by Brian Balke | Mar 15, 2022 | Book Reviews
Life Is complicated. That is true both as respects biology and society. The brain seeks to prioritize the signs arising from the world and to coordinate the body’s response to events. Because the world is complicated, the brain is complicated. Organizing that...
by Brian Balke | Mar 10, 2022 | Book Reviews
The human brain is a complex, organic, continuously evolving system. For those suffering mental conflict, this has practical consequences for the healing process. Complex: nobody can tell you exactly why you are suffering or how to recover. Organic: as it evolves, the...
by Brian Balke | Nov 25, 2021 | Book Reviews
When addressing injuries, modern medical technology is miraculous. Setting bones, restoring heart beats, and healing burns are all gifts to those that suffer them. But in the face of chronic disease, modern medicine struggles. For sufferers of neurological or...
by Brian Balke | Nov 12, 2021 | Book Reviews
“In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts” explores the nature of addiction. Gabor Maté is a physician and activist who serves those ground down by the War on Drugs, personalities blown around the streets like loose-leaf sheets. Recognizing and frustrated by the addict’s...
by Brian Balke | Oct 28, 2021 | Book Reviews
Healing practitioners confront the constraint that most clients want only to stop feeling bad. In hypnotherapy, that begins with trance experiences that build inner peace. That opens doors to self-awareness and release of tension. Unfortunately, few continue until...
by Brian Balke | Oct 22, 2021 | Book Reviews
We once spoke of the mentally disturbed as “divorced from reality.” When overwhelmed by circumstances, the “will was broken.” Those prone to outbursts of anti-social behavior were said to “wrestle with their inner demons.” On the sliding scale that ends in insanity,...