Some experts can explain complex issues in their simplest form. Their genius isn’t inherent; it comes from years of research, experience, and common sense. Sometimes they write a book that synthesizes those factors and explains things like no other. Reading such books catapults you into another dimension – the solution rather than the problem.
About 30 years ago, a patient gave me a book that remains the best I’ve ever read on achieving mental health. A Scream Away from Happiness, written by Casriel Daniel, M.D., remains the one and only book that I could not do without in my library. I have come to appreciate his intelligence and only wish I’d met him before his early death at the age of 59.
Casriel, a psychiatrist trained in psychoanalysis, was able to squeeze the juice out of the most complex of all therapies and helped people get well, fast. He effectively treated addictions and severe mental health diagnoses as well.
Instead of patients spending years in psychotherapy, when stable enough, his patients attended group therapy to learn how to express their negative emotions and replace them with self-love. He recognized that pain and anger must be removed (not analyzed) before anyone can function healthily. Patients who were willing to fully release their negative emotions and be loved by other members were cured. This is the same message A Course in Miracles teaches: remove the anger and guilt that block love, and you will experience freedom and joy because fear will no longer separate you from love.
Currently, we use pills to treat just about every form of emotional distress and mental illness. I often wonder why. We can recover from the tragic events that left us deeply hurt and in pain. No pill can wipe away the pain; it only masks it, like a tight girdle that compresses excess weight. Once the baggage of old wounds is disposed of, there’s nothing left to medicate.
Every human being has the right to feel good about themselves and their lives. Once we learn to feel our emotions and release them, they no longer hold us prisoner to our traumatic past. It doesn’t have to be complicated. We can either wrap ourselves in endless bandages until we become mummified, or we can let it out in a supportive, loving environment that fosters our healing. It’s no different from raising healthy kids who are taught to express their anger with words and their sadness with tears. It’s okay to let it out. The worst that can happen is that your heart stays open and full of love instead of pain. You are worth it.
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Donna Marks is an educator, licensed psychotherapist, and addictions counselor in Palm Beach, Florida. She has worked with over 6,000 clients. Donna’s struggle with addiction brought her to a worldwide search for healing. She became licensed as a Mental Health Counselor in 1987. In 1989, she earned a Doctorate Degree in Adult Education, then became Certified in Addictions, Gestalt Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Hypnosis, and Sex Therapy. Donna developed an award-winning addiction training program at Palm Beach Community College. She co-owns an outpatient treatment program and serves as a consultant to treatment centers. For 36 years, she has taught A Course in Miracles.
Donna is the author of three books: the multi-award-winning title Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure, and Learn, Grow, Forgive: A Path to Spiritual Success, The Healing Moment: Seven Paths to Turn Messes into Miracles of Love, and her latest fiction, Fortis & Sapiente – A Tale of Two Lovers Who Successfully Navigate the Murky Waters of Love. Donna is a public speaker and has shared her methods with millions of listeners on podcasts and radio shows.
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