MENTAL HEALTH IN EXCEEDINGLY CHALLENGING TIMES

As a clinical psychologist working in New York for the past 20 years, my life and practice was altered forever when I began to study Buddhism, mindfulness and meditation about 10 years ago.

What my exploration taught me is that it is my brain, and not outside events, that is the fundamental enemy of mental health and serenity. By fulfilling its evolutionary role as the ultimate ensurer of our survival, our own brains distort information in the form of creating a continuous stream of anxious thoughts, as a form of overkill designed to keep us safe, and a source of misinterpretation by millions of people.

A large part of mindfulness practice is the commitment to living in the now, as we can do nothing to change the past, and the future is always opaque. In the now we can truly live freely, untethered to myths of the past and fear of the future. The only time you live is now.

Mindfulness and meditation offers me, my patients and every living being, a path to good mental health, peace of mind and equanimity, especially in these stressful, challenging times. It’s all natural, medication-free, and has a heritage of success of 5,000 years.

The utilization of principles of mindfulness and meditation reminds us that we are not our mind. Especially during times like these, as we face the challenges of war, global warming, political unrest and social and financial insecurity. Living in the now is the
surest road to mental health and serenity, come what may.

Triumphs of Transformation: Inspiring Stories of Resilience and Life Change with James Colasurdo as a contributing author

HERE AND NOW THERAPY

Our lives become unmanageable when we feel we have been swept into a vortex of regrets and recriminations over our past and incessant worry about our future. Lost in all of it is attention to the only time we ever live: Now. Through many seminars, reading, and singular experiences I have made the leap to mindfulness and spirituality, and learned how to apply it effectively in psychotherapy. I am calling it Here and Now Psychotherapy, and I feel it can benefit you as it has me. When we learn how to focus on the now, our levels of anxiety and dysphoria automatically decrease dramatically, and we take care of simply what is right in front of us. I combine this working philosophy with years of training in psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioral therapies.

In addition, I have recently created a growing sub-specialty in helping men come with more frequency into psychotherapy. I grew up in a time when going to psychotherapy was considered “unmanly” by other men, and even some women. Times have certainly changed. Or have they? Men still seek out therapy at much lower rates than women, although there has been a slight upsurge recently. This is unfortunate as men across our city and country need the support of psychotherapy perhaps more than ever before. Changing roles and rules of masculinity, greater female presence in the workplace, and ever changing socioeconomic dynamics for men and men in families are just some of the reasons that men appear to need psychotherapy more than ever before. I still welcome female patients into my practice as ever before but I am trying to also encourage more men to come in. The enemy is not other people, but can be found deep within us, in our restless, ever-grasping brains. Come join me in the never-ending, utterly fascinating, and deeply rewarding search for peace of mind. The times, they are a-changing indeed.

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