1. Alan has completed the new Pain Recovery Program. To read or share it, use this updated link: https://www.tmswiki.org/forum/painrecovery/
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March 2nd Discussion Group

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by Forest, Feb 27, 2013.

  1. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    Hi all,

    Once again, Saturday’s discussion was really interesting and engaging, even though we didn't end up discussing Pathways to Pain Relief. It was great to have some new people join us for the discussion, as well as some regulars. We did not record the discussion last week, but this week I do intend to. For this Saturday’s discussion, we will be looking at two case histories (Liam and Abner) described in Dr. Eric Sherman’s portion of Pathways to Pain Relief. Dr. Sarno also discussed these two cases in The Divided Mind, so if you haven’t read any of Pathways but do have a copy of The Divided Mind, feel free to read Liam’s story and Abner’s story there.

    Of course, anyone is always welcome to join the discussion, regardless of whether they have done the reading or not.

    For connection details, go to the new Wiki page, Saturday TMS Book Discussion Group.

    I hope to see you all there!

    Best,
    Forest
     
  2. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    In case anyone is curious, turns out the story of Liam (which was mentioned above) was also presented by Dr. sherman at the NYU Conference this past fall. You can watch the video of his presentation in the TMS Conference Presentations thread. Jump ahead to 1:16:25 (in the first video) to get to the part where he talks about Liam, and his reaction to watching the 1979 film The Great Santini starring Robert Duvall. In describing Liam’s reaction, Dr. Sherman says,

    "During one session, Liam reported developing excruciating pain while watching the movie, The Great Santini. … Liam used his pain as a signal to drive his introspection. He described how feelings of anger toward his own father surged inside of him as he watched Santini abuse his sons. Liam added that a decent person could never harbor such hatred toward his own father. The inextricable connection between emotional experiences and physical sensations is constantly highlighted and the individual becomes adept at utilizing his knowledge about this relationship as a tool to resolve his own pain symptomatology."​

    I tracked down the video, and I thought it was awesome. Robert Duvall’s character, Bull Meechum, is a no excuses, must win, failure is not an option, father who has several very intense interactions with his family throughout the film. Below is one such clip where the father has a not so friendly game of basketball with his son. Can anyone else relate to it?

     
  3. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    I think part of the reason why The Great Santini was so powerful was that it was based on it's author's own childhood. Everything, from the physical abuse, to the confrontation, to the emotional fallout seems to have been taken from Pat Conroy's life. In fact, Pat Conroy's dad, has his own Wikipedia entry for his military service and his role in inspiring the main character of the movie. In some sense, we have three interrelated stories to discuss today (Saturday): Liam's, The Great Santini, and Pat Conroy's.

    The following exercepts from a 2009 article on military.com describe the impact of Pat Conroy's childhood on his life:
    While there is no doubt that the past is still with him, it's inspiring how he has been able to find joy nonetheless. When Alan Gordon and others talk about the inner bully, the sense I get is that those bullying internal voices never go away completely. But one can get one's life back, find joy and savor the simple pleasures of chilled cucumber soup with dill. :)

    Sounds pretty tasty...
     

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