introductory articles

home- meaning of depression

my story

my soul

quotes and notes

introductory articles

questions

articles by Peter Wilberg

links and bibliography

Am I Crazy? - An Address to Psychiatry

by Marianne Broug

It has always been extremely difficult for me to identify as a "mental health consumer". I never saw myself in that way at all and I assume that neither do most consumers. It always seemed obvious to me that we are all human and we ALL suffer. If people did take on a role as a "mentally ill person" it seemed to me that they were doing so because they could then have their suffering attended to. There are only very limited pathways in our society for our suffering to actually be heard. Throughout the years I simply wanted to know why I was suffering. Many people gave me techniques that they thought would help me, but ultimately it was never the technique that made any difference. Rather the technique often seemed to deny the legitimacy and the meaning of that suffering, or relegate it to the biological or the genetic. To label my suffering or to place it within a prescribed format, never solved anything for me. Rather I always felt it was a way that those in the helping professions could feel that they were doing something. What is it that really helps us to be whole? That is the question I ask in this article (addressed to psychiatrists, or indeed any helping professionals) and indeed what this entire web site is about.

No right to be "me"

by Marianne Broug

Are "they" just like you and me?

 by Marianne Broug

This short piece of writing asks the question, "Who are the 'mentally ill'?

New Perspectives on Mental Health - An Interview with Adelaide Mental Health Social Worker, Counsellor and self-described heretic Andrew Gara

by Marianne Broug

This is an interview with Andrew Gara that I completed in 2003. It is a down-to-earth and comprehensive introduction to understanding the work of Peter Wilberg, Seth and the basic tenets of this site. It covers many of the following points: Andrew's early experiences in the Mental Health field, the limitations of psychiatry, who we are as human beings, the importance of our relationship to ourselves and our inner being, resonation versus empathy, the reason why all therapies work some of the time, consciousness and awareness, the healing power of real relationship, the meaning of illness and pain, and the realities of change. 

Is this the human body?

.... or is this the human body?

Healing the Body

by Andrew Gara

So what is this thing we call the body? We all want to heal our bodies (or our minds) but how can we do this when we don't even know what our bodies actually are? Read this short article to find out the answer to all these questions!!  An excellent little introduction to many concepts that are on this site.
 

Gnosis - To Touch is to Know

by Andrew Gara

The concept of Gnosis or Inner Knowing is mentioned throughout this site. We all have those moments of deep Knowing - when we Know what we must do, or when we Know what we must say, or when we deeply Know another person. We cannot necessarily find words to describe this sort of Knowing, but we can certainly sense those times that we we are truly in touch with ourselves and with the world around us. We feel whole. We are listening to ourselves. And we can act as ourselves. But we can also feel the impact in our lives when we don't follow it and when we don't listen to ourselves before all else. We start to feel "not quite right", as though we are going down the wrong path or doing the wrong thing. Almost immediately now I can sense a tightening in my belly and a strange tension in my arms that tells me that at my own peril I am ignoring my Knowing.

by Andrew Gara

How does real and lasting change come about? Is it through a technique? ... cognitive behaviour therapy, psychoanalysis, NLP, Primal Therapy, Gestalt, Narrative ... the list goes on and on. Or is it actually what happens apart from that technique? The very stuff that happens between one human being and another? For many years I tried different therapies and techniques, and it is only in retrospect that I realise that it was the relationship itself that healed, not the technique, for if there was REAL relationship then I started to relate to my true self as well. I remember one particularly poignant moment. I had been seeing a psychoanalyst for a couple of years, and although I had times when I felt a little more solid, I was continually slipping back. On a particular day I was feeling very bad, and I pleaded with the psychoanalyst "... please help me ... please do something to help me ... " and in that moment she came over to me and simply held my hand. It was the only time she had ever touched me, and it was the only time that I had ever felt that she had truly heard ME. I remember very little of that period in my life, but I still remember that moment and remember the power of it. It was a moment of real connection.

This is a wonderful piece of writing from Andrew Gara. Very down-to-earth, but also speaks volumes in his ability to put into words the essence of twenty years helping people who are in dire straits and desperately suffering. Each chapter is in and of itself well worth reading, studying and contemplating.