I've had this video, from Google Tech Talks, in my "Watch Later" playlist on YouTube for some time. Having now listened to it, I'm so sorry I didn't listen sooner! I hope it is okay to post it here. I thought about posting it in one of the self-help forums. However, this forum seems to get much more traffic than they do. And I wanted as many people as possible to at least be aware of it. If you can spare an hour to listen to it, I believe it will be a satisfying experience, whether or not you receive professional therapy services.

[archipelago]

Thanks for posting this. I'm a buddhist so like to hear people talk about buddhism from a psychological perspective. She was very clear about really central issues. And her admiration for those in prisons trying to deal with all the problems including accepting the reality that they are there and may not get out but still try to find meaning and even happiness…that was inspiring. Sometimes our situations or conditions can feel like a prison sentence. It is important to know that there is always something we can do no matter how bad it seems.

She kinda compared the buddhist method to a cognitive psychology approach. I can see that but she was really talking about wisdom and emotional intelligence. She used the word "deconstruct" to describe what you do with all the junk in your head that is making you unhappy and suffer.

That word seems right. It means that you don't take something as solidly real at face value, but rather investigate it to see what all the layers are. You pull it apart essentially and then it ceases to be one big solid lump of a problem and more subtle aspects appear. That allows you to find solutions and/or acceptance.

A therapy that uses deconstruction directly and does exactly what she describes (and happens to be from down under like her) is called Narrative Therapy. The idea is that we have "problem-saturated narratives." If we deconstruct those--mainly by asking lots of questions--we can find "unique outcomes," things that have happened that are not part of the problem but times when the problem wasn't in play or wasn't overcoming us. Then you re-construct an alternative narrative, a preferred narrative, something using some of the things you uncover and also hypothetical things you might like. It's a cool approach and probably could be done as self-help.

Originally Posted by archipelago

Thanks for posting this. I'm a buddhist so like to hear people talk about buddhism from a psychological perspective. She was very clear about really central issues. And her admiration for those in prisons trying to deal with all the problems including accepting the reality that they are there and may not get out but still try to find meaning and even happiness…that was inspiring. Sometimes our situations or conditions can feel like a prison sentence. It is important to know that there is always something we can do no matter how bad it seems.

She kinda compared the buddhist method to a cognitive psychology approach. I can see that but she was really talking about wisdom and emotional intelligence. She used the word "deconstruct" to describe what you do with all the junk in your head that is making you unhappy and suffer.

That word seems right. It means that you don't take something as solidly real at face value, but rather investigate it to see what all the layers are. You pull it apart essentially and then it ceases to be one big solid lump of a problem and more subtle aspects appear. That allows you to find solutions and/or acceptance.

A therapy that uses deconstruction directly and does exactly what she describes (and happens to be from down under like her) is called Narrative Therapy. The idea is that we have "problem-saturated narratives." If we deconstruct those--mainly by asking lots of questions--we can find "unique outcomes," things that have happened that are not part of the problem but times when the problem wasn't in play or wasn't overcoming us. Then you re-construct an alternative narrative, a preferred narrative, something using some of the things you uncover and also hypothetical things you might like. It's a cool approach and probably could be done as self-help.

Thanks so much for this thoughtful reply, Archipelago! I'm glad you enjoyed hearing this. I'm actually not a Buddhist. But I find much to appreciate, & apply, in the Buddhist approach to life. I'm looking forward to listening to this presentation again; because I think there is much here to absorb.

I'm a follower, you might say, of the Lojong & Tonglen practices brought to the west by the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche & currently taught by the Buddhist nun Pema Chodrön. I also enjoy listening to the videos, on YouTube, of talks given by Ajahn Brahm. He also resides in Australia.

Thank you for sharing this. It's just what I needed to hear.