10th & 17 June - Therapeutic Implications of Idealism with guest Alexey Tolchinsky

Idealism dissolves the conceptual barrier between mind and body, and offers a rationale framework towards healing that is more integrative, compassionate and effective.

We have two sessions this month to explore this. After all, if the body is the image of our subconscious, mental health is physical health and visa versa.

"the physical world we perceive around us is the image of the activity of the collective ‘unconscious,’ environmental stressors like viruses, bacteria, exposure to the elements, nutrition, physical trauma, pollutants, drugs, etc., all obviously influence our bodily health. The problem is that this is the only avenue of influence that materialist medicine acknowledges. Therefore, it misses half of the problem and half of the avenues of healing....

The body isn’t merely a lump of matter fundamentally independent from, and outside, our psyche: it is the image of buried emotions, feelings, beliefs, cognitive processes and structures of consciousness that escape the field of our self-reflective awareness...

We have every logical reason – not to mention myriad empirical ones – to give ourselves rational permission to embrace and trust integrative medicine. It explores effective avenues of treatment that have been left untouched by mainstream materialist medicine."

As background, you might enjoy this short essay from Bernardo:

The case for integrative medicine

This is the homepage of philosopher and computer scientist Bernardo Kastrup, with links to his biography and most of his works.

Bernardo Kastrup

On the 10th of June, we are joined by Alexey Tolchinsky, Psy.D., clinical psychologist and Adjunct Professor at The George Washington University. He is a Clinical Fellow of the Neuropsychoanalysis Association and a member of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, the Maryland Psychological Association, and the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and Life Sciences.

As background, you might enjoy this email exchange and discussion with Michael Levin:

Forms of life, forms of mind | Dr. Michael Levin | If mind is everywhere, where are all the panpsychiatrists? A (neuro)psychiatry-focussed discussion

A discussion with a clinical psychologist and neuropsychiatrist about collective minds.

Forms of life, forms of mindJohn Shearing

As always, your comments and questions before the event are welcome, which will help shape the emerging dialogue.