When therapists work in a heart-centered way, they feel freer to be both professionals and loving human beings. Working from the Heart advocates for a deeper understanding that the therapist's expressions of non-sexual, non-romantic love are a core ingredient in effective psychotherapy. Each chapter in Working from the Heart focuses from a heart-centered perspective on a particular aspect of therapeutic work that has been insufficiently addressed in traditional training and supervision. Chapter topics include: removing patients' psychological blocks to receiving love; enabling patients to access their Higher Selves to solve complex life dilemmas; how to slog through professional and personal conflicts about touch in order to discern in what situations and with which patients gentle touch is the right therapeutic action; why a heart-centered approach is so important for male patients; how therapists can engage their "Big Hearts," aspects of their Higher Selves, during sessions; and how to create sanctuary for patients and therapists alike. Working from the Heart addresses these issues in an informal style in order to make the book more accessible to wider spectrum of readers. Ryan is sharing his ideas, gleaned from thirty-five years of experience, and inviting a conversation.For more information, please visit http://www.williampryan.com/.
William P. Ryan, PhD, has been a psychotherapist in private practice for more than thirty-five years. He has taught college at both undergraduate and graduate levels and been a consultant in drug prevention, agencies for children, and law enforcement. Read more about Dr. Ryan and the book at http://www.williampryan.com
Chapter 1 DedicationChapter 2 AcknowledgmentsChapter 3 Chapter One: Wisdom of the HeartChapter 4 Chapter Two: Self-ForgivenessChapter 5 Chapter Three: Uprooting the ImplantsChapter 6 Chapter Four: The CouncilChapter 7 Chapter Five: TouchChapter 8 Chapter Six: MenChapter 9 Chapter Seven: Love BlocksChapter 10 Chapter Eight: Small Heart, Big HeartChapter 11 Chapter Nine: SanctuaryChapter 12 Chapter Ten: RechargingChapter 13 Chapter Eleven: Anam Cara
When Freud said love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness, Bill Ryan may have been the only therapist listening. In this soulful book, Ryan puts the relationship between therapist and client back where it belongs at the heart of the treatment process. Working From The Heart is more than a book about therapy. It is a story about what it means to be human.