Dr. James Hollis

Sure, sure.

Well, there's nothing wrong with having the third party conversation from time to time, that's for sure.

We have to remember that what we call therapy is a relatively modern invention.

How was that addressed before?

You're right, at the village level.

When people were living in vitalized mythological systems, they had a sense of relatedness to the cosmos, first of all.

Who are the gods?

Whither do we go when we die?

What's this life about?

In other words, every tribe had its story.

Secondly, what is our relationship to nature and to live in harmony with that nature as opposed to violating it repeatedly for our own purposes?

Thirdly, to whom do I belong?

Who is my tribe?

Who are my people?

And is that a life-serving or life-suppressing experience?

And fourthly is the mystery of individual journey.

By what lights do I conduct my journey and so forth?

And of course, those mythological systems were not particularly interested in the development of the individual, but they're certainly about the individual being subsumed into the tribal experience.

At least you have a sense of belonging.

erode that and people fall out of that into the abyss of the self, as it were.