Welcome to my second biography with Friesen Press!

This is a story of an amazing man, a man of both renown and mystery in his time. William Madison Wood is a name known only to few today, yet his personal advancement and industrial accomplishments were ahead of many in the era of Gilded wealth and ordained leadership. His was a story of rags-to-riches with a bitter twist, a story of success and prosperity and defeat and despair. Why was this ingenious industrialist lost to history? Why is his name all but erased from memory? Read on and learn about his background, his career, and his personal struggles to find meaning and purpose in life.  You may see a bit of today in this story of yesterday, a bit worth remembering as each of us seeks our own meaning and purpose in life. Enjoy and reflect!
Dr. Bob 

Although it's still a bit early to certify ourselves as "after Covid," it's not too early to make effort to adjust ourselves as this life changes. Through no fault of our own, the health crisis has been thrust upon us. yes, as humans, we could have done more to curb the intensity and wright of this disease, but we cannot now undo the past, or take "a do over."
What we can do now, though, is:
1) Be as careful and considerate as we can to protect and safeguard ourselves from further illness: wear masks, as appropriate and recommended, wash our hands, use care with distance or closeness to others, and get vaccinated.
2) Give our self time to rest, relax, breathe on a routine basis. This will rejuvenate us, replenish our resources, help us be in-the-moment in a less pressed or strained fashion.
3) Maintain or develop relationships, so as not to be lonely or isolated.
4) Keep our stress levels within a healthy tolerance and know when we are getting outside the boundaries of what's good for us.
5) Engage in meaningful activity.
6) Act lovingly with your self and others.
7) Seek help when needed - for physical, social, psychological, or spiritual problems.
8) Work on developing good character
9) enjoy a hobby, recreational activity, vacation (as able and appropriate), interest.
10) practice good sleep and good dreaming (this may sound strange, but it's totally achievable and helpful.
11) And, above all, seek to view life each day as a "gift," viewing your self and others also as "gifts."
TAKE CARE OF YOUR PRECIOUS SELF!

Dr. Bob

"Who we are," our unique identity, is a complex combination of many things, some of which I mention here. Identity includes our physical body in all its glory and imperfection, the "form" we take in this world, what we see when we look in the mirror or when someone looks at us. It includes our genes and body chemistry and our health, what we inherit and of which we are composed. Who we are also includes our personality- emotions, mind, disposition, behavior, etc. It includes our cultural background and the influence of our environment, social group, family. Am I Italian? Am I Russian? Jewish? French Canadian? Mixed? Only child? Adopted? Gifted? We give these features of us names, some nice, some not so nice. Our social personality is included- extroverted? introverted? reserved? forward? friendly? hostile? taking? giving? Identity also includes our spirituality- our beliefs, values, tradition, life goals, dreams, philosophy for life, view of life, death, afterlife, relationship with "inner self"/soul and that which is beyond the self-universe/All/Spirit. There is so very much to think about when we consider who we are and we never seem to know it all, although some think they do. Each of us live our life, one might say, as a journey of discovery. We seek to discover more about who we are and, therefore, become better able to work to perfect our self. The more we know about our self, the less we are afraid to look, know and understand, the greater we may become "me...I...my self...who I am...MY UNIQUE IDENTITY. How great of a gift of life we may find if we seek to become our self. Maybe, in taking this journey, we will better see the gift of others, too.                                          Dr. Bob

Each year we begin a new time in our life, one that most of us, I suspect, take for granted. We say or think, "it's just another day...just another year, nothing new, no big deal." Life moves on and it does. Why is it that it takes a crisis, a major life event, a loss, a deeply felt hurt to bring to our attention the fact that "each moment counts, each day is a unique invitation to be the most and best we may be."

Think of your own life for a moment. No, don't just think about the wrongs, the mistakes, the failing, what doesn't or hasn't worked, what was done to hurt you. Think of the gift that you are. Think of the fact that you came into this world as a unique being whose only task was to become you, with all the potential and talent (be it hidden or obvious), all thethings you may give to others apart from what others may give, etc. Think of the positive things about you. Having trouble doing this? Don't fall prey to thinking about only the negative. Don't fall prey to thinking that if you can't think of the positive, it is not there. It's not true. It's likely hidden to you. PSYCHOTHERAPY helps uncover, find, understand, and even remove the obstacles to seeing the positive in your self and in life. SEEK THE REAL YOU AND BE HAPPY - HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY 2019!
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Veterans Day is officially celebrated to represent the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the guns of both sides of the Great War fell silent.
Horror, destruction and the seemingly needless loss of human life came to a halt. While it essy to see the ugly, harmful, craziness of war, it is often even easier for us to ignore our civilian and universal connection as humans to it. Yes, how easy it is to say it is “they,” not us who are responsible for the killing, destruction, pain, suffering. “We,” on the other hand, are innocent, clean, not a part of it, free to criticism “them.” “They” are often asked and brought to guilt or shame, “Did YOU kill anbody? How many did YOU kill?” Our Vietnam combat era taught us the shame and deep hurt done to “them” because of our sanitizing division between warrior and civilian. Perhaps war and conflict would greatly lessen if we realize the real universal truth: “We” all are responsible beings for life, death, construction, creation, destruction, and world annihilation. Scapegoating the warroir only fools us and the world, keeps us away from peace and unity, and leads to future division and conflict. Although we are each a unique gift in life, may we all remembet and reflect this day that, also, “They are Us.”

I've found myself referencing this painting titled "Choices" many times in the past few weeks. I wondered 'why' until now. It's a beautiful gift from a now deceased Vietnam Combat Veteran. He put his life in harms way for a freedom he believed possible and needed, not for his self, but rather for others. His life was meaningful. His duty held meaning, even though the desired end was not found. With freedom, we may choose, decide, act responsibly, be constructive, or not. Freedom, however, does not really mean doing whatever we want, whenever we want and then becoming happy and fulfilled. No, freedom, like it or not, necessitates responsibility and mature action. On December 7, 1967, Viktor Frankl, the founder of Logotherapy and a Holocaust Survivor, gave a speech at Providence College. This was the anniversary of our "Day of Infamy" and a time of great turmoil in our country. There was protest against war, so-called "free love," drug use, and a generational attack against conformity, authoritarianism and the status quo. Within months there would be horribly assasinations and riots in the streets, a complex national trauma beyond belief. The country, it seemed, was struggling to find meaning and stability. Dr. Frankl was asked to address what was perceived as an underlying problem of the time, "Youth in Search of Meaning." Instead, he chose to address the universal human need for meaning. He spoke of the present tendecy to seek pleasure as an escape from the responsible pursuit of "true" meaning, of being too much into and for the self. Self-gratification and self-indulgence seemed to be treated as the new norm, the new normal. Surprisingly, Frankl made an argument against the Declaration of Independence's statement of belief in the "pursuit of happiness." Happiness, he said, was not to be an end in itself. He knew from Aushwitz that, when a person chooses happiness or that which is pleasurable as an end in itself, when pleasure becomes "deified," life is over. Those he saw at Aushwitz who chose a cigarette to a piece of bread for survival and a greater good were giving up. Despair has won. The person has given up, chosen a path that leads only to destruction. The search for "true" meaning in life, Frankl argued, is not the pursuit of happiness, pleasure, but rather the responsible and mature act of choosing to connect and commit to someone or something greater than our self. The feeling of happiness is more of a beneficial consequence or "side effect" of having meaning in life. Self-gratification, selfishness and narcissism will not help us find constructive and life-enhancing meaning in life. Finding meaning in life is to reach for something or someone more than us- our partner, a vocation, the good of our country or of another's, a Higher Power, the good of our environment, the health of our pet, a daily job, etc. This gives us something or someone to live for a "true" way to a meaningful life. How can we find a way to have real meaning in life today? Are we willing to admit that we need a greater someone or something than our self to do so? Or, do we think whatever "I" want to feel good is itself our life's end? Is it just whatever makes ME happy? Will we delude our self to believe that by just reaching out to feel happy, we are leading a meaningful life? The world of addiction shows us the sad lived-out experience of a wrong choice. Seems it's a time for each of us to personally reflect and decide which we are choosing or which we wish to choose. Frankl would probably be the first to admit that making our self feel good is the easier choice. He chose more. He chose a meaningful life. What do you choose?

The more I work as a psychotherapist, the more I find myself seeing the good in others. Despite presented imperfections, problems, mistakes, or maladaptive background or behaviors, I see much that holds worth. I see courage to face one's self. I see humility to ask for help and reject narcissism. I see kindness and gratitude, at times more than I deserve. I see passion and motivation to change. I witness and, to some extent, participate in the intimate anguish of healing. I discover underlying gifts that even the person before me had not noticed. I see an awakened innocence that brings me back to the image of a newborn who sees real life for the very first time, curious and amazed by what she or he finds. It is of a value beyond compare that has presented me with the gift of a soul who seeks to heal and has chosen me as partner to this transformative work. Amazing! Wonderful! Touching the soul is truly a loving experience, a vocation that gives and teceives love.

We call it DID, MDD, ADHD, OCD, NPD, PTSD, and other such abbreviatins of names of mental health problems. They shorten the category of symptoms, objectifying what it is, make it common and conforming, make it easier for the viewer and health worker, and treat the problem as some "thing" to be dissected and treated. Today's focus for many health researchers and providers is now to find the "biological markers" for these categories, further dissecting to some greater "thing." It is as if we are looking for some universal "God factor" to explain the all of this thing, with the belief that we will then have all we need to solve a problem. Quite a lofty goal! Although the rationale and action may be well-intended, if the task become purely mechanical or narcisstically-invested, problems abound and misdirection becomes inevitable. We need to look more "humanly" than this to really see, or we will not see. Robert Coles, the very gifted Existential Psychiatrist, speaks of this challenge to understand with one of his female patients in his book, "The Spiritual Life of Children." Or, perhaps better said, without the "human", we will see an illusion of what is real, or only what we want to see, distorting what is there. Persons of the past have been led and have led others away from the real of human life by their illusions and delusions. No matter what letters we attach or titles we ascribe, we will never truly understand, empathize or adequately help heal unless we first see and continually see the person before us. I am Tom Kelly, Joe Smith, Bob Brown, Cathy Sullivan, Sharon Stone, Tom Terrific, Jane Doane, Jennifer Johnson, etc. (note: names are fictitious). I am not a bunch of letters. I am not to be lumped with a bunch of others. I am not a thing. I am I, a unique self, a special someone unlike everyone else. Although I may share with others certain symptoms or problems or traits, my expression of them, my life journey, is mine alone. Only I have these experiences in my own way, from my perspective. Understand this and you may come to know me. The greater our objectification and separation, the more the human will disappear for us, confuse and frustrate our understanding, and move us further from intimacy and real life. Many, more serious and even dangerous consequences may come to us when we move away from the human in us and others. May we all be mindful in life and see what really lies before us.
Dr. Bob

Being-real is easy to say and challenging and lifelong to do. It means to be the unique and authentic person or "self" that I am, apart from all others. It means learning to identify, understand, appreciate, and integrate the richness of our past, good and bad, positive and negative, into our present living. It means accepting and believing that I am a loving gift in, with and for life: I am lovable, loving and loved. Being-real is I-being-I with myself and others, I-in-identity-and-intimacy. To truly be unique and authentic, our life goal, is to be free, joyful, hopeful, faithful. What a gift it is to be I. In Christian belief, I am in-the-image-of-God. Being-real, truly I, is to be as close to Perfect and Ultimate as I may be. This life journey to real appears bittersweet. From Mother Theresa and the Dalai Lama to Stalin and Hitler we may see the success and failure of our quest to the real I-in-life. As a psychotherapist, I "feel" daily the anguish of each courageous, vulnerable and hopeful person that asks guidance for direction and support in being-real. No greater privilege or gift have I teceived than this for my life vication. All I have to do is be-real and use the dynamic skills and experience that I've acquired. Thank God.