- Email: [email protected]
A therapist's exploration: Face to face with the dark side
The Arrs in Psychotherapy,
Vol. 16 pp. 133-136. o Pergamon
Press
plc, 1989. Printed
in the U.S.A.
0197-4556189
$3.00 + .OO
REFLECTIONS A THERAPIST’S
EXPLORATION:
FACE TO FACE WITH THE DARK SIDE
ROSE MARANO GEISER,
try to deny. Evil emerges in the process of constant denial, but it is something that can be dissipated. Evil seems to fit within the various defmitions of the dark side. It does, however, conjure extreme manifestations of what exists in the realm of darkness. In my readings I came across a sociologist who explores the dark side of humanity in terms of evil. Ernest Becker (1973) began an exploration of humanity’s fear of immortality. He established that, in order to accept death, we have developed heroes and symbols that become an intricate part of our culture. Thus, life is infinite through our symbolization system. Becker presents the idea that denial of immortality is the cause of human evil. In his 1975 work he continued to define evil by exploring several viewpoints that point to the belief that as humans we do not want to accept that we are sexual animals. By placing ourselves above the primitive, we create evil. Peck (1983) gives several examples of people (clients) he labels “evil” in an attempt to better understand this concept in human behavior and how to cope with it. He addresses the effect that this has on the therapist when working with these individuals. Peck notes the importance for the therapist to recognize countertransference issues and to determine whether or not the countertransference is appropriate. He refers to “revulsion countertransference” as being specific to evil and a feeling that arises when working with clients who project evil. Although he uses a harsh term in describing certain clientele, I find it
As therapists we are in constant confrontation with the dark side of human nature. We offer ourselves in helping others to gain control of their lives, to obtain emotional well-being and to cultivate self-esteem. We also often become the collectors of sadness, despair, and pain. At times during the therapeutic process we act as mirrors that reflect back images to our clients, some of whom assimilate a more primitive self without sufficient means for self-control. For other clients we participate in reliving the horror of having been a victim of unleashed violence. Why do we do this? Why be a therapist who listens and confronts the horrors in other people’s lives? The Dark Side What is the dark side? I have difficulty obtaining a clear definition, but then trying to find one’s way in the dark is awkward. Jung (1968, p. 21) stated, “The ego is only a bit of consciousness which floats upon the ocean of dark things. The dark things are the inner things.” I like this statement because it leaves the darkness an open entity for everyone to explore, allowing all of us to have a personal understanding of the dark side. Clearly, Jung explored the dark things through investigating the concept of the shadow. He defined the shadow as a moral problem. As it involves defining one’s morals in order to face the dark aspects of one’s personality, the shadow is resisted. Jung also indicated that the dark side refers to those aspects of the self that lead us to feel inferior, which, in turn, are those things we *Rose Geiser
is a art therapist
at Bridgehaven,
Louisville,
MA, ATR*
KY, a psychosocial 133
and education
day treatment
program
for adults.
ROSE
134
MARANO
pertinent when addressing cases with horrific content. Strasberger (1986) explores the therapist’s feelings when specifically treating the antisocial client. The antisocial personality is often associated with evil because most have been the perpetrators of events society deems to be horrorfilled realities. He discusses several specific countertransference reactions toward this type of client: fear of assault, helplessness, guilt, feelings of invalidity and loss of identity, denial, hatred, rejection, and rage. Although Strasberger writes about specific clientele, I feel that he raises issues relevant to much of the work done in therapy. As a therapist I have felt some of these emotions, but not necessarily during sessions with the antisocial personality. Self-Exploration
As Therapist
I wish to raise questions from personal experience about the overall effects on the therapist who works with the dark side of human nature. Do we, in fact, experience a type of “revulsion countertransference?” How we deal with the transgressions of social morality in our client’s lives is essential to the establishment of an honest therapeutic relationship. We contribute to the field of mental health with our own special approaches to therapy. Individually, we choose the roles we want to engage within our work. Perhaps the roles we choose take part in how we cope with what we hear in the therapy session. Searching through the wide range of possible mental health professions, all of us choose a certain role (clinician, researcher, aide, guard, etc.). All of these roles bring us into direct contact with the primitive psyche, but they may also lend themselves to a type of separation. During my early contacts with forensics I worked with several women who had killed their children. When first hearing the details of these incidents, the facts did elicit revulsion, but I quickly repressed my response. As I researched literature on the topic, I was confronted with several cases that described the horror of infanticide, but I simply collected the information, again neglecting my feelings. However, I know that the experience of working with infanticidal mothers has affected me, especially since I have become a mother. Now I can admit that hearing
GEISER about those cases stirred unconscious fears about my own parents, as it now stirs an examination of my own skills as a parent. When we act as withholding or restraining staff, we separate ourselves in our actions by setting physical restraint and control for clients. Simultaneously, we participate on the same primitive level of the client. This became apparent to me while in the act of physically controlling clients in a residential setting for adolescents. Acting-out individuals were encircled by staff and talked to in an attempt to have them go to a “time-out” room independently. If they were not compliant, we staff then moved in closer and took hold of the resistive adolescents. At times we brought them to the floor in order to be able to carry them to the time-out room. While encircling a particular adolescent, images flashed through my mind of the animalistic behavior of “closing in on the prey.” It was also ritualistic in appearance, as a circle formed around the central figure to be initiated into submission/conformity. The need for restraining(repressing) the animal (primitive) aspect of the psyche is so strong that the actual physical restraining process seems to take on a primitive quality. As therapists we generally choose to be in direct contact with the dark side. We may also choose to separate when we fail to acknowledge the horror. Again, this was my own realization during my earlier experiences in providing art therapy within a jail setting. During that time I was in contact with some extreme cases of the dark side of behavior, but I never really felt frightened by what I heard or by the inmates. Feelings of fear and horror have now surfaced from time to time when remembering that place. The lack of fear during the time I worked in that setting allowed me to do so without becoming emotionally overwhelmed. There was one instance when I did feel uneasy. I was working with a timid, frail young man who was diagnosed schizophrenic. He was incarcerated for having murdered a woman. Two drawings he made finally struck me with the reality of his potential violence. He began a drawing of a skull that took up most of the paper. Quickly he drew over the skull, turning it into a portrait of a woman. Then he added a small figure that he said was a man peering over the woman’s shoulder. In another session he drew a
FACE TO FACE WITH THE DARK SIDE
Figure
I. Stigmata
Series-Observation
similar image that again was a woman with a man looking from behind her. In this drawing it appeared that I was the woman and he was the one peering from behind me. Later in the session he told me that he had, in fact, drawn me. Here I was presented with the horror of this man’s past murderous action and with the possibility of my also being his victim. Uncovering the reasons behind my choosing to work in corrections is a continuous process. One reason may be that whenever I am frightened of something, I am compelled to confront it in order to dissipate the fears. A more credible explanation is my need to understand my own feelings of imprisonment. Perhaps I was confronting my own “evils.” My supervisor and I have explored these issues in dealing with counter-transference. One question that evolved from those discussions still disturbs me, “What pre-
135
vents all of us from acting out like criminals, who act out their dark side in the extreme?” Although forensic psychology attempts to clarify the distinction between the criminal personality and those who conform to society’s norm, we do not have a clear understanding of why some people deviate and others do not. Unable to deline answers to such issues, I found that I not only relied on supervision and peers at the time, but that I used the artist in me to cope with everything to which I had been exposed. It was not until several months after my jail experience that I began to acknowledge my accumulated visions of the dark side. The artist in me took over as I began a series of drawings that reflected mysterious undertones (Figures 1 and 2). The therapist in me was quiet for a while and allowed the imagery to be released without immediate analysis. At first I did not fully understand the relationship between my art and the jail, but I knew there was a link. It was difficult to see the connection as I considered the drawings to be formal art rather than art therapy work. Perhaps this, again, was a way in which I separated from the horror. Now when I look at these images I see various stages that I experienced in order to accept the dark side. In these drawings there is a sense of observation, envelopment, confrontation, capture, escape, and integration. As a therapist gathering data, I was an observer; I was separate from the painful realities presented to me. I did not personally experience what was shared during sessions. I became enveloped as the barriers between the criminal and noncriminal lessened. People labeled “criminal” also live through the terror released by their own actions. I was confronted constantly with the dark realities of human behavior and reminded of my own darkness. I was captured within a system that reflected the crimes of those incarcerated. Furthermore, I was behind bars as well. There existed an ability to escape as I was not retained by the penal system; I had not committed a crime to be punished. Escape peaked when I accepted that the horrors I heard were real. I was then able to integrate the dark side of existence and begin to accept my own darkness as an essential part of myself. The images reflect a personal unconscious exploration of my own shadow, which was initiated by my clients’ self-exposure.
136
ROSE
MARANO
t‘i,qurc, 2. Stigmata
Since my experience at the jail 1 have worked with a variety of individuals. I have not only engaged with the criminal element but with their victims as well. When I have related to the horrors of the victim I have felt fear, anger, pity, and pain not unlike the hidden emotions I experienced while working with the assailant. Fear and anger are stimulated in reliving the client’s horror and realizing that the horror may have been personally experienced. While working with the assailant I have felt more fear and anger toward the violent act rather than toward the perpetrator. I have felt pity for the victim and shared in the pain expressed. There is something pitiful about the lives of criminals as well, for all too often their lives have been a continuum of involvements in unlawful deeds. Some have acted out in violence only once when they lost total control over their darker elements. There are some assailants who feel pain from true remorse. I know from my own outbursts of anger that I am not expressing anger because I feel painless. There is pain behind acts of violence and pain is released through them.
GEISER
Series-Confrontation
This does not justify criminal behavior, but it certainly complicates the simplistic definition of what constitutes a victim and a criminal. Working with those who have been involved in acts of horror, be it victim or assailant, has illuminated my understanding of the dark side; it has also caused more questions and emotions to surface.
References Becker, E. (1973). Derriul O/ dearth. New York: The Free Press. Becker, E. (1975). Escupr,fi-orn et*;/. New York: The Free Press. Jung, C. G. (1958). Psyche crrrd symbol. New York: Bollinger Foundation. Jung, C. G. (1968). Atlu/yticrr/ psychology: trs rhrory rrnd practice. New York: Vintage Books. heding of’ Peck, M. S. (1983). Prople oj’thr lie: The hopefbr humcrn e~,i/. New York: Simon & Schuster. Strasberger, L. H. (1986). Treatment of antisocial syndrome: The therapists’ feelings. In W. H. Reid, D. Dorr, J. 1. Walker, & J. W. Bonner (Eds.), Unmrr.sking the psychopath: Antisocid personality dromes. New York: Norton.
mnd
relnred
syn-
Vol. 16 pp. 133-136. o Pergamon
Press
plc, 1989. Printed
in the U.S.A.
0197-4556189
$3.00 + .OO
REFLECTIONS A THERAPIST’S
EXPLORATION:
FACE TO FACE WITH THE DARK SIDE
ROSE MARANO GEISER,
try to deny. Evil emerges in the process of constant denial, but it is something that can be dissipated. Evil seems to fit within the various defmitions of the dark side. It does, however, conjure extreme manifestations of what exists in the realm of darkness. In my readings I came across a sociologist who explores the dark side of humanity in terms of evil. Ernest Becker (1973) began an exploration of humanity’s fear of immortality. He established that, in order to accept death, we have developed heroes and symbols that become an intricate part of our culture. Thus, life is infinite through our symbolization system. Becker presents the idea that denial of immortality is the cause of human evil. In his 1975 work he continued to define evil by exploring several viewpoints that point to the belief that as humans we do not want to accept that we are sexual animals. By placing ourselves above the primitive, we create evil. Peck (1983) gives several examples of people (clients) he labels “evil” in an attempt to better understand this concept in human behavior and how to cope with it. He addresses the effect that this has on the therapist when working with these individuals. Peck notes the importance for the therapist to recognize countertransference issues and to determine whether or not the countertransference is appropriate. He refers to “revulsion countertransference” as being specific to evil and a feeling that arises when working with clients who project evil. Although he uses a harsh term in describing certain clientele, I find it
As therapists we are in constant confrontation with the dark side of human nature. We offer ourselves in helping others to gain control of their lives, to obtain emotional well-being and to cultivate self-esteem. We also often become the collectors of sadness, despair, and pain. At times during the therapeutic process we act as mirrors that reflect back images to our clients, some of whom assimilate a more primitive self without sufficient means for self-control. For other clients we participate in reliving the horror of having been a victim of unleashed violence. Why do we do this? Why be a therapist who listens and confronts the horrors in other people’s lives? The Dark Side What is the dark side? I have difficulty obtaining a clear definition, but then trying to find one’s way in the dark is awkward. Jung (1968, p. 21) stated, “The ego is only a bit of consciousness which floats upon the ocean of dark things. The dark things are the inner things.” I like this statement because it leaves the darkness an open entity for everyone to explore, allowing all of us to have a personal understanding of the dark side. Clearly, Jung explored the dark things through investigating the concept of the shadow. He defined the shadow as a moral problem. As it involves defining one’s morals in order to face the dark aspects of one’s personality, the shadow is resisted. Jung also indicated that the dark side refers to those aspects of the self that lead us to feel inferior, which, in turn, are those things we *Rose Geiser
is a art therapist
at Bridgehaven,
Louisville,
MA, ATR*
KY, a psychosocial 133
and education
day treatment
program
for adults.
ROSE
134
MARANO
pertinent when addressing cases with horrific content. Strasberger (1986) explores the therapist’s feelings when specifically treating the antisocial client. The antisocial personality is often associated with evil because most have been the perpetrators of events society deems to be horrorfilled realities. He discusses several specific countertransference reactions toward this type of client: fear of assault, helplessness, guilt, feelings of invalidity and loss of identity, denial, hatred, rejection, and rage. Although Strasberger writes about specific clientele, I feel that he raises issues relevant to much of the work done in therapy. As a therapist I have felt some of these emotions, but not necessarily during sessions with the antisocial personality. Self-Exploration
As Therapist
I wish to raise questions from personal experience about the overall effects on the therapist who works with the dark side of human nature. Do we, in fact, experience a type of “revulsion countertransference?” How we deal with the transgressions of social morality in our client’s lives is essential to the establishment of an honest therapeutic relationship. We contribute to the field of mental health with our own special approaches to therapy. Individually, we choose the roles we want to engage within our work. Perhaps the roles we choose take part in how we cope with what we hear in the therapy session. Searching through the wide range of possible mental health professions, all of us choose a certain role (clinician, researcher, aide, guard, etc.). All of these roles bring us into direct contact with the primitive psyche, but they may also lend themselves to a type of separation. During my early contacts with forensics I worked with several women who had killed their children. When first hearing the details of these incidents, the facts did elicit revulsion, but I quickly repressed my response. As I researched literature on the topic, I was confronted with several cases that described the horror of infanticide, but I simply collected the information, again neglecting my feelings. However, I know that the experience of working with infanticidal mothers has affected me, especially since I have become a mother. Now I can admit that hearing
GEISER about those cases stirred unconscious fears about my own parents, as it now stirs an examination of my own skills as a parent. When we act as withholding or restraining staff, we separate ourselves in our actions by setting physical restraint and control for clients. Simultaneously, we participate on the same primitive level of the client. This became apparent to me while in the act of physically controlling clients in a residential setting for adolescents. Acting-out individuals were encircled by staff and talked to in an attempt to have them go to a “time-out” room independently. If they were not compliant, we staff then moved in closer and took hold of the resistive adolescents. At times we brought them to the floor in order to be able to carry them to the time-out room. While encircling a particular adolescent, images flashed through my mind of the animalistic behavior of “closing in on the prey.” It was also ritualistic in appearance, as a circle formed around the central figure to be initiated into submission/conformity. The need for restraining(repressing) the animal (primitive) aspect of the psyche is so strong that the actual physical restraining process seems to take on a primitive quality. As therapists we generally choose to be in direct contact with the dark side. We may also choose to separate when we fail to acknowledge the horror. Again, this was my own realization during my earlier experiences in providing art therapy within a jail setting. During that time I was in contact with some extreme cases of the dark side of behavior, but I never really felt frightened by what I heard or by the inmates. Feelings of fear and horror have now surfaced from time to time when remembering that place. The lack of fear during the time I worked in that setting allowed me to do so without becoming emotionally overwhelmed. There was one instance when I did feel uneasy. I was working with a timid, frail young man who was diagnosed schizophrenic. He was incarcerated for having murdered a woman. Two drawings he made finally struck me with the reality of his potential violence. He began a drawing of a skull that took up most of the paper. Quickly he drew over the skull, turning it into a portrait of a woman. Then he added a small figure that he said was a man peering over the woman’s shoulder. In another session he drew a
FACE TO FACE WITH THE DARK SIDE
Figure
I. Stigmata
Series-Observation
similar image that again was a woman with a man looking from behind her. In this drawing it appeared that I was the woman and he was the one peering from behind me. Later in the session he told me that he had, in fact, drawn me. Here I was presented with the horror of this man’s past murderous action and with the possibility of my also being his victim. Uncovering the reasons behind my choosing to work in corrections is a continuous process. One reason may be that whenever I am frightened of something, I am compelled to confront it in order to dissipate the fears. A more credible explanation is my need to understand my own feelings of imprisonment. Perhaps I was confronting my own “evils.” My supervisor and I have explored these issues in dealing with counter-transference. One question that evolved from those discussions still disturbs me, “What pre-
135
vents all of us from acting out like criminals, who act out their dark side in the extreme?” Although forensic psychology attempts to clarify the distinction between the criminal personality and those who conform to society’s norm, we do not have a clear understanding of why some people deviate and others do not. Unable to deline answers to such issues, I found that I not only relied on supervision and peers at the time, but that I used the artist in me to cope with everything to which I had been exposed. It was not until several months after my jail experience that I began to acknowledge my accumulated visions of the dark side. The artist in me took over as I began a series of drawings that reflected mysterious undertones (Figures 1 and 2). The therapist in me was quiet for a while and allowed the imagery to be released without immediate analysis. At first I did not fully understand the relationship between my art and the jail, but I knew there was a link. It was difficult to see the connection as I considered the drawings to be formal art rather than art therapy work. Perhaps this, again, was a way in which I separated from the horror. Now when I look at these images I see various stages that I experienced in order to accept the dark side. In these drawings there is a sense of observation, envelopment, confrontation, capture, escape, and integration. As a therapist gathering data, I was an observer; I was separate from the painful realities presented to me. I did not personally experience what was shared during sessions. I became enveloped as the barriers between the criminal and noncriminal lessened. People labeled “criminal” also live through the terror released by their own actions. I was confronted constantly with the dark realities of human behavior and reminded of my own darkness. I was captured within a system that reflected the crimes of those incarcerated. Furthermore, I was behind bars as well. There existed an ability to escape as I was not retained by the penal system; I had not committed a crime to be punished. Escape peaked when I accepted that the horrors I heard were real. I was then able to integrate the dark side of existence and begin to accept my own darkness as an essential part of myself. The images reflect a personal unconscious exploration of my own shadow, which was initiated by my clients’ self-exposure.
136
ROSE
MARANO
t‘i,qurc, 2. Stigmata
Since my experience at the jail 1 have worked with a variety of individuals. I have not only engaged with the criminal element but with their victims as well. When I have related to the horrors of the victim I have felt fear, anger, pity, and pain not unlike the hidden emotions I experienced while working with the assailant. Fear and anger are stimulated in reliving the client’s horror and realizing that the horror may have been personally experienced. While working with the assailant I have felt more fear and anger toward the violent act rather than toward the perpetrator. I have felt pity for the victim and shared in the pain expressed. There is something pitiful about the lives of criminals as well, for all too often their lives have been a continuum of involvements in unlawful deeds. Some have acted out in violence only once when they lost total control over their darker elements. There are some assailants who feel pain from true remorse. I know from my own outbursts of anger that I am not expressing anger because I feel painless. There is pain behind acts of violence and pain is released through them.
GEISER
Series-Confrontation
This does not justify criminal behavior, but it certainly complicates the simplistic definition of what constitutes a victim and a criminal. Working with those who have been involved in acts of horror, be it victim or assailant, has illuminated my understanding of the dark side; it has also caused more questions and emotions to surface.
References Becker, E. (1973). Derriul O/ dearth. New York: The Free Press. Becker, E. (1975). Escupr,fi-orn et*;/. New York: The Free Press. Jung, C. G. (1958). Psyche crrrd symbol. New York: Bollinger Foundation. Jung, C. G. (1968). Atlu/yticrr/ psychology: trs rhrory rrnd practice. New York: Vintage Books. heding of’ Peck, M. S. (1983). Prople oj’thr lie: The hopefbr humcrn e~,i/. New York: Simon & Schuster. Strasberger, L. H. (1986). Treatment of antisocial syndrome: The therapists’ feelings. In W. H. Reid, D. Dorr, J. 1. Walker, & J. W. Bonner (Eds.), Unmrr.sking the psychopath: Antisocid personality dromes. New York: Norton.
mnd
relnred
syn-