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Grendel and His Mother: Healing the Traumas of Childhood Through Dreams, Imagery and Hypnosis
Nicholas E. Brink
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Imagery and Human Development Series, Anees Sheikh, Series Editor
You can read the Preface for free right now, just click here.
IN PRAISE OF
"There is a wide literature treating dreams and fairytales from
psychoanalytic points of view. Grendel and his Mother is the first in-depth exploration of this landscape from a cognitive behavioral
perspective. Taking the Old English Beowolf myth as his framework, Dr. Brink takes us on a remarkable journey through the processes by which
childhood experiences, both painful and joyous, shape our development into adulthood. He also gives us a treasure trove of clinical examples
from his own practice of the cognitive behavioral intervention techniques available for reshaping the less fortunate childhood
influences that restrain healthy development so many years later.
For readers who are students of mythology, of cognitive behavioral psychology, or of clinical psychology technique, this book is a rich
resource. It will bring insights into one’s own personal history, into the nature of mythology as a generational conveyor of cultural meaning,
and into the methods practitioners can utilize in helping adults to flow more naturally toward their own authentic existence. In the end this
book is a celebration of the ever present possibilities for change as each individual life develops."
—Raymond Hillis, Ph.D., Professor of Education, California State
University, Los Angeles
"I found it fascinating that <the author is> so skilled at weaving this metaphor throughout
<the book>. Hypnosis, guided imagery, ego state therapy, regression,
progression, past life experiences, ego strengthening etc. are some of the many tools that are
mirrored in the exposition of “Grendel and his mother”. Perhaps this story originally emerged
from the unconscious of the many story tellers who themselves presumably struggled with
their own ogres and dragons in their life histories.
I was particularly impressed with Brink's treatment of Grendel’s mother who for me represents
the Critical Experience that must be dealt with in its entirety for total recovery to be achieved.
Like Grendel’s mother this experience is so often so deeply buried under a psychic sea that it
sometimes takes great courage to enlist our Beowulf to find and deal with her.
Brink's book makes very interesting and informative reading for any therapist who would wish
to have a greater understanding of the necessary sequence that any successful therapy must follow.
"
-Edgar A. Barnett, M.B., B.S., C.C.F.P,
Diplomat of the American Board of Medical Hypnosis and Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis
“The book is well written, and the author does an
impressive job of using the plot of Beowulf as a template for considering
the course of therapy with your different clients. I was impressed by how many
connections the author managed to make between the tale and the psychological
problems and processes of his clients.”
-Earnest Hartmann, M.D., Professor,
Department of Psychology, Tufts University. Author of Dreams and Nightmares: The New Theory on the Origin and
Meaning of Dreams
"The cases vary widely, from a temperamental executive to a woman with sexual
problems. The verbiage usually avoids psychobabble and flows clearly and logically, step-by-step, nicely organized, sometimes downright inspiring. While
not everyone will agree with every analogy, assumption, or interpretation offered, no one will debate that the book is beautifully thought-provoking.
Among the concepts deemed especially important in psychotherapy here are grief, transcendence, godliness and spirituality, unconscious search, inner warrior,
curiosity, and integrity. Dr. Brink uses reframing; the empty chair technique; a
variety of guided imagery experiences; hypnotic inductions, regressions, rehearsals and interactions; and ritual homework assignments masterfully to help
his clients patiently to explore their depths. There are ideas for therapists here. Educated laymen and students can find inspiration here, too. I recommend Dr. Brink’s new book"
-Dr. Jacqueline B. Sallade, Clinical Psychologist
"I recommend this book for
all therapists treating trauma who wish to expand and discover their own
creative style. The story approach reaches beyond academic interests and can be
stimulating and motivating for the lay reader and patient as well.
Congratulations, Dr. Brink, it is a delightful book."
-Jack Birnbaum, M.D., FRCP, (C) Psychiatry
ABOUT THE BOOK
Whereas a dream is specific to an individual dreamer, a myth is an ancestral
dream generated by a culture. Both dream and myth describe the processes of the unconscious mind, myth as the unconscious process on a universal level
applicable to all.
One cause of the behavioral, emotional and mental torment in a person’s life is the psychological trauma that results from the
actions and words of parents and others. This volume, Grendel and His Mother: Healing the Traumas of Childhood
Through Dreams, Imagery and Hypnosis by Nicholas E. Brink examines the effect of such trauma on a child’s development
and how the resulting torment eventually brings this child as an adult to psychotherapy. This trauma may be
as subtle as a parental sigh of disappointment or as direct as physical or sexual abuse. Six
clients are then led on a journeying through the unconscious mind using dreamwork, hypnosis
and imagery in the course of therapy to uncover and heal these traumas to free the client of
torment.
As recorded in the Old English myth of Beowulf, Beowulf frees the Danish King Hrothgar from
twelve years of torment by killing two monsters, Grendel and his mother. This legend, when
examined as an ancestral dream, offers a map for the journey through the unconscious mind to
heal childhood trauma and provides an outline for this book. First, each client finds the strength
to conquer the more immediate torment of the behavioral, emotional or thought
disorder—Grendel—and then to uncover and overcome in a four-step process the deeper cause of this torment, the original
trauma—Grendel’s mother.
Intended Audience: Mental health professionals, mythologists or faculty of
English literature.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicholas E. Brink, Ph.D., has been a clinical psychologist in private practice since 1980. He is a Clinical
Diplomat of the American Board of Professional Psychology, a past-president of the American Association for the Study of Mental Imagery,
and the Book Review Editor for the journal Imagination, Cognition, and
Personality.
Dr. Brink completed his Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1970 before taking a
position as Research Associate at the Pennsylvania State University. In 1974, he took a position as psychologist at Danville
State Hospital and in 1980 became the Director of Psychological Services. He has published widely in the use of mental
imagery and hypnosis in psychotherapy and pain control. Dr. Brink has a special love for the
ancient myths of the world and an interest in understanding the processes of the unconscious mind. These two interests have led him to write a number of articles
on myth and psychotherapy, culminating in this work, Grendel and His Mother.
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