MSI Press Blog

The following guest post by Dr. Dennis Ortman, psychologist, former priest, and MSI Press author, will form the basis of a forthcoming book on coping with pandemic conditions, called The Pandemic and Hope . POST-PANDEMIC STR ESS DISORDER  By Dennis Ortman, Ph.D.     I have a fantasy. President Trump will eventually announce victory over the Coronavirus. He will declare, “We have won the war. We have shown our greatness as a nation in working together to defeat this invisible enemy.” He will then express gratitude to all the healthcare workers, who risked their lives, those who supported all the essential services, and the entire nation. He will also report remarkable progress on a vaccine and treatment. American ingenuity again triumphs. Hopefully, this day will come sooner than later.  However, while the war may be won on one front, another remains, the inner battle against fear. We cannot rest on our laurels. Many have aptly compared this epidemic

Alone with Ourselves  In therapy sessions, I have been asking my patients how they are coping with the confinement, loneliness, and fear. Regarding their quarantine, I ask if they experience it more as a prison or retreat. Almost all have told me that it feels mostly like a retreat. Perhaps my encouraging them to relax and observe themselves is paying some dividends. For example, one insight patient, commenting on the lock down, said, “If we allow fear to take over, we’re exchanging prisons and giving ourselves a life sentence.” However, as the quarantine drags on for weeks, I suspect they may change their tunes. Surprisingly, my most emotionally fragile patients struggle little with the virus fear. They do not sweat the big stuff, only the small stuff. For example, they may agonize for years about a rude comment. My patients also complain about so much closeness with restless, bickering kids and bored partners that, they say jokingly, it will eventually lead to the doorst

  Excerpt from The Pandemic and Hope (Ortman) -  A CRITICAL OPPORTUNITY The word “crisis” implies both danger and opportunity. The anxious mind sees only danger, what can go wrong. The wise mind glimpses opportunity and joins the battle with compassion and wisdom. We hear countless stories of people coming forth, risking their lives, to help others. So many people are responding to this tragedy with bravery, generosity, and compassion. There is a dawning awareness of our connectedness. But how far does it reach in our minds: to our community, our nation, the entire world? Will we hang on to a tribal view or open to a global consciousness? Our planet is a mere speck in the boundless, expanding universe. It is so fragile and cries out for care. It appears the epidemic will soon engulf the whole world. As our flu season ends, the time of disease will likely take hold in the southern hemisphere. We have an opportunity to extend our compassion to our southern neighbors, sharing our knowl

  When times get tough and everyone has to look out for everyone else -- helping children, older parents, neighbors, and others, the most forgotten person is the self. Yet, taking care of the self can be the single most important thing you do in order to be able to care for all the others who need your help, regardless of your role in their lives or relationship to them. So, start out the week being good to yourself. Here are some books that can help.     Mama, do you find yourself too busy to take good care of yourself? Whatever your situation, you deserve spectacular health and wellness. With Julie M. Gentile as your personal wellness mentor, this book coaches you along your own authentic self-care path. Using 108 writing prompts and self-care practices, including yoga poses, meditations, and breathing exercises, Julie shows you practical ways to live well that only a mama modern would understand. Become the self-care goddess you truly want to be—you’re worth it! A Woman’s Guide to S

  As a child, I imagined that the year 2020 would feature flying cars, magically calorie-free food, teleportation, and pets that were actually robots. What the actual year 2020 has brought is a complete dumpster fire. At the time of writing, we’re only halfway through, and so far we have experienced increasingly dangerous political divisions, major earthquakes, civic unrest, actual locusts (really), the deaths of cherished public figures, continuing protests for racial equality, massive fires, and murder hornets. We can’t forget about the murder hornets. Oh yes, as if all of this wasn’t already enough, we’re also facing an unprecedented global health crisis in the form of the coronavirus, otherwise known as COVID-19. The WHO first reported a novel virus on January 5, 2020, after a series of cases in Wuhan, China originally thought to be pneumonia proved to be from the same strand of a new disease. [1] The first cases outside China were reported on January 13. On January 20 the U

  As Women's History Month concludes, here are some books that may be of interest; they reflect hope in the aftermath of various kinds of violence against women. They also point out ways that women can manage violence when it appears -- survive it and recover from it. Healing from Incest ( Geri Henderson ) In speaking about Healing from Incest, Susan J. Lewis, Ph.D., J.D., Healing writes: “"Brave, profound, touching, healing. This well-written, honest book takes the reader inside the complexities of the therapeutic healing process from the patient and therapist's unique perspective. It is the story of hard work, hope, commitment and recovery!" Healing from Incest tells the journey of a victim-turned-survivor, working with her therapist to find healing. Readers are pulled into the therapeutic process as Henderson relates her conversations and feelings as a victim of child abuse and Emerton interprets those feelings and describes interventions. For those who recognize t