“The Psychonaut Show,” hosted by Dr. JKB, is on a mission to seek out strange, new worlds in inner space. We discover the tools that psychoanalysts since Freud have used to penetrate the mysterious depths of the unconscious. At times, we go beyond psychoanalysis into the wisdom traditions of both East and West, but always with the practical goal of becoming more effective, more connected, and more attractive in our daily lives.
Dr. JKB is John K. Burton, M.D., a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and has been treating patients for more than 20 years. Although he does use medication and evidence-based psychotherapies, he has always found that people respond best when they feel understood. He credits his psychoanalytic training with a framework and tools for understanding even the most confusing situations. His belief that these tools should be available to as many people as possible, without financial or geographical limitations, inspired him to create “The Psychonaut Show” podcast.
We are sending out this Season Finale on the longest night before the new decade; it seems that we are in synchronicity with the cycle of seasons and politics and history. (Synchronicity is an idea of Carl Jung’s, but we’ll have to get to him next Season!)
In this episode, we leave our familiar territory in the Psyche, the Mind, and travel over to the other side, the Soul. We go back to the 16th century and a short, Spanish monk named John. John of the Cross is the author of the Dark Night of the Soul, a phrase used by many, but fewer are aware of its origins.
The Dark Night of the Soul has lessons for us in contemporary times. It teaches us when to go into pain, and not to run from suffering. It tells us that it is the search for Love, not the certainty that we have found it, that leads us to our highest Self. Above all, it tells us to embrace Mystery.
And with this final episode on the Winter Solstice of 2019, we wish everyone a profound Dark Night, and to remember that the Light is already starting to grow again.
9 Oct 2019
S2 Ep11: Episode 2.11: Session with a Listener – Lawyers in Love
We finally have our first episode with a loyal listener! Kathleen is an attorney who wanted to talk with Dr. JKB about The 8 Stages of Life, Episode 2.5. She wondered if she has missed out on the Sixth Stage and wants to know how to fix her love life.
This episode is the culmination of the mission of The Psychonaut Show; we get to talk about the concepts from the history of psychoanalysis with a real person dealing with everyday life in 2019.
Kathleen challenges me and gets me to think about these ideas more deeply. Together, we both learn about love, life and relationships with others, and, most importantly, with ourselves.
(A Note on Sound – When Kathleen showed up, we decided to record outside the studio. Big thanks to Julio Gonzalez, our producer and sound designer, for taking terrible acoustics and making them listenable. We are learning! The next time one of you wants to be featured in an episode, the sound quality will be great! )
20 Jul 2019
S2 Ep10: Episode 2.10: Reason – The Fourth Testament of the Psychonaut
The Testament of Reason is the second of the two Testaments of Faith; together with the Testament of Birthright, it is a lighthouse that guides us through the darkness of our inner worlds. It is the “ultimate” Testament, the one that all the previous Testaments lead up to. The Fourth Testament assures us that, no matter how irrational or even destructive an action or thought of feeling seems, if we look hard enough, we can find Reason.
But what is Reason? From Roman Catholic doctrine (as presented by a former SNL cast member) to the Enlightenment, we come to understand the facets of Reason; the ability to think, the ability to find a cause for things we don’t understand, and that causes and Reasons are found not only in the past, but also in the present.
Human beings are always seeking to make meaning of their experiences, and finding meaning is the core of the Testament of Reason. Like the man who realized his social anxiety was really his inner warrior preparing him for battle, or the girl who was seeking her ancestors in a cloud of cigarette smoke, when we understand the hidden meaning of our behavior, we have the power to change.
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