Word associations that arise when the name Sigmund Freud is spoken tend to revolve around terms like “Oedipus Complex,” the unconscious, hysteria, ego and the id, or images of the polymorphously perverse nature of childhood sexuality. Unless one has occasioned to delve into his cultural texts, Civilization and Its Discontents, for example, it is rarer still to think of Freud as adding much to our understanding of contemporary politics, especially in a post-9/11 world where political and religious fundamentalisms vie zealously to explain the world and rally converts based on these explanations.

Hello to all of you. The opportunity of writing these monthly messages is a special honor and gives us the opportunity to get together as friends to reflect on our work as Chapter board members and as therapists in this wonderful community.

We live in a world that is obsessed with resolving conflict through domination and conquering, and that includes the domination of human nature and nature itself. Psychotherapists know that when we take away the imagination it becomes easier to address complex problems with propaganda and simplistic solutions.

The implications for the aging woman are both exciting and frightening. She becomes wiser if she’s lucky enough to have kept her health and wits about her, and yet she—more than likely—will find herself in a Catch-22 situation. On the one hand, she has gone through so many learning experiences that she is able to look at life with a certain amount of educated subjectivity, and, on the other hand she is no longer seeing the same image in the mirror.

“A divorce is driven by psychology. It’s a grief process. Law and economics are secondary. With completion of the psychological process everything else falls into place.

“It doesn’t happen quickly. After a long marriage the grieving seems to take 18 to 36 months. When the grieving is done, the case is “ripe for settlement.” Attempts to force a legal settlement before the case is ripe will result in frustration, anger, delay, and soaring attorneys’ fees rather than resolution.

So here we are once again. You can see the big Thanksgiving Turkeys in the freezers at the supermarket, the holiday decorations in store windows, and the daily chants counting down the days to Christmas

Whatever you are celebrating this season, make it count! These 10 ideas will see you through the Holidays and into the New Year! 10. Keep it Simple! Before you get all worked up and stressed out over the holidays, think about how you can cut time by making holiday chores simpler. Use gift bags instead of wrapping paper, skip the cards and send out a cheery email instead, shop online for gifts you have to purchase (See # 9)

From the beginning of time, poetry has been a means for people to express their deepest emotions and create healing in ritual and ceremony. In the counseling office, perhaps you have read a poem to a client that seemed to capture an issue she/he was struggling with, offering not only understanding, but hope.