Be Your Own Psychologist
Am I suggesting here that you cancel your appointments with your psychologist, psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, or any other spy? No, No, No. These professionals have education, competences, experience, and abilities that deserve our full respect and one should not hesitate to go to them for help when in need. What I mean though is that with proper direction, you can contribute to greatly improve your situation as well as others'. Participating in the cure and improvement of your organism can prove to be a valuable knowledge that you will keep with you for your whole life. Using such acquisition of knowledge and ability to assist your fellow men is just another way to spread happiness around and reap some of the benefit that will be paid to your life's account.
You should realize that physicians and surgeons have never cured a patient all by themselves; your organism plays an important role in the cure of any disease or malfunction, and every doctor recognizes that patients participating actively in their treatment get much more satisfactory results in far shorter time frames. Treating your mind is not different. Get all the help you can get. Nevertheless, avoid people you're not comfortable with. Working in association with every help nature offers will ensure much better results while preventing confusion.
Improving your capabilities, physical and/or intellectual, changing your behavior for the best and trying to attract more satisfaction and happiness from life are all goals you can achieve on your own with the proper knowledge and ability. No psychologist, psychiatrist or psychoanalyst will ever execute for you the physical or mental endeavors you will have to complete. Life offers no free meal. It's true in more than one way.
Psychologists will not cure you directly through physical manipulation or medication. Their job is to help you identify your problems and, work with you on potential remedies to apply in order to have your life evolve in full harmony with your personal condition. As a rule, they are very good at doing just that.
Let’s us discard upfront the idea of “forcing” your subconscious. There are a number of ways to fool your inner partner. In agreement with his role of guardian and defender of your organism, your inner intelligence may seem to bend and comply when the body is submitted to electric shocks, powerful drugs, or punitive treatments but these means can also lead to serious misunderstandings and confusion between your conscious and subconscious minds. These resources have their merit but they are risky. I suggest that you leave such tricks to the pros.
If you possess some little knowledge and the mental ability to influence your organism you may very well operate on yourself. Oftentimes, your own entity will be much more responsive to your own suggestions than to those of an outsider. There are no two identical personalities; so each person must answer this question individually. However, we are all aware of the power of suggestions made by people we trust highly. Unless you are seriously confused and perturbed, your conscious brain is, as a rule, the intelligence in which your subconscious one will have the most confidence, and you are therefore in the very best position to exert an influence on your inner associate.
We already know that parents exert a strong influence on their children’s personality. Hence we are allowed to conclude that ‘Parents are the persons most trusted and in the most favorable situation to help their children improve their condition and abilities’. Parents must however possess the knowledge and ability to intervene with efficiency. I don't have to insist on exceptions, do I? There always are exceptions and special situations.
For many people, the psychologist, whoever he is, represents the best alternative. Yet, one has to be able to afford the cost and the time. When this is a problem, one should rather revert to relatives, friends and other help that our modern society provides. Moreover, no opportunity precludes another. In my opinion, this last option is the most intelligent decision to make. One can best benefit from various sources as long as they all pull in the same direction. In his quest for happiness one must always keep an open mind, taking care not to shut off doors preferring one way over the others. Examine and analyze carefully before rejecting anything. Guard yourself against prejudices while keeping in mind that every part of this creation contains good and bad. It is your duty and your interest to extract only the good seed and cultivate it. In many instances, medication may be required as part of the solution offered by Nature. Don’t get it all wrong. Medication is not a devil’s invention. It is a ‘natural’ help offered by Universe. Discarding medicine under the pretext that ‘it is not natural’ is rejecting help offered by the Master of the Universe.
I will now dare give you another piece of advice; don't fall victim of the following easy traps:
a) Refrain from trying to prove that your recipe is the only one because it works well for you. There are many delicious cakes made from various recipes; they suit different tastes and these are infinite.
b) Resist the temptation to overdo it. If you create a serious stress for your organism, the result could be negative. Submit only positive elements to your subconscious. Your inner partner must be sure that you are working for the good of your entire organism.
c) Avoid all negative thoughts.
d) If some exercises prove too demanding and have negative impact, give them up. Look for a more favorable way to convince your ‘guardian angel’ of the legitimacy of your desire.
e) Make sure that you don't place people trying to help you in the situation of having to tell you only what you want and accept to hear.
Your unconscious system, though different and independent of your conscious one, is also an intelligent entity. It has its own preoccupations, influences and functions. However it will never put aside its main role: the protection of the integrality of your physical and mental being, unless an evil spirit intrudes your mind and takes charge.
This system is at your service: It has been ‘created and programmed’ to protect your organism of all attacks, including your conscious mind. Fully playing its role of protector, your subconscious intelligence is particularly sensitive to all material you transmit to it.
Psychologists and psychiatrists are very knowledgeable and competent; unfortunately their science isn’t an exact one. They cannot prescribe a medication that will solve all your problems within two days because it simply doesn’t exist. Their success depends on their patients, who often, quite unwillingly, misinform them, even mislead them. It makes sense, doesn’t it? If the person consulting a psychologist had been capable of correctly identify her problems and its causes, most of the time, she would not need professional services. This makes me think that working with people who know you inside out can be very productive. They cannot be fooled as easily.
The very best advantage of the auto-psychologist is that it is available day and night, any day of the year. It is free and accessible to anybody with some sense of his own. Some people will argue that these patients are already doing everything than can to solve their problem. I beg to disagree. Not everyone knows that he has, within himself, the power and the knowledge to improve his mental condition. They need to be told, pointed toward the right direction, informed that there is help for them in their own circles. A few good books and advice can guide them in their quest for more happiness and better performance.
Very serious studies have demonstrated that one can improve his muscle strength by 15% with daily exercise of mental imagery without any physical exercise. Imagine what you can do by combining physical and mental exercises. Reinforcing the mental using the physical and vice versa does make sense. You can tap the source at will. You can use imagery any moment of the day, for any duration and in any situation. Offering and providing help to others has a double benefit. While you work with others, you learn more than you teach and receive more than you give. This is, for sure, the very best ways to gain happiness.