Psychotherapy via Bellow in Seize the Day
The ending of Seize the Day is ironic and revealing about the theme of the entire novella. When Tommy Wilhelm inadvertently attends a funeral for a stranger, he begins to sob uncontrollably at the sight of the unknown corpse. It is a painful reminder of his own mortality and a cathartic release of emotion he has been building up over the downward spiraling course of his life. However, it is ironic because Tommy is the only one at the funeral who is expressing such emotion and it makes others in attendance believe he must have been very close to the deceased to be so devastated. In other words, no one is crying for the dead man, not even Tommy, but Tommy is crying for himself. This is not only irony but serves to underscore the entire theme of the novel-laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone. Instead of seizing the day and living in the here-and-now, Tommy is torn by anxiety over the future and regret over the past. Because of this, he believes he is in need of some kind of favor, or break, or sympathy. However, he comes to realize that, like the tears we often shed for ourselves, pity is often a personal exercise of self and seldom forthcoming from others. He recognizes this because he learns that from the perspective of others, he is the only one to blame for his repeated mistakes and his repeated failures. As he muses at one point when in need of sympathy, "And why, Wilhelm further asked, should he or anybody else pity me; or why should I be pitied sooner than another fellow? It is my childish mind that thinks people are ready to give it just because you need it" (Bellow 93). Tommy considers himself a failure because he has taken to heart...
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...isis helps him to accept the discomforts that come with being free and fully alive, and, as the novella ends, we can only hope from that moment on Tommy will begin to seize the day each day in the present as he strives to make something of himself in the here-and-now for the future, his own and others.
WORKS CITED
Bellow, S. Seize The Day. (9th printing). New York, The Viking Press, 1968.
Christy, M. Bellow's pleasure in imaginary states. Boston Globe Online. http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/nobel/1989/1989e.html, Nov. 15, 1989: 1-4.
Stein, H. T. and Edwards, M. E. Classical Adlerian theory and practice. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/hstein/theoprac.htm, Aug. 21, 1998: 1-19.
Stevenson, D. B. Freud's division of the mind. http://landow.stg.brown.edu/HTatBrown/freud/Division_of_Mind.html, Oct. 4, 1999: 1-2.
Every bomb that falls blossoms new hope in the heart’s of the Jews because it means that the possible idea of liberty may be turning into reality. Again, without the hope in this situation there would be no will to prevail. In another instance in the text, the words that are spoken “‘Perhaps the Russians will arrive before…’” (pg. 81) This situation takes place near the end of the book and is a very crucial part of understanding the hope throughout this memoir. Perhaps, is the key word in this specific example because it rings with hope, if you believe even in the slightest something good will happen, you will believe that it is possible, your actions will show your willingness to prevail. Not only does this show how hope makes the reality of surviving bearable, but it also shows how when hope is prevalent in a community, it is easier to be willing to prevail. There is good in having hope in the sense that it can make an ideal of surviving into more of a reality, therefore making it easier to prevail. Throughout Night there are many situations where this is very relevant and although it is very hard to look for the better times in a memoir like this, it is
When the war started, women had to take over the jobs of men and they learned to be independent. These women exemplified the beginning of change. Coupled with enfranchisement and the increased popularity of birth control, women experienced a new liberation. When the men returned from the war they found competition from the newly liberated woman who did not want to settle for making a home (Melman 17). This new class of women exercised a freedom that shocked society.
Psychotherapy integration is best explained as an attempt to look beyond and across the dimensions of a single therapy approach, to examine what one can learn from other perspectives, and how one’s client’s can benefit from various ways of administering therapy (Corey, 2013). Research has shown that a variety of treatments are equally effective when administered by therapist who believe in them and client’s that accept them (Corey, 2013). Therefore, one of the best aspects of utilizing an integrative approach is that, in most cases, if a therapist understands how and when to incorporate therapeutic interventions, they usually can’t go wrong. While integrating different approaches can be beneficial for the client, it is also important for the
Stein, H. T., & Edwards, E. M., (1998), Classical Adlerian Theory and Practice. Retrieved December 11, 2013 from www.aldlerian.us/theoprac.htm
Throughout the assigned portions of the Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes proves to be a "social contract" theorist, however inconsistently. Through his explanation of humanity extracting itself out of the state of Nature, by developing rules pertaining to property and contract, by means of the creation of a Sovereign, or Common Wealth, he clearly elucidates the basic concepts of social contract theory.
On July 8th, 1914 the way Women were perceived changed forever. July 8th, 1914 was the start of the Great War. The Great War was not only a vigorous combat fought for fours years, but it was a change in women’s history as well. World War One permitted Women to have the opportunity to labor alongside the men towards the nationwide aim of conquest and triumph. The War allowed the women to get rid of their home life and move into a more prominent role allowing them to change the way society looked at them. The war not only facilitated employment but it also facilitated Women’s Movements. Throughout the 19th and 20th century women pushed for the chance to redeem themselves within and unaccepting and cruel society. Women tried to participate and be involved as much as they possibly could because of the need for their rights. Astonishingly enough by the end of 1914 there was 5.09 million women out of the 23.8 million employed in the military commerce. World War I headed several substantial developments and improvements for women’s history.
Thomas Hobbes is now broadly viewed as one of a smaller group of truly extraordinary political thinkers, whose major work was the Leviathan rivals in meaning the political writings of Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Rawls. Hobbes is most known for his for his early and elaborate development of what has come to be known as “social contract theory”, the method of justifying political principles or arrangements by appeal to the agreement that would be made among suitably situated rational, free, and equal persons. He is most famous for using his theory on the social contract to submit that human beings should submit to an absolute—undivided and unlimited—sovereign power (Lloyd, 2014) Hobbes wanted to ascertain the clear values for the construction of a civil organization that would not be subject to destruction from within. Hobbes maintains the ideology that people should look at their government as having absolute authority, while arguing that the government has absolute power he reserves the idea that we have the liberty of disobeying some of our government's instructions. He argues that subjects retain a
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy which can be used to treat a wide range of mental health problems. Cognitive Therapy is an active, directive, time limited, structured approach used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders, for example depression, anxiety, phobias (Beck, 1967). It emerged as a rational amalgam of behavioural and cognitive theories of human behaviour and is based on the idea that our thoughts determine our behaviour and feelings (Kendall PC, 1979). On average a patient attends between 5 and 20 appointments with their therapist. (Blenkiron 2013)
The movie, Analyze This is a comedic drama that involves a mob leader Paul Vitti and a psychiatrist Ben Sobel. Paul the mob boss wants to seek a doctor, a Psychiatrist once he is told he is suffering from panic attacks and not a heart attack. Jelly, Paul’s bodyguard refers him to Ben who has a private practice. Ben is portrayed as treating patients with psychoanalysis, which is better suited for clinical psychologist, rather than a psychiatrist. Moreover, psychotherapy, best fitted for anxiety disorders is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which Ben offers to him. However, Ben is manipulated into treating him. As Ben and his fiancée are about to get married, Paul won’t take “NO” for an answer and harasses the couple the whole time while
Norberg, Johan. "The Scientist’s Pursuit of Happiness.” Policy 21.3 (2005): 9-13. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 20 July 2011.
What will be the goals of counseling and what intervention strategies are used to accomplish those goals?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, uses a combination of cognitive and behavioral interventions such as focusing on the content of worry using verbal challenging focuses( ). The Exposure & Response Prevention (ERP) approach, uses the ‘Fear-extinction learning’ to help individuals become desensitized to their overwhelming emotions (Harley & Casey, 2013).
World War 1 had a massive effect on women in society. Their lives drastically changed in a short amount of time. In fact with this change came plenty of responsibility, and a great deal of both physically and psychologically demanding work. This responsibility is what made women more confident and self-satisfied, which later on led them to fight harder for their rights.
ABSTRACT: Spinoza's philosophy has a practical aim. The Ethics can be interpreted as a guide to a happy, intellectually flourishing life. Spinoza gives us principles about how to guard against the power of passions which prevent the mind from attaining understanding. In what follows, I consider Spinoza's techniques for guarding against the passions by turning to Jonathan Bennett's criticisms of Spinozistic psychotherapy. Bennett finds three central techniques for freeing oneself from the passions: (i) reflecting on determinism; (ii) separating and joining; and (iii) turning passions into actions. Bennett believes that all of these techniques are in some sense flawed. I contend that Bennett offers good criticism against technique (i), but his criticisms against (ii) and (iii) are unfounded.
Gertner, Jon. “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness”. The New York Times 7 September .2003. Print.