What is Gay Counseling?

Gay counseling is a specialized area of therapy to help you manage human relationships and the problems and issues associated with being gay.  This can include accepting your homosexuality, learning to accept that others have a right to their opinion and how to cope with those opinions, assistance with your family and coming out, clarifying what you want and expect out of life, setting goals and how to reach those goals in a constructive and healthy manner.

How does Gay Counseling Help?

The client and the therapist working together set a therapeutic agenda which will evaluate the counseling and your progress.  Some improvements that can be noted with counseling are emerging from a muted awareness of your homosexuality to an expression of it, acceptance of yourself instead of disapproval, changing a narrow and defended self image toward one that is more relaxed and reality based, learning to make choices based on what you want and need as opposed to making the decisions that others want you to make, reduce your anxiety and reduce your fear of the world and increase your openness to new experiences.

The Counseling Process

Counseling is aimed at getting you out of counseling and prepared to enjoy a rich, full life as soon as possible.  A good counselor encourages you to be self reliant and help give you the tools needed to fulfill this.  You will need to take an active role in addressing your problems and achieving your goals with your counselor there to help encourage you along to the way.

Counseling is generally a three stage process which involves exploration, planning and action.  Exploration is when you are clarifying your understanding of your problems and issues which brought you to seek counseling.  After the issues that require assistance are discussed, a plan is developed to help improve the situation.  New strategies for coping with the issues and stressors in your life are learned.  You will then be prepared to take the actions necessary to implement the changes necessary in your life to live a happy, fulfilled and satisfying life.

The Purpose of Grief Counseling

The purpose of receiving counseling to help through the grieving process is to help each individual work through the feelings, memories and thoughts that are associated with their loved one.  Grieving can be triggered by many different types of loss other than death.  Some of these losses include loss in relationship, loss in goals or ideals, loss in your professional life. There are options available for this type of loss but the main focus of many grief counseling organizations is directed toward positive adjustment in your life following the loss of a loved one due to death.

Where to get Grief Counseling

Grief counseling is offered by counselors, clergy members, psychologists and social workers.  These can be individual or group counseling.  There are professional organizations as well as informal support groups made of other people who have experienced grief and want to help others work through it.  Churches, community centers, hospitals, clinics and other organizations are available and devoted to helping people work though grief in a healthy manner.  Some grief counseling sites are even offered online to help you work through your grief.

What Grief Counseling can do for you

Grief counseling can help with the emotional expression of the wide range of feelings related to loss.  You will learn to accept the loss, adjust to life after a loss.  The world seems to change after you experience a deep loss and you will learn to cope with these changes within yourself and in the world you live in.

Grief counseling addresses sadness, anger, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, isolation, confusion, relief and the numbness associated with loss.   Often a person grieving experiences behavioral changes such as feeling tired, disorganization, trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, changes in appetite, they may have vivid dreams or daydream about the deceased loved one.  Grief counseling can help these individuals cope with these issues.

In some people the grieving process is more complicated than others.  There may be extreme responses to the loss.  This can vary from person to person depending on that individual’s personal resilience, their capacity for coping and their support system.  Grief that is left unaddressed can lead to depression, withdrawal and at times suicide attempts.  Some survivors feel rage and anger which can become misdirected to others over their loss.

The therapist practising Gestalt will address a person’s organismic, functional whole that works toward higher realms of actualisation, potentiality, and integration as a part of its environment. In the end, the result is change and maturation, and greater self-expression.

The theory has a non-materialistic and antic-reductionist view, and it disavows linear and dualistic thinking. The therapy is a means in which to achieve change, and growth, but it is not the direct aim of the therapy, only a byproduct.

Origins of Gestalt Therapy

There were three founders of Gestalt Theory. Max Wetheimer, (1880-1943) was a teacher, and is credited as the official founder. Max Wertheimer (April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943) was a Czech-born Jewish teacher who was one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, along with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. The theory originally had its roots in theories developed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Immanuel Kant, and Ernst Mach. Wertheimer’s major contribution was his insistence that the therapy is perceptually primary, defining the parts of which it was composed, rather than its being an additional element. This was different from the ideas of the original practitioners of the therapy.

The other founders besides Wertheimer were Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler. Each saw objects as things within an environment, and took into account all of the elements of the whole. This “gestalt” approach was intended to define principles of perception.

These laws enabled the grouping of like objects together. Gestalt is occasionally criticised for being just a descriptive theory, it is the jumping off point for further research into patterns of thinking, and problem solving.

Gestalt Therapy View on Illness

In Gestalt Therapy, dysfunction is not viewed a mental disorder, but as an issue with growth. When things are dysfunctional, there is a loss of awareness of needs, desires, and wants. Because of this, wrong conclusions are drawn by the patient about the world around them. The patient must make difficult adjustments in order to adapt to an inhospitable environment. This means that they grow further and further away from their true self and they are not capable of self-supporting, and they seek outside support through manipulation.

Gestalt Therapy

The main focus in the practice of the therapy is contact. The method combines five methods that include phenomenological method, therapeutic relationship, work with cognition, experiment, and work with the wider field.

The therapist must remain nonjudgmental, and open a dialogue with the client to enable change. The therapist must be completely present, and have a willingness to accept the client’s inner world, and try to understand their points of view. Both verbal and non-verbal communication is considered during the therapy sessions, and used to determine patterns of thought and behaviour.

The patient may view their life in a way that is erroneous, and have a distorted or contradictory self view. These views have a bearing on their experiences and actions. Since the words of the client will reveal these views, the therapist will focus on the patient’s language.

Gestalt Theory Deficiencies

There are negative aspects of Gestalt Theory, including its lack of a clearly defined theory of human development. The awareness of conditions that are necessary for human development could be expanded to include the entire life of the patient. Without the acceptance of this awareness, the Gestalt practitioner is not working with some of the most effective material in the therapeutic process of working with those that have developmental damage. Some Gestalt practitioners have attempted to modify this, and there is promise for the therapy to expand in the future. There have been instances of Gestalt therapists reaching patients with psychosis that others have not had the fortune of reaching.

Graphology is also used to hone in on specific personality traits, said to be an effective indicator of future behaviours and has also become a rather powerful tool for a variety of institutions, including businesses who are hiring, career planning and counselling centres, to name a few.

Graphology Systems

Graphology actually consists of three main systems, holistic, integrative, and symbolic. Holistic graphology creates a unique profile based on three criteria, form, movement, and space, while integrative graphology relies upon specific stroke formations to ascertain one’s personality traits. Finally, symbolic graphology analyses patterns of the symbols that are found within one’s handwriting.

Holistic Graphology

Commonly, but erroneously referred to as Gestalt Graphology, which is a system of analysing handwriting that developed in Germany and relates to Gestalt psychology, holistic graphology takes an approach to handwriting analysis that looks at everything as a whole, with its meanings depending on the overall context of the words written.

Integrative Graphology

This particular system utilises analysis tools known as trait stroke, fixed signs, Graphoanalysis, and the French System which convey personality traits by analysing stroke formations of the letters.

Symbolic Graphology

This system looks for either major or minor symbolism throughout handwriting samples, with the major portion dealing with the stroke as it relates to the page, and the minor also ascribing another meaning depending upon the unique picture or symbol seen within the writing.

Graphology Examples

The Pressure Used: It is said that the pressure one uses when writing exudes the intensity of their emotions, or also their stress levels with, obviously, the heaviest applications being indicative of the more intense emotions.

The Shape of Strokes: Handwriting that is square indicates practicality, whereas irregular strokes and squiggly lines convey a more relaxed, artistic view and approach to life. Handwriting that is circular in appearance is said to indicate an easygoing, agreeable nature, and in contrast, angular handwriting with sharp, jagged points may indicate aggressive behaviour, high levels of energy, and a direct, purposeful approach.

The Slant of Handwriting: Handwriting that slants forward indicates that one is rather emotionally expressive, and the opposite is true for those whose writing slants vertically, indicating a possible sense of withdrawal when it comes to emotions. Upward slants are said to mean optimism, while downward slants may indicate exhaustion or low energy levels.

Graphology Applications

Besides for medical and psychological purposes, the various applications where graphology are used are rather diverse and include:

Compatibility Issues: Usually done for couples who wish to test their true compatibility before marrying, graphology is used to ascertain whether or not the couple in question complement one another and can expect to enjoy a long lasting commitment. Even in cultures where arranged marriages are still a part of societal ways, graphology is used by elders in the community before giving consent as a sort of extra assurance that the individuals should indeed marry.

Human Relations: Graphology, along with an assembly of other similar tools, like a criminal background check, are thought to be useful as a method of facilitating the hiring process, giving companies a way to place prospective employees in positions better suited to them, or perhaps decide to not hire at all. However, using graphology as a part of the recruitment process has been greatly criticised in terms of both legal and ethical grounds.

Legal Matters: Graphologists are often called upon by those in the legal profession to examine and analyze handwriting samples of prospective jurors as well as those on trial in order to learn more about their personalities, giving counsel an edge in their case.

Consisting of sketching dots in the sand in formations of sixteen random lines, Geomancy is used to discern the overall health and influence emanated from an area in spiritual terms, drawing on the fact that the earth is alive with energy that should be harnessed and also balanced when necessary.

Traditional Western Geomancy

In traditional western occultism, the art of Geomancy required no special tools or calculations, but is rather based solely on the inborn, human ability for recognising patterns. The dashes etched either in soil or sand with a wand, or drawn on paper were not counted as they were being made, instead resulting in spontaneous divination.

However, in Europe during medieval times, diviners only relied upon parchment paper for the sketching and drawing of the sixteen dots, although they still followed the traditional directional notations, which are from right to left, when making the lines. Now, Geomancers count the dashes that combine to form each line, and then draw either single dots to represent odd numbers, or two dots for even numbers adjacent to the lines.

Sixteen Geomancy Figures

The entire basis of Geomancy relies upon the sixteen geomantic figures, all of which are composed of four rows of those consisting of either one or two points. Because of this, Geomancy is said to be similar to another divinatory system, I Ching, created by the ancient Chinese people and also containing 64 hexagrams along with a divination and its 256 parts, or odu, with each of these individual binary systems based on the powers of the number two.

Geomantic figures, along with their Latin and English names as well as their planetary rulers, are as follows:

Carcer, Prison – Saturn
Tristitia, Sadness -Saturn
Acquisitio, Gain – Jupiter
Laetitia, Joy – Jupiter
Puer, Boy – Mars
Rubeus, Red – Mars
Fortuna Major, Greater Fortune – Sun
Fortuna Minor, Lesser Fortune – Sun
Puella, Girl – Venus
Amissio, Loss – Venus
Conjunctio, Union – Mercury
Albus, White – Mercury
Via, Way – Moon
Populus, People – Moon

Geomancy Feng Shui

During the 19th century, Geomancy was incorporated into the ancient Chinese practice known as Feng Shui, which aims to bring about harmony and balance as well as good fortune into one’s life by altering the placement and orientation of objects both in and out of the home.

Geomancers utilising Feng Shui performed their divination methods with the intent of organising every single structure and object in accordance with the earth’s natural energy with tools such as a luopan, which is a circular, magnetic compass that provides data including astrological information.

Practical Geomancy

Practical and tangible reasons for delving into Geomancy include bringing about a sense of energetic balance into one’s home, and therefore life, enabling people to rearrange items throughout their house in order to align better with the natural energy force of the earth below.

To give an example of practical Geomancy, moving the bed away from an area that emanates negative energy and those zones that produce irritation and increase stress levels unbeknownst to the homeowner would be highly advisable.

Geomancy Ley Lines

In Geomancy, Ley Lines represent a network of straight lines that stretch on for tens and hundreds of miles at a time, all of which may be found all over the globe, some in more intricate formations and patterns than others.

Although the term “Ley Lines” was only first introduced in England in modern times, we know that the idea of these invisible yet ever powerful lines were said to be in existence thousands of years ago as is evident by the formation of ancient people’s villages and monuments. These sacred monuments were in incredibly accurate harmony with one another, even if they were separated by hundreds upon hundreds of miles, a feat simple not possible without the advent of modern communication methods.

Scientific theory, quantum physics in particular, tells us that when two different objects, each vibrating at their own different frequency, come together, the impact they have on one another is converted into a new form of energy with its own unique frequency of vibrations. Gem essences contain the energy and frequency of their components which work then in tandem with our own individual energy fields.

Gem Essences History

Both gemstones and crystals have been used for their healing powers for countless centuries and in many parts of the world, as is evident by glimpses of history in the cultures of the ancient Egyptians, the Chinese, eastern Indians, northern Europeans, as well as in parts of the Americas.

Over the years, a universal understanding has evolved regarding the great value of the healing energies associated with gem essences in terms of emotional, mental, and physical well being. Gem essences and elixirs have been used throughout ancient medicine, and because the realm of possibilities is so great thanks to the vast selection of minerals, a thorough exploration of their numerous positive applications is well worth the effort spent.

Creating Your Own Gem Essences

Ingredients You Will Need:

• 12 ounces of water, preferably distilled as it is devoid of unwanted mineral deposits
• Sterilized glass container, a glass dish with a cover if you’ll be using it outside is recommended
• The crystal, or crystals if you’re using more than one, cleansed in salt water prior to use

Basic Preparation:

For the best results, you may want to meditate for a few moments before preparing the essence. Many people report a deeper, more meaningful experience when taking into account their mental state of well being, making it a point to be relaxed and at ease before beginning.

Step 1. If the weather is warm, leave the water outdoors for anywhere for at least two to four hours or so. If the temperatures are below freezing, place the container in front of a sunny window.

Step 2. Remove the crystals with tongs that have also been sterilized, then pour a small amount of water into an amber dropping bottle one-ounce in size. Preserve the mixture with a teaspoon of brandy if you aren’t allergic to alcohol and if the weather is relatively warm. The remainder of the mixture should then be stored in the refrigerator.

Suggested Gem Essences Usage

Remembering not to dilute gem essences reducing their potency unnecessarily, they should be taken at least four times per day, up to seven preferably, and especially upon first awakening in the morning and also just before going to sleep at night. Frequency is of more importance rather than quantity as they interact with one’s own vibrations which vary depending on a host of factors such as our mood.

Gem essences are especially beneficial when applied externally and directly to the chakras or pulse points along with carrier or massage oils, or even a few drops in the bathwater.

Example Gem Essences

• Amber (also citrine or gold topaz): Used to improve thought functioning, promote intellectualism, reduce stress and fatigue.
• Bloodstone: Used to ground chakras, maintain emotional equilibrium and well being.
• Celestite: Brings about a deeper connection to the spiritual self, eases feelings of loss or separation.
• Datolite: Helps clear the mind, eases frustration and exhaustion while improving communication.
• Green idocrase: Provides emotional balance, improve thought processes particularly while fatigued.
• Halotrichite: Invokes change and a greater willingness to do so.
• Hauynite: Bridges the gap between the spirit, mind, and emotions.
• Larimar: Increases feelings of love and happiness, even under duress, allows one to be more open to acceptance.
• Sagenite agate: Improves communications with others, increases mental stamina for concentration purposes.
• Takovite: Gives one insight as to how others think and feel.
• Vesuvianite: Facilitates loving relationships with others.

Today, a brand new instrument known as a Computerised Gas Discharge Visualisation Camera has made its exciting debut. Gas discharge visualisation or GDV is a scientific breakthrough in photography that allows us to view, in real time, the field of energy surrounding human life, also known as the aura, giving us a look at the mental and spiritual energy emanating from all things, both living and non-living.

Gas Discharge Visualisation (GDV) Camera – Kirilian Photography

An accidental discovery back in 1939 by a Russian inventor named Semyon Kirlian gives us the modern term Kirlian Photography, which is used to refer to a type of photogram that is created with extreme amounts of electricity. Working along with his wife, Kirlian discovered that objects on photographic plates connected to sources of high voltage produced small coronas which were essentially created by the electric field at the object’s boundaries.

From then on, Kirlian’s work revolved around a new aspect of discovery of an already known phenomenon, electricity, integrating his techniques and coining the new terms electrography, electrophotography, and corona discharge photography. His controversial, at the time, claims that the images produced by his work of inanimate objects could be similarly compared to that of the human aura.

Gas Discharge Visualisation GDV Camera Development

Ongoing research continues today in several universities, including in St. Petersburg State Technical University of Informational Technologies led by Dr. Konstantin Korotkov, publisher of numerous books on related subjects. Using the Kirlian effect along with GDV, Dr. Korotkov studies have led to the GDV camera, which allows us to capture an object’s energy field and display it in “real time” on a computer monitor without the need for the traditional development of photographs.

Because of the instantaneous results, this method is widely becoming popular in the field of bio-energy and the study of how our aura is changed or affected by circumstances around us, both environmental and emotional.

Gas Discharge Visualisation GDV Camera Operation

A rather intense field of electricity is created around an object by a GDV camera (10 kV, 1024 Hz in 0.5 seconds). This field of electricity produces a gassy discharge of light around the object, also called a Kirlian picture, which is then transferred to a computer with built-in video capabilities and the necessary accompanying software. Because there is no photo-paper involved in the process, there’s also no need for a darkroom as images are saved via the computer’s hard drive.

Equipment must be properly calibrated along with the proper environmental surroundings, making it possible to conduct future experiments with accurate results. Subtle changes in the gas discharge surrounding an object are discerned, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by another other tool or technique as of yet. Today, GDV images are even used in sports for training purposes and in the every changing world of health and medicine.

Gas Discharge Visualisation GDV Camera Benefits

GDV camera benefits are many as is evident by the fact they are being successfully used in numerous laboratories and clinical settings around the globe. Even without special training, a user friendly interface and Windows compatible software make things like digital image processing and complex medical diagnostics both possible.

Other noted benefits include safety and reliability along with real time visualisation and video recording of the aura, which is visible up to five centimetres in diameter encompassing any object.

Gas Discharge Visualisation GDV Camera Applications

The sheer range of uses of the Gas Discharge Visualisation (GDV) Camera is truly astonishing and includes, among others:

• Delving into the study of consciousness, including altered states, and along with forensic applications, even death.
• Discovering the bio-energy characteristics of plant life.
• Predicting future health conditions using the aura of blood samples or other bio-liquids.
• Studying humans’ bio-energy and its response to various stimuli such as food or exercise.
• The study of various states of water’s energy.
• Using computers to investigate the bio-energy fields of objects.

The study of medical electricity and its effects is now known as electrophysiology, and is only called Galvanism in the historical sense. The term also refers to bringing life to organisms via electrical current, such as what was used in the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley.

Galvanism Frog Experiment

The effects of Galvanism were first discovered by accident. The wife of Galvani, then a professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna, occasionally enjoyed a soup made of frogs in order to promote health and strength. The animals, skinned and prepared for the delicacy were lying on the table in the laboratory, near an electric machine. One of Galvani’s assistants brought the scalpel near the crural nerve of the frog and the muscles were set in motion instantaneously, agitated by the convulsions.

Galvanism Reanimation

Experiments were later conducted on humans. Matthew Clydesdale, a murderer that had recently been in killed himself, had his corpse subjected to electrical experiments. On the November 4, 1818 at Glasgow University, Professor Jeffray, noted that as the electrical current was applied, the corpse’s jaw began to quiver, the muscles contorted, and his left eye opened. The scientist went on to further detail their experiment, describing precisely the amount of Galvanic actions that were used, how they had prepared the corpse, where the experiment took place, and specific descriptions of the actions of the body.

Galvanic Skin Response

In 1906 Carl Jung published the book “Studies in Word Analysis,” which described a technique for connecting a subject with electrodes on their hands to a resistance measuring device. They were then read a list of words. If one of the words incited emotions, a change was noted in the body. Jung used the experiment to observe the changes on the meter he had created to monitor which lines of questioning aroused a response.

Once these experiments proved successful and informative, criminologists looked upon the machines with enthusiasm. The meters and the method that Jung had developed is today known as a “lie detector” and are used frequently in interrogations and investigations.

In the 1970′s, biofeedback research became popular, and it was used in methods of relaxations and meditation. It is a technique to self-regulate, and measures a person’s awareness. Volney Mathison pioneered the development of theories based on the fact that feelings, fears, thoughts and emotions are electrical. Mathison concluded, by using the lie detectors, that past events can produce a change in mood, and the meter will react in response to the mood or feeling response.

Modern Galvanism

Electrophysiology measures the voltage change or electrical current that flows on a wide variety of scales from a single ion channel to whole tissues. The measurements include electrical activity of neurons, and potential activity. These methods have familiar names, and are used frequently today in the medical community:

• Electroencephalography – for the brain
• Electrocardiography – for the heart
• Electromyography – for the muscles
• Electrocorticography – from the cerebral cortex
• Electroretinography – for the retina
• Electroantennography – for the olfactory receptors in arthropods
• Electrooculography – for the eyes