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Dennis was the therapist for a famous cartoonist in California, but he didn’t laugh enough. As a professor and therapist he had reached the inglorious stage in his work professionals refer to as “burned out.” I helped put the humor back in Dennis’ day, by, in jest, proposing absurd treatment plans for his perplexed, exhausting patients. I got the very serious Dennis to see that he could help his patients better by using more levity in his treatment hours. He made a super-effort. And he was a better therapist and much happier man for it.
Ben just couldn’t make more than $14,000 per year. He wasn’t big enough? (Oh, Dr. Davis, don’t you mean his MIND, or self-concept wasn’t big enough?) Well, of course I do. And that is what it takes to jump to $300,000 a year in the home addition contracting business. When he came to see me, Ben came to a man who helped him expand his self-concept to include financial wealth and a richness of lifestyle he never thought he could have.
Bob hid every time a beautiful woman came around the corner. His gut hurt so bad his doctor filled him with Elavil. When you grow up with a mom who screams and hits you, you tend to shrink when any other powerful, or beautiful women is nearby. But YOU don’t have to stay that way. Bob found his courage and this gave him beautiful, powerful women in his life, without drugs, and the ability to enjoy almost every minute of it.
Janice just wanted a man to love. And she was smart, hard working and looked good. She drove a bright yellow sports car. (I envied her.) We pushed for the light of her self-confidence. Just as this bright light began to shine in her she had to move away and quit therapy. And, by the way, I got a letter from her three years later thanking me with all her heart and telling me that she was married to a wonderful man and very much in love.
Oh, but you don’t want to hear about Carla. She grew up in poverty. No one wants to hear a sob story. But Carla said a big fat NO to her poverty and lack of education. Where her entire family stumbled in darkness, her path was lighted with the glow of a persistent positive mental attitude. She became the first person in her family history to graduate from college. Then she earned a masters degree! She became very successful in business. At over 40 she bought her first house (a gorgeous home) and fell in love with a wonderful man. (They DO exist.) And I forgot to tell you. Her broken back got repaired, too.
Now remember Joe, whom I wrote about in my book Astonishing Physics of the Mind. He managed an entire community of men, ex-inmates, each trying to get back on his feet. I helped him persevere with strength and compassion. His infant son had died and only a direct experience of God put him again on his feet. Also to his credit, he not only later married one of the most splendid women I’ve ever known; he also had his hearing fully restored, after being deaf from birth! I don’t take credit for THAT miracle. I just pointed (and pushed) him, again and again, in that direction.
What makes cancer of the womb go away? What turns an apparently sick, terrified nineteen-year-old into a healthy, happy young mother? In my young practice I had never seen a young woman hate her mother so much. I gave Gloria permission to both hate and love her mother, without guilt. In my office she railed, pounced and screamed at her mother’s brutality and torturing ways. She brightened considerably. Was this hope? She had to move back to her home city before we got much further. Three months later I received a letter that her cancer was gone. Several years later she wrote me a very grateful letter telling me of her good husband and two children! I was happy.
I pushed her and pushed her. I brought her students. I invited her to teach in my groups. (Which she did.) Then one day she took off as a spiritual teacher. She translated one of the great spiritual books of this age. With tremendous power she brought and today brings a great spirit to many people around the world. I know she gets exhausted. And I know that her students bring light into the lives of their families because of her.
With all that $30,000,000 and Bettany just wanted to live. Oh, she wasn’t dying. Not from cancer, not from diabetes, not from lupus, not from anything a doctor would diagnose. She just got up every morning with a broken heart. She had lost her husband. What came out in our discussions was that she wanted to travel, but was afraid to do so alone. So we hooked her up with Club Med. After a couple of trips she had new friends. New traveling buddies! That started her new life. A life with springs on her heals. She bought an apartment in London and as far as I know, lived happily ever after.
Why was Jimmy so sad? You have never heard sobbing from such a heart. He was born without his masculinity. Yes, he had a penis and testicles, but they were immature, the flesh of a small boy tacked onto a man’s body. His shame would not let him approach a woman. But time, some special hormonal chemistry, and support and understanding made his dreams come true. Within five years he was married to a beautiful woman and enjoying a full sex life. He built a full-time practice as a psychotherapist. You know, Jimmy really wanted this. His searing passion and no-quit attitude were the central driving force of his success. Remember this!
Ken couldn’t breathe. When he climbed a small hill he had to stop many times. He was suffocating. He was 30 and didn’t smoke. And one day he freaked out in my office. He lay quivering on the floor wrapped in an epileptiform seisure. The kind of fit his domineering, enslaving mother used to have. I watched over him. When he arose from that floor he was changed. He could breathe for the first time in his life. And, according to him, this was the happiest he had ever been. You should have seen the smile on him! And he smiled for weeks.
INTERLUDE
Not everyone can be helped using the same methods. I would prefer to help with deep bioenergetic, emotional healing, as, in the long run this improves one’s quality of life the most. But in many cases, the person needs immediately relief from emotional pain. So I try for that. In other cases, the person functions pretty well and has a specific goal. They do not want to be disturbed emotionally or to work at bioenergetic restructuring. So we work at accomplishing their specific goal. And we often have sparkling success. In their depth, every person whould like to become all they can become. But the road to this is often too difficult for most of us. So we work towards more modest accomplishments. In all cases the person seeking help, whether a patient or high fuctioning individual, is our boss. And although we can guide them and enhance their energy, we cannot live their life for them.
Jeff, British by ancestry, had grown up in Hong Kong, his father a leading Evangelist. Jeff had been chosen to bear his father’s mantle, but wanted something else. Jeff and I hiked in the mountains one cold night until we came to a rocky ledge. There we sat until it came out of him. He wanted to know the wonders of existence, but without a religious stigma; he wanted to develop his artisitc gift and paint inspirational moments; and he wanted to connect with a woman with whom he could share the delights of raising their children. I was very happy for him that he achieved all three.
Here are some quotes from other successful clients:
Ron: “I went to see Dr. Davis for Reichian (orgone therapy), because I was all plugged up emotionally. I usually lie on the couch and breathe. This makes me feel alive and young again. Therapeutic breathing clears my mind and fills me with energy. Then I know I can go on and life is worth it. I could never really communicate with my wife before I started this work. Now our relationship and sex life are great.”
Abbey: “I’m difficult to be around. I’m bossy and often people can’t stand me. Here I’m learning to be nicer and accept people as they are. I’m learning to listen. In return people treat me better. I’m very confrontive, but Dr. Davis stops me and gently redirects my thoughts in the direction both he and I know I need to go. We work on me forgiving my parents for not giving me much of a life. I now realize that my present life is the only life I have. I’d better do the best I can with it.”
David: “Being a math professor I’m too much in my head. So I’m seriously studying tai chi as my path for growth. Peter Davis is really a master teacher. He teaches the whole art. I know the difference, being around teachers all the time.Before this I spent several years with meditation but I couldn’t really do it. I needed to move, to be alive and use my body. I tend to be depressed, but less and less so. Studying tai chi has made me feel that what wasn’t possible yesterday is possible today.”
Sarah: “My husband drives me crazy. I used to experience him as mean. And my children use up all my energy. Demands and more demands. Before, I felt I had no life at all. Now with Peter’s help we work on me taking responsibility for my choices, my time, and my life. I feel direct power and I don’t have to fight with my husband. I can respond to him differently, and he says this helps him enormously. I can see the way out. I love my children but I’m no longer giving up my life for them. I am taking back my time and energy and using it for myself. I’m taking time to meditate, ride my bike, and do my creative projects.”
Bill: “In the military I learned to kill, and learned that I was an expendable asset. What helps me the most is that Dr. Davis demands that I respect myself, and treat myself with kindness. Even though I’ve been successful in business, made a lot of money and raised a family, I never finished high school. I didn’t really know how to think, plan, or research something. Peter saw this right away and began giving me I.Q. tests, inspired readings, and what he calls “mental gymnastic exercises.” This has been incredibly exciting, and really blew the lid off my brain. I’ve decided to go back to school, perhaps for a new career. Why not? Now I know how to use my brain for the first time. What a kick!”
Tom: “I’ve been on the spiritual path since I was in my teens. I dropped out of the ministry in my twenties and went in search for something more. I really wanted to find God. I felt I had lost myself, or never known myself. With Peter I talk openly about my quest. He understands my frustration, my exhaustion, and my triumphs. I never understood how powerful intention was until I began this work. I have become convinced it is possible for a man or woman to find God, to become spiritually free. Being with my teacher lifts me up. So I want to stick with him as I learn to lift myself up completely.”
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