I used to be so bold and brave and hubris in heart – what has taken these from me? I used to dream of striving ahead – now, I am aware and have begun to prepare to meet the dead. Where can I find solace in my head – should I look elsewhere, like my …
Author: Andrew Waller
Stephen is a native Texan and an avid researcher, writer, and educator. Before graduating with a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University, Stephen published his first book, A Two Sided Truth: An Anthology of a Human Experience. This book is a compilation of poems, prose, and short stories he composed throughout his undergraduate studies. Stephen continued his educational journey and received a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling from Texas State University. Stephen worked extensively with young adults diagnosed with neurodevelopment disorders, such as Autism, ADHD, and learning differences. This experience helped transform Stephen’s interest in writing from a hobby to a therapeutic tool for his current work as a clinical mental health professional, utilizing writing-based techniques and interventions to promote healing and encourage self-discovery.
Tides of Time
Assign me my fate, and I won't hesitate. Pause for a moment and do a brief retake. Distort the original, and the copies die at a slow rate. Line me up at the starting line, and I will run the race. Start me in the blocks, and I will write the page. Transmute me into …
Being a Psychotherapist: The Role of Transference
Working as a mental health professional is taxing on the individual. Some recent studies have shown that 78% of psychiatrists and more than 50% of psychotherapists reported work-related burnout, according to self-reports (Summers et al., 2020; Olazagasti et al., 2021) As a psychotherapist myself, I can speak to the reality of this experience; however, I …
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Deceiving Ourselves to Death
Regardless of when, where does this all end? Living with an autoimmune disease both outside and within. Voices tell me to pick up the pen. "Don't listen to them," warns the opposing side. There's so many reasons to keep it inside. Fears plead with me to hide. Besides, what's the point in speaking up anyways? …
Ascending the Depths
Everyday change creates a seductive argument urging my analytical brain to review the evidence yet again.Could it be so simple?Break down the principle.Trace the threads that interweave reality.Do the same patterns that govern the stars orient the psyche? The lines of this poem were used to create the above image using NightCafe Creator, an AI …
Transformation & Repetition
Living in a constant cycle;Moving in this perpetual flow.Continual searching for how to know.Could it be so simple as learning to truly let go? The lines of this poem were used to create the above image using NightCafe Creator, an AI art generator. You can view more of my collection here.
A Reflection from Within
Night falls, winter crawls, and summers to remember.When forced to reflect and recall, we decide to deny it all.Seeking inner recesses from the worries outside.Where do we go to hide when there is also division inside? The lines of this poem were used to create the above image using NightCafe Creator, an AI art generator. …
Psychological Fragments: Emotional Systems
Emotions are energetically charged psychic content. The magnitude and direction of this charge can be mediated or controlled by conscious cognitive processes, such as thinking, and less conscious aspects, such as attitudes. Emotional charges have affinities for like-charged units and tend to form clusters that increase their gravity (psychic significance) and complexity. Moreover, these aspects …
Tension of the Times
One of the hallmarks of Carl Jung's work is his conceptualization of the shadow. Roughly speaking, the shadow consists of instincts, aspects, qualities, and the like that are unrecognized or repressed in oneself. Jung did not believe that the shadow was only comprised of bad things but also included good parts and positive potentialities (Sharp, …
A Two Sided Truth 