Donald Marmara, Somatic Psychotherapist, Artarmon, Sydney.
As a teenager, I was diagnosed clinically depressive and for several years I was prescribed ever-increasing dosages of anti-depressant drugs.
Eventually I moved to London where I discovered forms of therapy – mainly Biodynamic Psychotherapy and Biosynthesis ( both methods of somatic psychotherapy) – that enabled me to come completely off the drugs within a few months, and I have never taken an anti-depressant again.
At first I reacted by wanting everyone to experience the forms of therapy that had such a transformational impact on my life. I hated and was passionately opposed to all forms of drug therapy and western medicine.
Gradually I came to realise that at the time that I was prescribed the medication, I was not ready to face my feelings and take responsibility for my life.
I was too emotionally damaged to do this, and I reckon that the medication gave me the space and time to find the courage I needed to take the next step. I came to realise that, much as I resented being prescribed the medication, it probably saved my life!
Fortunately, the psychotherapy practitioners who worked with me in London did not criticise me. They never suggested that I stop taking the drugs or even that I needed to change.
They accepted me the way I was, in ways that I had not experienced before. They were able to listen to me, and to enter into my perceptual world and meet me there.
I felt seen, heard and respected, and this more than anything enabled me to find the courage and motivation to come off the medication and change the direction of my life permanently. I am deeply grateful for this.
I developed Core Development, a creative approach to dealing successfully with life’s challenges, from my professional training, personal therapy and life experience.