Landscapes Of The Mind
  • Home
  • Musings & Reflections
  • Glimpses Through The Lens
    • The Feathered Beauties
    • I Saw,I Clicked... >
      • Vishnupur
      • The Tantalizing Landscape Of Uttaranchal
      • Amidst The Sand Dunes Of Khuri
      • Chatris Of Shekawati
      • Havelis Of Shekawat
    • I Saw, I Clicked Part II >
      • Hosaholalu
      • Pristine Havelock
      • Pichavaram
      • Chidambaram
    • I Saw I Clicked Part III >
      • Yosemite
      • A Day At The Vatican Museum
      • Norcia
      • Moscow
    • Butterflies & Flowers
    • Close Encounters At Corbett
    • Bijapur & Beyond
    • Enchanting Athirapalli
    • Splendours of Seatlle
    • Monet's Garden
  • Glimpses Through The Lens: II
    • Poetry in stone >
      • Brihadeeswarar Koil
      • Gangaikondacholapuram
      • Dharasuram
      • Thanjavur Art Gallery
    • In The Land Of Enlightenment
    • Charming Chitrapu
    • Exploring Orissa >
      • Mesmerizing Mangalajodi
      • Bewitching Bhetnoi
      • Daksa Prajapati Temple
    • Birding Down Under >
      • Parrots Galore!
      • Lyrical Lyre Bird
      • Honey Eaters
      • Kingfishers, Wrens, Wagtails, Warblers...
      • Orioles, Golden Whistlers
      • Cockatoos, Kookaburras & Magpies
      • Pigeons, Doves
      • Birds Of Prey, Bower Birds
      • Water Birds & In Flight
      • Others
    • Murals of Pundarikapuram
  • Contact Me

Through The Lens Of A Poet: Keats & Psychotherapy

10/28/2022

15 Comments

 
Picture
Life is a delicate dance between mystery and certainty. We sometimes have a glimpse of the former, albeit fleetingly, but settle for the latter as it offers a sense of security. It provides a reassuring road map as we negotiate unpredictable terrains in our lives. In that pursuit we often adhere to a path which we believe is preordained. As a consequence we hesitate to venture and explore myriad trails that can uncover different ways of living and being. Stepping into the unknown is fraught with fear and unease.
What qualities do we need to acquire in that pursuit?
John Keats, whose birthday is today, suggested that we need to embrace a state of ‘negative capability’ which he described eloquently as “when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.” What he alluded to is perhaps to emphasise that uncertainty can be a creative force with boundless possibilities if we are able to harmonise ambiguities of life without constraining them within rational systems. 

This framework guides me in my therapeutic work. Clients often enter into therapy in uncertain phases of their lives amidst the throes of painful upheavals. Overwhelmed with distress, they look for answers that can mitigate their suffering.. from the therapist. My effort is to provide a space to facilitate and empower the client to seek answers within themselves. In that quest I foster a climate of negative capability in the client so that they can acknowledge and explore possibilities that emanate, to work through their uncertainties. Though I attend to this task with professional knowledge accrued through theoretical inputs and an empathic stance attuned to suffering, I also have to nurture and hone my skills in negative capability. In pursuit of that, I strive to remain in that unknowing state, adopting a reflective stance and gently let the emotional core of the interaction guide the processes. To paraphrase Keats, I continue to be “enchanted by the flowing complexity” of the therapeutic interaction. This I believe is the essence and beauty of psychotherapy.
It is akin to listening to Miles Davis’s “Kind Of Blue” and his use of space between the notes. He remarked, “Don’t play what’s there, play what isn’t there.”
Often I sense this when I see two birds flying across a boundless sky…what unites them is the vastness which they are trying to fathom… 

Would love to have a glimpse of your responses here!



15 Comments
Alok Bajpai
10/30/2022 08:53:16 pm

Uncertainty ...surely is life with all its complexity
Certainty is what brain wants
All rest is in between..

Reply
Dr Raguram Ramanathan
10/30/2022 10:18:55 pm

And thar's the task of the therapist to fathom and learn

Reply
Rathna Isaac
10/30/2022 09:43:26 pm

So beautifully put- and so true of what we end up doing as therapists.

Reply
Dr Raguram Ramanathan
10/30/2022 10:20:17 pm

Thanks Rathna. Psychotherapy unfortunately has been compartamentalized and 'promoted'. It is time to discover what Jerome Frank said decades ago!

Reply
Sanghamitra Iyengar
10/30/2022 10:04:38 pm

That was beautiful. Just as the creative process need uncertainty to evolve and amaze, I guess the therapeutic process can use uncertainty to accept one's own vulnerability and thus empowering the client. The Romantics were mostly identified at the superficial level. They had so much more to offer.

Reply
Dr Raguram Ramanathan
10/30/2022 10:22:04 pm

More and more I tend to feel that as therapists we negotiate these processes, there is a dire need for supervision of the therapist

Reply
bala fischer
10/31/2022 03:04:48 am

Yes indeed, Sir. Quality supervision for the therapeutic process is an essential factor to navigate therapy where the therapist doesn’t overwhelm the patient with his/her ‘wisdom’ while allowing the patient to develop personal problem mitigating strategies. Your comparison of Keat’s negative capability to the therapeutic process is genius, Sir. And it makes profound sense.

Reply
Dr Raguram
10/31/2022 05:41:16 pm

Thanks Bala!

Reply
Ranjini Rajgopalan
10/31/2022 08:47:40 pm


There is a lurking fear of the unknown in everyone as they go through different periods in their life! I feel, uncertainty , helps you to delve deep into your innate mental strengths and capabilities and bring out the best in you!
But sadly, today everyone wants quick results! Fast progress!
This surely sets in a kind of complacency and stalls future progress.
A therapists’ good listening ear helps the client recognise his dormant inner strength !
However, the client needs to open his wings and fly!

Reply
Dr Raguram
10/31/2022 09:20:02 pm

The task is to keep the doors of the unknown open within and outside!

Reply
Nikhita Kulkarni
10/31/2022 10:27:37 pm

This write up reflects beautifully about one's struggle with uncertainties only to realise that most answers lie within us, which when facilitated by a therapist makes the journey seem less difficult.Wonderfully put indeed!

Reply
Arun Kishore
11/1/2022 11:50:00 pm

You have touched the heart of the therapeutic process (in my understanding) through those beautiful lines. The person enters therapy filled with the fear of not knowing. We help them to become curious, explorative and playful with that state, only by being able to be in that state ourselves, authentically.

Reply
Anbudorai
11/2/2022 01:58:23 am

A thing of beauty ,a joy forever ♾️ his brief life,blindeningly beautiful lines r proof .
Beauty truth , truth beauty 😍 another short immortal phrase ,loaded with so much meaning
Thank u sir for reconnecting us with him at a deeper more profound level

Between extremes of duality ,becoming aware of harmonies beyond contradictory phases - to paraphrase the buddha - uncertainity is the only certainity in life
Certainty is either for gods in heaven or induviduals on earth with delusions

Reply
Lat
11/4/2022 07:48:34 am

Your musings are so lyrical and truly reflective of the journey of a therapist. It reminds me of the many moments of uncertainty I have faced during therapy. For Therapy to flow through these moments I think we need to evolve as mature therapists.

Reply
Vasudha Rao
11/21/2022 04:45:43 am

I remember you mentioning 'negative capability' in one of your talks, Sir. Beautiful and profound write up. Thank you

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Dr Raguram

    Someone who keeps exploring beyond the boundaries of everyday life to savor and share those unforgettable moments....

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    May 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly