Man with no place in therapy
nowhere man
Summary:
An exploratory article about the modern dilemma of financial misery and how psychotherapy and counseling often fail to grasp the gist of reality. Although it is a fictional character, it is based on the multitude of people who wake up one day with no job, no money, no family and completely alone. Depression and unemployment stress, whether you are in Greece, Spain, England or the US of A. Our man from nowhere seeks therapy to help him understand his dilemma and reflects on how modern therapists can do Let him be disappointed again. .
Introduction:
At this very moment of writing this article (2013), the world economy is on its knees. Bankers of the world in cahoots with politicians who support a free market and a capitalist system have left people with 28% unemployment in the EU, and some countries now suffer 60% unemployment for those under 25. (1. Press TV, June 2013) Plus, we have record prices for basic goods and the highest ever home foreclosures. The richest country in the world, the US, now has the most people living below the poverty line, while at the same time the richest 1% have more wealth than ever, thanks largely to decisions policies reduce your taxes and bail out your mistakes. (2. Capitalism a love story 2011). Countries now part of the EU are considering bankruptcy, but as this would destabilize the economic union, wealthier countries such as the UK, France and Germany are forced to put pressure on their own economies to back and sign up. their debts. Now those same countries are in an economic wreck that is about to turn into a social unrest never seen before in the Western world.
Against this background are ordinary people, those who through work and paying income taxes, purchases and housing have sustained and enriched the 1% more than ever. Now, due to financial mismanagement and greed, you’ve woken up one morning to layoff, payback, and family discord. He has become the man from nowhere.
nowhere man
So what happens to our “nowhere man” when months go by and there’s no new job, no financial support from the government (despite constantly bailing out the rich), relationships under strain fall apart? Our nowhere man is now depressed with feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. He is advised to go see the local doctor who prescribes some antidepressants, but soon the nowhere man discovers that the pills can’t create a job, add to his depleted bank account, and can’t bring his wife back. and family. . A friend suggests that he see a counselor or therapist. With no money, this is a big undertaking, but our man from nowhere finds some charity and sees a succession of therapists to treat his depression.
The first is a positivist psychologist who talks about how taking the negative in life and turning it into a positive learning and creative experience can help break your emotions out of the doldrums. The man from nowhere stares at him and his only smile is at the utter stupidity of this approach to someone in desperate circumstances. He only waits once and then goes to the humanist counselor. This counselor is full of respect for him, looks at him positively, and allows him to direct the flow of therapy. However, even though he ends up liking the therapist a lot, he doesn’t progress beyond his depression. After three sessions he gives up but misses the counselor. He wonders if psychoanalysis may hold the key. The therapist is very thorough in dissecting his past, early relationship trauma and giving insight into how his own behavior contributed to the breakdown of his marriage and his family. At first, this all made perfect sense, except how his former employee fired him with all this unknown trauma? How did he declare bankruptcy and then lose his house to the bank? This just didn’t make any sense and a few sessions later, he moved on. Our nowhere man confused by therapists and losing hope finds an emotive cognitive behaviorist. The therapist challenges all her erroneous statements about her view of her plight of poverty, gives her tasks to record her emotions (even though her depression in her mind is just an emotion), diligently fills out all the forms, however, in the end though he has a clearer way of seeing the world cognitively, he is still unemployed and he does not feel better. By now the charity has been exhausted and can no longer afford the high fees demanded for psychological support. A behavioral psychologist takes pity on the man from nowhere and offers a few free sessions. Here, the Nowhere Man discovers that his past habits were reinforced by seeking pleasure over pain and avoiding the reality of life, therefore he failed to take action early enough to change his approach to circumstances. as they arose. Upset by the therapist’s idea that he had precognition and could foresee what the world’s leading economists couldn’t, he thanked her for her support but would look elsewhere for answers.
It was clear to the man from nowhere that therapy cannot give you a job, give you back the money you once saved for a rainy day, the pension stolen by the company when it closed, the family broken up by poverty and guilt. . The false mood initially created by the antidepressant medication has now worn off and he is taking more and more just to stay stable. He has been contemplating suicide, a common side effect of psychotropic medications. He decides to go back to the hospital and ask to see the clinical psychologist.
No-where-man is surprised that at first the man only allows him to vent and tell his story. More surprised that they told him to stop taking the medication, the psychologist told him that he cannot face life under the chemical idea that he is actually fine. What the psychologist told him next surprised him even more; She said you need a-job. The psychologist talked to the Nowhere Man about expectations, our belief that we are entitled to justice, that this is a fantasy that the world is in fact unfair and always will be. That his depression was a perfectly normal reaction to his circumstances and what else would he expect if he has no job, no money and no family? The Nowhere Man asked the psychologist a simple question that no other therapist could answer: what the hell do I do to get my life back on track? He said that he is prepared to do what he would never have considered when he had work, money, home and family. There are jobs out there, but no one wants them. Pride prevents many unemployed people from accepting a job that they feel is below their dignity. That activity, however it happens, is better than inactivity through the frustration of not meeting expectations. He told a story to the man from nowhere. Once upon a time there was a psychologist who worked for a bank as a salesperson; in an immature discussion with the manager he was fired from him. He sat at home for several weeks, applying to banks and the like for a new position, but to no avail: his lack of reference sealed his fate. Finally, a friend told him that the local dairy needed people to deliver milk to homes. It was hard physical work, early in the morning from 4 am and no real contact with people during the work day. He laughed at the idea of being a delivery man and what would his friends think of him going from executive to plow? However, his wife told him that the bills were mounting and that at least for now it was some income. She swallowed his pride, made his resume less impressive and applied. Actually, he was rejected for not being physically fit enough at first, but his natural sales ability overcame the interviewer and gave him a chance. Over the next six months he delivered milk, got in better physical shape than ever in his life, started night classes to increase his skills and education. During this time he reassessed his life expectancy and made a new plan. Today he is the psychologist who talks to the man from nowhere.
For the first time in therapy, the Nowhere Man felt that someone had given him instructions, without judging him and openly allowing him to fulfill his own sense of purpose. After more sessions in which the psychologist helped guide him in planning and self-motivation, our man from nowhere felt that he was taking back control of his life.
No-where-man took a job delivering newspapers; he paid less than he used to give his children in pocket money each week. However, he felt loved again, felt that he was doing a public service, read the wanted ads in the newspapers, and began to hope that his situation would improve over time. Daily walks and fresh air allowed her to ease his depressive state, feel more confident in planning and taking charge of his own life.
The man from nowhere never needed medication, while the different therapists offered him some perspective and support, in the end he just needed someone to believe in him again, to show him by example that only one can control his life and that expectations are low. unrealistic can lead to disappointment and defeat.
Conclusion:
You have no control, man from nowhere, over the world economy, the greed of corrupt businessmen, bankers and politicians, who for the last forty years have driven our welfare and social care states into a capitalist nightmare of ruin. All over the world the other masses from nowhere are protesting, they want their lives back to where they hope they are, they want fairness and justice from the people who stole their jobs, homes and futures. A few have realized that the fantasy of capitalism will never give them a rich life and that is only for the 1% who control the means of production and money that will see it as real. What do ordinary people want, the right to work with dignity, to have a comfortable standard of living, the right to education, health and social support when they need it? All the therapists in the world cannot correct the social ills of society, but we can set a good example of self-control, hope, and by example, realistic life expectations.
References:
1. Press TV News Jun 2013 – Iranian TV Broadcasting
2. Moore M (2012) Capitalism is a love story, Overture Films Inc.