Photo Recap of My Pacific Northwest Tour

As many of you may, or may not know last week I spent the week touring the Pacific Northwest! It was a very fulfilling trip in many regards. I wanted to take the time and post some pictures from the trip.

On arriving in Seattle, I spoke to a gathering at the University of Washington about the medical and psychological benefits of Transcendental Meditation. The first picture shows two very long-standing and dear psychiatrist friends (David Avery on the far left and Carla Hellekson on the far right), who did some of the earliest studies on Seasonal Affective Disorder.  Second from the left is David’s wife Victoria, a renowned clown, who made sure that we psychiatrists did not take ourselves too seriously.  The same friends are shown below as well, along with psychiatrist Michael Norden and his wife.

After my visit to Seattle, Mike dusted off his mantra and started meditating again — A happy development. Also along the railing, just above the picture of my psychiatrist friends is the TM team from Seattle, which is headed up by the indefatigable Annie Skipper (far left), who organized the U of Washington event and was a great hostess.  We had lunch together at Anthony’s Pier 66 — Bell Street Diner, which I recommend to all visitors to Seattle.

After the talk, I signed copies of Transcendence. Altogether, it was great fun and hopefully informative…

October 3rd Lecture at the University of Washington, Photos:

The University of Washington photos below are compliments of Ed Frey Photography.

On October 4th I spent some time at Madigan Hospital

One of the highlights of my trip to the Pacific Northwest was my visit to Madigan Hospital, located on the Joint Base Lewis McCord near Tacoma, Washington.  I spoke to the faculty there about the problem of PTSD among our returning veterans, and our research in treating PTSD with Transcendental Meditation (TM), which they are beginning to use there as a treatment option.  Another treatment approach is the use of service dogs, such as the black Lab named Bella, shown in this picture.  The serviceman in the picture is explaining how dogs like Bella are trained to respond to anxiety in their owners.  When the owner becomes anxious, the dog will lick him or comfort him in some other way.  If the dog perceives that the owner is too agitated, she will lead him out of the room until he is able to calm down.  In the background is Ellen Bloom, the social worker in charge of the program for wounded warriors on the base.

Tahoma Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Oct 5

The photos below are from the Tahoma Unitarian Congregation, where I had an informal conversation about TM. My gracious host in Tacoma was Ron Pero, a TM teacher shown below. What I enjoyed most about the visit to the Unitarian Congregation  were the questions.  One therapist in the audience asked how I might compare TM with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for anger management.  I told him I work a lot with CBT, but it’s sometimes very laborious to go after one symptom at a time, trying to tease out the triggers for the anger, the distorted thoughts we have when angry, and the behaviors that follow, which need to be corrected.  I am always reminded when I think of these two treatments of Maharishi’s famous image of a sick tree whose leaves are turning brown.  You can go after the tree leaf by leaf, but it’s a losing battle — or you can water it at the root.  Sometimes CBT with its symptom by symptom approach feels like trying to heal the tree leaf by leaf.  Transcendental Meditation, on the other hand, often leads to feelings of calm self-nurturance.  Maharishi used to say: “Water the root and enjoy the fruit.”

Thank you very much for taking the time to view this post on my Pacific Northwest . For more updates on current events such as this please subscribe to my newsletter below.

Wishing you Light and Transcendence,

Norman