The Medication Conundrum: Does It Serve or Inhibit Well Being?

January 17th, 2020

11:30am – 1:30pm

Location: The Boulder Jewish Community Center
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Michael Jon Altman, LPC, CACIIHost: Barry Erdman

About The Presentation

The presenter, Michael Altman, will explore the ethical, psychological, and spiritual significance of using drugs. We will delve into the good, the bad, and the ugly ramifications of involvement with prescription drugs and drugs not prescribed as a treatment modality, and also consider the realms of consensual and non-consensual reality. The presenter will use case studies from his private practice along with an overview of the literature pertaining to using and withdrawing from drugs. All drugs, whether prescribed or illicit serve a common purpose: to change the way we feel. Mr. Altman’s underlying premise will be looked at through three different lenses.

THE BUSINESS OF MENTAL HEALTH
We will consider the following issues:
-An overview of the pharmaceutical propagation of drugs, along with some of the myths underlying their popularity
– The prescription cascade: using one drug (or more) to counteract the effects of another
– How diagnoses dovetail with prescriptions and can become self-fulfilling prophecies.
– Why do we hear so little about the challenge and anguish of discontinuing medications?
THE ART OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
This can best be summed up in this passage from the Gnostic Gospel:
“If you bring forth that which is within you then that which is within you will be your Salvation. If you do not bring forth that which is within you then that which is within you will destroy you.”
THE REALM OF SPIRITUALITY
We want/yearn to know ourselves, our True Nature. To be awake and conscious of our very beingness. We want/yearn to strip away the fraudulent, imposed upon and conditioned expressions of ourselves and learn to live in accordance with the simplicity and harmony of Life. What role do drugs play in this undertaking?

About the Presenter

Michael Jon Altman received his Bachelor’s degree from City College of New York (CCNY) and his Master’s degree in psychology from University of Vermont. He has been a psychotherapist since 1978.  In that time period he was employed as the Education Director of the Boulder County Jail, and at the Mental Health Center of Boulder County, serving as an Interventionist in Boulder Valley schools. He has been involved in various pursuits of healing spanning decades. His trainings and certifications include: yoga, meditation, applied kinesilogy, Dreambody work, NLP, hypnotherapy, and Brainspotting. He currently has a psychotherapy practice in Louisville.

Additional Resources

Listen to Michael Altman’s 1.17.20 radio interview on KGNU.org HERE

[email protected]

(720) 480-2429?

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