend ... Tulku Urgyen simply handed me the ability to cut through the illusion of the self directly, even in ordinary states of consciousness.  This instruction was, without question, the most important thing I have ever been explicitly taught by another human being.  It has given me a way to escape the usual tides of psychological suffering - fear, anger, shame - in an instant. "

Sam Harris

Posts tagged with 'authenticity'

Interpersonal group work 2

22nd February 2010

See the earlier blog post "Interpersonal group work 1" for comments and handouts particularly orientated to pre-group assessment. It's usually time very well spent, orientating would-be participants to what interpersonal process groups are likely to involve. This both speeds up the time it takes new group members to start engaging …

emotions conflict assertiveness relationships group work friendship empathy compassion openness authenticity

Interpersonal group work 1

15th February 2010

Here are a set of handouts and questionnaires that I often use when I'm running interpersonal process groups. As the "Group therapy background information" leaflet (see below) comments: "Group therapy simply means that therapeutic work is done in groups rather than one-to-one. Many different types of therapy have been tried …

emotions assessment conflict assertiveness relationships group work friendship empathy compassion openness authenticity

Training in group facilitation

1st November 2009

I'm facilitating a group today on "Relationships & emotional intelligence". When explaining why someone might want to come to the group, the initial publicity leaflet reads "It's worth taking the time to look at our relationships because they are such a huge part of our lives. Past relationships deeply affect …

emotions psychotherapy relationships group work empathy openness authenticity

Self disclosure by health professionals

18th January 2009

Blogging about my mum's illness and my reactions to it led me to think again about self disclosure by health professionals. Our job is to be helpful for our clients - it's what we're about. Self disclosure by health professionals is a mixed bag. It can sometimes be helpful and …

psychotherapy therapeutic alliance personal sexual abuse doctors primary care self-disclosure openness authenticity