An Introduction to the "Practical Therapy" Series

I am not a psychologist. I am not a psychiatrist. I am not a doctor, psychic, astrologist, relationship counselor or anything of the like.

I am a human being, just like the average person, who has known love and known loss. I have been in and been afforded the oppurtunity to experience a variety of relationships, through both direct and indirect involvement and objective observation.

My experiences, like most, began early in my life, of course, with my parents, and expanded, over the passage of years and evolving maturity, to include a plethora of "normal" experimentations and interesting, if not entirely unusual, relationship scenarios.

In the 21st century, though it has been a rapidly mutating epidemic since the mid 20th century, our specie has fallen prey to dereliction, in the wake of rapid growing society, rapidly progressing technological advance and rapidly changing cultural and social structures.

The predator is abandonment.

The abandonment of the importance of a unified familial structure. The abandonment of all meaning and purpose to intimate relationships: physical, emotional and mental. The abandonment of the value of true companionship and friendship. The abandonment of the hope, necessary in the giving and receiving of love, at any degree.

This world, that we have created for ourselves, is fueled by capitalistic based competition--a greed to be above someone else, even if that "above" status is only a self perception of accomplishment, valueless in the face of a greater achievement. Selfishness has replaced selflessness. Words of endearment, such as chivalry, honor and duty have all but vanished, into the past and become foreign to us. Divorce and annulment have become commonplace. Sex has become something akin to a recreational activity, done with no more thought than choosing a partner to play cards with. No longer does the term "making love" have meaning.

Children are having babies, without even owning the rudimentary knowledge of how to gain employment, how to open a bank account or how to pay a bill, for that matter. Single parent homes are in excess, many of the chidren never knowing who the second of the coupling was.

Couples base their relationship on physical attraction alone, knowing little or nothing about their chosen partner, until it's too late to build a solid and safe foundation for a healthy, comfortable and love filled relationship. Separation occurs, often--too often, in fact--leaving a trail of devastated self-esteems, regrets, unintended casualties, in the form of a child or children, that must suffer through and--if they're lucky--endure the aftermath of the separation, and not to mention the physical, emotional and mental strains, that each will carry into future relationships. This is provided that one, the other or both are not among the unfortunate group, that refuse or find it extremely difficult to put their faith into another relationship, or a normal and healthy one, in any case.

Everyone wants to love someone and be loved, in kind.

Most peoples' definition of love, or at least what they want out of love and relationship, is similar, with certain variations, being adamant inclusions or exclusions. But... it's all relative.

When I first developed the idea--or rough inclination, which I believe to be a more appropriate statement--for the Practical Therapy Series, I only did so because of my own need for answers, interpretations... longing--Yes! Longing--for the understanding of the application of love.

True love, to be exact.

What can I say? I am a hopeless romantic.

But, however, the understanding that I've sought so long after isn't exclusive to the passionate love, of two lovers joined or the matriarchal love, of a mother for her young.  It is for the all encompassing love, that rewards patience, compassion and the decisions that sometimes must be made, at the highest difficulty level, at the cost of the love of another.

Over the last quarter of my life, love has been kind and extremely generous, with its' gifts.  And, though it's been some years since I've revisited the ideas, contained within this series--truthfully, until recently, I've had little cause for these ideas--I believe that their temporary abandonment turned out to be for the best.

As I have stated, in the first paragraph of this article, I'm no doctor or meta physicist.  I'm an ordinary person who has been on the front lines of that battlefield, called love.  I've been wounded and I've survived.  I've wounded and have had to face and endure through the pain of regret.

What I offer is the benefits of my experience, the testimony of my love, within a continuously thriving marriage to a woman who loves me, in kind.  And, perhaps a little in-site into the possibilities within your own life.

In this Practical Therapy Series, "Knowing and Understanding Relationships", I will take you on a journey of self-exploration, through the ins and outs of relationships and explore, in detail, the causes and effects of feelings and actions directly related to specific relationship scenarios.

Also, we will explore those elements necessary for a healthy, fruitful, happy and otherwise successful relationship.  We will also view those elements, which are advent signs that a relationship is not worth pursuing, deteriorating... or at an end.

My only wish, in writing this series is to strengthen my own heart, and maybe lend a little to someone else.

Good journey, my friend, and... good luck.