Ongoing Cross-National Identity Transformation: Living on the Queer Japan-U.S. Transnational Borderland

In this essay, I analyze my border performances of becoming and being as an embodied text to explicate, elucidate, and elaborate culturally hybrid practices of intercultural transition. I pay close attention to unpack the material realities of my hybridity as I continue to live within and beyond queer (or non-heteronormative) Japan–US transnational borderland. In so doing, I aim to illustrate (dis)connections between my identity negotiation processes and the multiple significances of queer Asian/American male identity construction to disrupt the heteronormative modes of thinking about intercultural transitions.     

Trauma,Healing and The Reconstruction Of Truth

The author analyzes recent developments in trauma theory, made necessary especially after the massive psychic traumas following World War II and the Shoah. The theories of Freud and Ferenczi are analyzed, especially, their different views of reality and their clinical attitude. When working with survivors of any trauma (from incest to genocide) it is necessary to reconstruct the historical details as carefully as possible, with the appropriate timing. Psychoanalysis is therefore viewed as an ethical and political practice similar to testimony, allowing the reconstruction of truth within the community and interrupting the cycle of the death instinct from one generation to the next.     

Coherence,Brain Evolution,and the Unity of Consciousness: The evolution of Planetary Consciousness in the Light of Brain Coherence Research

The law of coherence helps us understand the physical force behind the increasing complexity of the evolutionary process, from quanta, to cells, to self-awareness and collective consciousness. The coherent electromagnetic field is the inner glue of every system, the “intelligent” energy–information communication that assures a cooperative and synergic behavior to all the components of the system, as a whole, allowing harmonious evolution and unity of consciousness. Neuropsychological experiments show that the different brain areas communicate with more or less coherence according to different states of consciousness: high values are correlated with states of psychophysical integrity and well-being, whereas low values with states of conflict and depression. If we expand isomorphically these brain discoveries, we will have four main general states of coherence: from disgregation to unity, which represents an important element, in the General System Theory, to differentiate between inanimate and animate system, and to understand how billions cells become a single living organism, and then how billions of human beings could eventually generate planetary consciousness. In this light the resolution of the global ecosystem crisis implicates human transformation from a low to a highly coherent state of consciousness. The key to the entire process seems to be the coherent nature of consciousness.     

The Evolution of Consciousness and the Theology of Nature

Theology and philosophy have traditionally assumed a radical split between human beings and the rest of creation. Philosophically, the split is usually justified in terms of a locus humanus , some one cognitive trait that human beings possess and nonhuman animals do not. Theologically, this trait is usually identified as that which makes us in the image of God. Research in animal cognition, however, suggests that we are not unique in as many respects as we think we are. This suggests that we rethink the idea of the image of God. In light of this, I propose that we think of nature itself as being in the image of God, with humankind as part of the broader natural and theological process.     

The Holographic Principle of Mind and the Evolution of Consciousness

The Holographic Principle holds that the information in any region of space and time exists on the surface of that region. Layers of the holographic, universal “now” go from the inception of the universe to the present. Universal Consciousness is the timeless source of actuality and mentality. Information is experience, and the expansion of the “now” leads to higher and higher orders of experience in the Universe, with various levels of consciousness emerging from experience. The brain consists of a nested hierarchy of surfaces that range from the most elementary field through the neuron, neural group, and the whole brain. Evidence from the evolution and structure of the brain shows that optimal surface areas in a variety of structures are conserved with respect to underlying surfaces. Microgenesis, the becoming of the mental state through a process of recapitulation of development and evolution, is in full accord with the Holographic Principle. Evidence from a wide variety of contexts indicates the capacity on the mind for total recall of past life events and for access to universal information, indicating connection with the holographic surfaces of prior “nows” and with the Universal holographic boundary. In summation, the Holographic Principle can help us explain the unity and mechanisms of perception, experience, memory, and consciousness.     

The Role of Group Experiences in the Healing Process of Massive Childhood Holocaust Trauma

This paper proposes that Holocaust child survivors profoundly benefit from participating in a variety of group modalities. From participant observation and interviews we demonstrate that affiliation in organizations, social events, commemorations, rituals, and particular therapeutic groups each contributes to the well-being of Holocaust child survivors. Mourning is enhanced by joining forces with others from a historical event that left many children orphans, bereft of a home, a community, a country, and an identity. Group participants achieve individuation and ego integration, and gain clarity about the complex psychological consequences of surviving the Holocaust. A fragmented identity is restored through the opportunity of interacting with others whose identity has been ruptured by similar cataclysmic events.Senior Research Fellow, Graduate Center of CUNY. Codirector, Psychotherapy with Generations of the Holocaust and Related Traumas, Training Institute for Mental Health. Codirector, Child Development ResearchSenior Member and Faculty, National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. Codirector, Child Development Research     

Consciousness,Trauma, and Health: A Cognitive Systems Response to Payne,Walsh, and Oman

Religion and cognitive science contribute complementary understandings of the human person, and an integrated perspective can bridge clinical, spiritual, and philosophical resources to facilitate healing and growth. Drawing upon cognitive science and systems theory, I respond to Richard Payne, Mary Walsh, and Doug Oman’s comments on my Mind, Brain, and the Elusive Soul (Graves 2008; Oman 2011; Payne 2011; Walsh 2011).     

R.S. Downie (ed.) The Healing Arts: An Oxford Illustrated Anthology

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics -     

Islamic Trauma Healing: Integrating Faith and Empirically Supported Principles in a Community-Based Program

Access to adequate, much less state-of-the-art, mental health care is a global problem. Natural disasters, civil war, and terrorist conflict have forcibly displaced millions of Muslims and have resulted in a remarkable level of individual and communitywide trauma exposure. As a result, many are at risk for posttraumatic stress and other trauma-related disorders. Many religiously oriented Muslims traditionally rely on Islamic principles and teachings, as well as their community, to cope with and address trauma-related distress. Islamic Trauma Healing is a six-session, lay-led group intervention developed within a Somali Muslim community that integrates evidence-based trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy principles with cultural and religious practices aimed to enhance uptake and create an easily up-scalable intervention for a wide range of trauma. In sessions, narratives of prophets who have undergone trauma (e.g., Prophet Ayyub, faith during hard times) present Islamic principles and facilitate cognitive shifts. Group members spend individual time turning to Allah in dua (i.e., informal prayer), focused on exposure to trauma memories. Program themes arc across suffering to healing to growth following trauma. This paper describes the core theoretical principles and methods in the Islamic Trauma Healing program. We also describe leader perspectives and the program’s train-the-trainer model, in which lay leaders are trained to further disseminate the program and allow Islamic Trauma Healing to be owned and sustained by the Muslim community.