Author: Donald Marmara

Donald Marmara created Core Development ,  a learning process which acknowledges the unity and inter-relationships of mind, body, emotions and spirit. It draws on the principles and understanding of somatic psychotherapy, structural dynamics, and Donald's own personal therapy, professional training and life experience. Core development adopts a flexible approach, recognising that what works for one person may not work for another. Donald currently resides and practices in Sydney, and is available for individual sessions, couples sessions, counselling teenagers and parents, and facilitating training programs and workshops. He is also available for Zoom and phone sessions worldwide. He can be contacted on  0412 178 234.

Stressed Anxious or Depressed? Why is your therapy not working for you?

If you have reached out but found the help you have accessed is incomplete or feels wrong, it can make you feel that nothing will ever take away your emotional pain.

This article discusses why therapy may not be delivering the hoped-for results. Have a read, then if you think that my experiential and validating  somatic psychotherapy  approach could help you, call me to discuss this. read more

THE TRUE PURPOSE OF PSYCHOTHERAPY

WORTH REMEMBERING DURING THESE TURBULENT TIMES “We live in a community of people not so that we can suppress or dominate each other or make each other miserable, but so that we can better and more reliably satisfy all life’s healthy needs”. Wilhelm Reich, M.D.

This is the TRUE PURPOSE OF PSYCHOTHERAPY:

To Respect, Value, Deepen and Enrich our experiences, our relationships and our lives.

So why do we need Psychotherapy ?

Just as a high proportion of the causes of problems in the atmosphere lie beneath the surface, in the soil and under the sea, many and possibly most of the causes of our emotional and mental challenges, and the resources needed to heal them, lie beneath the surface of our consciousness. read more

IS IT OK TO USE TOUCH IN PSYCHOTHERAPY?

I would like to suggest that there is no right way.

There are different ways, and each way has advantages and disadvantages.
Sometimes I use touch, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I work with clients who know each other, sometimes I don’t.

When I asked one of my supervisors, David Boadella, what contract he had with his clients, he answered “which client and when?”
read more

Somatic Psychotherapy Dealing with Anxiety, Depression and Trauma

So you’re feeling anxious or depressed. Or you don’t feel quite right but you find it hard to describe how you feel.

You know your life can be better but you don’t know how to get there. You may have already tried various approaches, perhaps even been to counsellors and psychotherapists but not been able to get the results you’re looking for. read more

Restoring Our Capacity To Give and Receive Love

ANXIETY, DEPRESSION AND SOMATIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

This is what my work in emotional learning – including somatic psychotherapy and counselling – is about. Restoring our capacity to give and receive love.

As a society, and indeed as a human race, we have moved so far away from our true nature, from what we know in our hearts – ie that our true nature is loving, cooperative and compassionate – that we we have come to believe that human nature is destructive. read more

Pushing Back the Stigma of Mental Illness

Here is an interesting question. Does a person’s anxiety, depression or other distressing feeling indicate that they are mentally ill, or absolutely normal?

Different schools of thought will give you different answers. In core development terms, however, anxiety, depression and other signs of emotional distress often indicate that your sense of self is healthy enough to produce these symptoms of a deeper, often hidden emotional conflict. read more

THE POWER OF CHOICE: A FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE

When I was 18 years old, I was a good amateur table-tennis player. I never made it to a final, but I made it to a semifinal and a number of quarterfinals.

In the first round of a national competition I was drawn against a player who had one leg shorter than the other and consequently limped and was unable to move fast. read more

Help with Depression, Anxiety and Stress. The Person or the Condition?

It’s good to remind ourselves not to see and relate to people – children and adults – through the filter of a label, however correct we may think the label is.

Some time ago I had the opportunity of working with a woman in her late 20s. She was diagnosed as chronically depressed, and stuck in a junior position in her company because they said she was a slow learner with poor communication skills and no good at working in a team. read more

What is the most important skill of a Somatic Psychotherapist?

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“EVERY TIME WE TEACH A CHILD SOMETHING, WE PREVENT HIM FROM INVENTING IT HIMSELF!” Jean Piaget

You may think that the most important skill of a somatic psychotherapist is their ability to understand your process, to make sense of what you’re going through. That’s helpful but it’s not enough. read more

THERE IS BEAUTY ALL AROUND US…..

I DON’T THINK THE WORLD IS CHANGING IN THE WAY I’D LIKE IT TO.

In these times of upheaval, confusion and anxiety, however, I think it may be useful to consider this:

“There is beauty all around us, only for so many people it is buried and perhaps obscured by fear, hurt, frustration, anger, hopelessness, confusion……. read more