Recognizing Emotional Baggage

Therapists Teach How to Recognize When Past Emotions Interfer with the Present

Mon May 12, 2008 | 03:10pm
Therapist David Richo

When: Saturday, May 17, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Where: Thornton Auditorium, Wake Center, 300 N. Turnpike Rd.

Cost: FREE

The Lowdown:

“While the future’s there for anyone to change

Still you know it seems

It would be easier sometimes

To change the past.”

– Jackson Browne, Fountain of Sorrow

Have you ever noticed the way we humans seem compelled to replay the past over and over again in our minds? Even the painful bits. You’d think going through something distressful one time would be enough, and that we’d want to move on and leave the bad stuff behind. But too often we’re subject to a phenomenon called “transference,” when the unconscious casts the new people we meet in the roles of past friends, enemies, parents, partners, bosses, co-workers, and even strangers. It’s like we create our lives by remaking the same old movie again and again with new actors in the same familiar roles.

If you’ve ever said to yourself, “Why does this same thing always seem to happen to me?” you’ll want to check out “When Past is Present,” a day-long conference with four highly-respected therapists, at the Wake Center this coming Saturday.

Dr. David Richo, Spencer Sherman, Ph.D, Judith Brown, Ph.D, MFT, and Rae Johnson, Ph.D., RMST, RSW will explain how and why we transfer feelings, needs, expectations, defenses, fantasies, beliefs, and attitudes, and what that transference tells us about ourselves. They’ll also teach us how to notice clues that reveal the extent to which the past is present in our current relationships, psychologically, spiritually, and physically.

More like this

Exit mobile version