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Welcome to my Therapy blog. I am Phillip Wister MFT(Marriage Family Therapist), licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the State of California to practice Therapy for families and individuals in the context of their relationships. These are my musings about the process of Therapy in the real world.

I could start out with a rant about the BIG concerns of the day, National Health Care, Managed Care, Mental Health Budgets, etc., but I will not. Instead I will begin with a story that I tell clients when they are skeptical about participating in Therapy or wonder why they have to come see a stranger to talk about their feelings. This has helped some of my clients get comfortable with me as a stranger in their life.

In the good old days, back when we culturally lived in a feudal, agrarian society, we were born, lived, and died within 20 miles of the land we were born to. We were much more simple in our social structure. We had no education. The education we did get was on Sunday, delivered by the Priest or later Pastor(Professing the word of God, or Professor). We had no livelihood. Our work and sustenance were provided by the sovereign and the land He owned. We had one religion, social rules were simple and we all knew them. This was the Social Contract for a thousand years.

We knew everyone around us intimately. We grew up with them. We worked with them. We learned the same things on sunday. We knew when their Parents beat them, when they first got drunk, when they first had sex and with whom, and their life tragedies.

We knew them intimately so much so that there really were no Secrets. The consequence of this was we could talk to many of the people around us about how we felt, what our problems were and get it off our chest. It was a built in way of socially off-loading our emotional stress. If we did anything really horrendous, we could go talk to the priest and confess, but everyone knew because they were their sharing our experience with us. It was a pretty stable system from a psychological stand point. We did not need counselors. They were built in as our next door neighbors and cousins. We would never share our lives with strangers, usually people from the next village.

Today, we have much more stress. We move so much we do not remember where we are from. We are educated and therefore think we know better and can handle things ourselves. Few of us have a core group of people that we grew up with, whether or not we trust them. Religion has splintered, social structure has become very fluid and we do not even know our neighbors. If everyone around me does not share a common upbringing or intimacy of life experience, then I have a need to seek out an outlet for the emotions I do not understand.

We have found the need for counselors and built a professional class of people in our society that provide this emotional safety and intimacy that we once had garnered in our traditional communities. Therapists provide that emotional safety valve that once was structured into the social network to off-load the life stressors that we all face.

This is my idea of the rise of the modern role of Therapist. That is how we became the modern day Elders

Welcome to my Therapy blog. I am Phillip Wister MFT(Marriage Family Therapist), licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the State of California to practice Therapy for families and individuals in the context of their relationships. These are my musings about the process of Therapy in the real world.

I could start out with a rant about the BIG concerns of the day, National Health Care, Managed Care, Mental Health Budgets, etc., but I will not. Instead I will begin with a story that I tell clients when they are skeptical about participating in Therapy or wonder why they have to come see a stranger to talk about their feelings. This has helped some of my clients get comfortable with me as a stranger in their life.

In the good old days, back when we culturally lived in a feudal, agrarian society, we were born, lived, and died within 20 miles of the land we were born to. We were much more simple in our social structure. We had no education. The education we did get was on Sunday, delivered by the Priest or later Pastor(Professing the word of God, or Professor). We had no livelihood. Our work and sustenance were provided by the sovereign and the land He owned. We had one religion, social rules were simple and we all knew them. This was the Social Contract for a thousand years.

We knew everyone around us intimately. We grew up with them. We worked with them. We learned the same things on sunday. We knew when their Parents beat them, when they first got drunk, when they first had sex and with whom, and their life tragedies.

We knew them intimately so much so that there really were no Secrets. The consequence of this was we could talk to many of the people around us about how we felt, what our problems were and get it off our chest. It was a built in way of socially off-loading our emotional stress. If we did anything really horrendous, we could go talk to the priest and confess, but everyone knew because they were their sharing our experience with us. It was a pretty stable system from a psychological stand point. We did not need counselors. They were built in as our next door neighbors and cousins. We would never share our lives with strangers, usually people from the next village.

Today, we have much more stress. We move so much we do not remember where we are from. We are educated and therefore think we know better and can handle things ourselves. Few of us have a core group of people that we grew up with, whether or not we trust them. Religion has splintered, social structure has become very fluid and we do not even know our neighbors. If everyone around me does not share a common upbringing or intimacy of life experience, then I have a need to seek out an outlet for the emotions I do not understand.

We have found the need for counselors and built a professional class of people in our society that provide this emotional safety and intimacy that we once had garnered in our traditional communities. Therapists provide that emotional safety valve that once was structured into the social network to off-load the life stressors that we all face.

This is my idea of the rise of the modern role of Therapist.

Welcome to my Therapy blog. I am Phillip Wister MFT(Marriage Family Therapist), licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the State of California to practice Therapy for families and individuals in the context of their relationships. These are my musings about the process of Therapy in the real world.

I could start out with a rant about the BIG concerns of the day, National Health Care, Managed Care, Mental Health Budgets, etc., but I will not. Instead I will begin with a story that I tell clients when they are skeptical about participating in Therapy or wonder why they have to come see a stranger to talk about their feelings. This has helped some of my clients get comfortable with me as a stranger in their life.

In the good old days, back when we culturally lived in a feudal, agrarian society, we were born, lived, and died within 20 miles of the land we were born to. We were much more simple in our social structure. We had no education. The education we did get was on Sunday, delivered by the Priest or later Pastor(Professing the word of God, or Professor). We had no livelihood. Our work and sustenance were provided by the sovereign and the land He owned. We had one religion, social rules were simple and we all knew them. This was the Social Contract for a thousand years.

We knew everyone around us intimately. We grew up with them. We worked with them. We learned the same things on sunday. We knew when their Parents beat them, when they first got drunk, when they first had sex and with whom, and their life tragedies.

We knew them intimately so much so that there really were no Secrets. The consequence of this was we could talk to many of the people around us about how we felt, what our problems were and get it off our chest. It was a built in way of socially off-loading our emotional stress. If we did anything really horrendous, we could go talk to the priest and confess, but everyone knew because they were their sharing our experience with us. It was a pretty stable system from a psychological stand point. We did not need counselors. They were built in as our next door neighbors and cousins. We would never share our lives with strangers, usually people from the next village.

Today, we have much more stress. We move so much we do not remember where we are from. We are educated and therefore think we know better and can handle things ourselves. Few of us have a core group of people that we grew up with, whether or not we trust them. Religion has splintered, social structure has become very fluid and we do not even know our neighbors. If everyone around me does not share a common upbringing or intimacy of life experience, then I have a need to seek out an outlet for the emotions I do not understand.

We have found the need for counselors and built a professional class of people in our society that provide this emotional safety and intimacy that we once had garnered in our traditional communities. Therapists provide that emotional safety valve that once was structured into the social network to off-load the life stressors that we all face.

This is my idea of the rise of the modern role of Therapist.

Welcome to my Therapy blog. I am Phillip Wister MFT(Marriage Family Therapist), licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the State of California to practice Therapy for families and individuals in the context of their relationships. These are my musings about the process of Therapy in the real world.

I could start out with a rant about the BIG concerns of the day, National Health Care, Managed Care, Mental Health Budgets, etc., but I will not. Instead I will begin with a story that I tell clients when they are skeptical about participating in Therapy or wonder why they have to come see a stranger to talk about their feelings. This has helped some of my clients get comfortable with me as a stranger in their life.

In the good old days, back when we culturally lived in a feudal, agrarian society, we were born, lived, and died within 20 miles of the land we were born to. We were much more simple in our social structure. We had no education. The education we did get was on Sunday, delivered by the Priest or later Pastor(Professing the word of God, or Professor). We had no livelihood. Our work and sustenance were provided by the sovereign and the land He owned. We had one religion, social rules were simple and we all knew them. This was the Social Contract for a thousand years.

We knew everyone around us intimately. We grew up with them. We worked with them. We learned the same things on sunday. We knew when their Parents beat them, when they first got drunk, when they first had sex and with whom, and their life tragedies.

We knew them intimately so much so that there really were no Secrets. The consequence of this was we could talk to many of the people around us about how we felt, what our problems were and get it off our chest. It was a built in way of socially off-loading our emotional stress. If we did anything really horrendous, we could go talk to the priest and confess, but everyone knew because they were their sharing our experience with us. It was a pretty stable system from a psychological stand point. We did not need counselors. They were built in as our next door neighbors and cousins. We would never share our lives with strangers, usually people from the next village.

Today, we have much more stress. We move so much we do not remember where we are from. We are educated and therefore think we know better and can handle things ourselves. Few of us have a core group of people that we grew up with, whether or not we trust them. Religion has splintered, social structure has become very fluid and we do not even know our neighbors. If everyone around me does not share a common upbringing or intimacy of life experience, then I have a need to seek out an outlet for the emotions I do not understand.

We have found the need for counselors and built a professional class of people in our society that provide this emotional safety and intimacy that we once had garnered in our traditional communities. Therapists provide that emotional safety valve that once was structured into the social network to off-load the life stressors that we all face.

This is my idea of the rise of the modern role of Therapist. We have become the modern day Elders or Shaman of the Tribe.

Welcome to my Therapy blog. I am Phillip Wister MFT(Marriage Family Therapist), licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the State of California to practice Therapy for families and individuals in the context of their relationships. These are my musings about the process of Therapy in the real world.

I could start out with a rant about the BIG concerns of the day, National Health Care, Managed Care, Mental Health Budgets, etc., but I will not. Instead I will begin with a story that I tell clients when they are skeptical about participating in Therapy or wonder why they have to come see a stranger to talk about their feelings. This has helped some of my clients get comfortable with me as a stranger in their life.

In the good old days, back when we culturally lived in a feudal, agrarian society, we were born, lived, and died within 20 miles of the land we were born to. We were much more simple in our social structure. We had no education. The education we did get was on Sunday, delivered by the Priest or later Pastor(Professing the word of God, or Professor). We had no livelihood. Our work and sustenance were provided by the sovereign and the land He owned. We had one religion, social rules were simple and we all knew them. This was the Social Contract for a thousand years.

We knew everyone around us intimately. We grew up with them. We worked with them. We learned the same things on sunday. We knew when their Parents beat them, when they first got drunk, when they first had sex and with whom, and their life tragedies.

We knew them intimately so much so that there really were no Secrets. The consequence of this was we could talk to many of the people around us about how we felt, what our problems were and get it off our chest. It was a built in way of socially off-loading our emotional stress. If we did anything really horrendous, we could go talk to the priest and confess, but everyone knew because they were their sharing our experience with us. It was a pretty stable system from a psychological stand point. We did not need counselors. They were built in as our next door neighbors and cousins. We would never share our lives with strangers, usually people from the next village.

Today, we have much more stress. We move so much we do not remember where we are from. We are educated and therefore think we know better and can handle things ourselves. Few of us have a core group of people that we grew up with, whether or not we trust them. Religion has splintered, social structure has become very fluid and we do not even know our neighbors. If everyone around me does not share a common upbringing or intimacy of life experience, then I have a need to seek out an outlet for the emotions I do not understand.

We have found the need for counselors and built a professional class of people in our society that provide this emotional safety and intimacy that we once had garnered in our traditional communities. Therapists provide that emotional safety valve that once was structured into the social network to off-load the life stressors that we all face.

This is my idea of the rise of the modern role of Therapist. This is how we became the modern day Elders or Shaman of the Tribe.

Welcome to my Therapy blog. I am Phillip Wister MFT(Marriage Family Therapist), licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences in the State of California to practice Therapy for families and individuals in the context of their relationships. These are my musings about the process of Therapy in the real world.

I could start out with a rant about the BIG concerns of the day, National Health Care, Managed Care, Mental Health Budgets, etc., but I will not. Instead I will begin with a story that I tell clients when they are skeptical about participating in Therapy or wonder why they have to come see a stranger to talk about their feelings. This has helped some of my clients get comfortable with me as a stranger in their life.

In the good old days, back when we culturally lived in a feudal, agrarian society, we were born, lived, and died within 20 miles of the land we were born to. We were much more simple in our social structure. We had no education. The education we did get was on Sunday, delivered by the Priest or later Pastor(Professing the word of God, or Professor). We had no livelihood. Our work and sustenance were provided by the sovereign and the land He owned. We had one religion, social rules were simple and we all knew them. This was the Social Contract for a thousand years.

We knew everyone around us intimately. We grew up with them. We worked with them. We learned the same things on sunday. We knew when their Parents beat them, when they first got drunk, when they first had sex and with whom, and their life tragedies.

We knew them intimately so much so that there really were no Secrets. The consequence of this was we could talk to many of the people around us about how we felt, what our problems were and get it off our chest. It was a built in way of socially off-loading our emotional stress. If we did anything really horrendous, we could go talk to the priest and confess, but everyone knew because they were their sharing our experience with us. It was a pretty stable system from a psychological stand point. We did not need counselors. They were built in as our next door neighbors and cousins. We would never share our lives with strangers, usually people from the next village.

Today, we have much more stress. We move so much we do not remember where we are from. We are educated and therefore think we know better and can handle things ourselves. Few of us have a core group of people that we grew up with, whether or not we trust them. Religion has splintered, social structure has become very fluid and we do not even know our neighbors. If everyone around me does not share a common upbringing or intimacy of life experience, then I have a need to seek out an outlet for the emotions I do not understand.

We have found the need for counselors and built a professional class of people in our society that provide this emotional safety and intimacy that we once had garnered in our traditional communities. Therapists provide that emotional safety valve that once was structured into the social network to off-load the life stressors that we all face.

This is my idea of the rise of the modern role of Therapist. This is how we became the modern day Elders or Shaman of the Tribe.