Author's History with Re-Evaluation Counseling (RC)
My involvement with Re-evaluation Counseling started before it was called that; at first it was called PC, Personal Counseling. I was lucky to see a presentation by Harvey Jackins in 1968 - I was in the eighth grade. Though I didn't attend any more events, I thought about the message which was that crying and laughing were good for you and gave emotional healing. It was years later, during my 20s, when I read The Human Side of Human Beings and Fundamentals of Co-Counseling. Still I did not join the group or find a co-counselor, instead I just resolved to quit stopping myself from emotional discharge. And I did.
In 1983 I spent a brief time in a dating relationship with someone I grew up with, who became a co-counselor trained by Harvey. Indeed, he was the one who brought Harvey Jackins into our 8th grade science class for me to see. It was within that dating relationship that my repressed memories of childhood abuse first came to the surface.
My next involvement with RC was in the mid 1990s, when I subscribed to Present Time newsletter and bought and read every book published by the organization regarding Liberation Theory. It was really true that my involvement with RC as an organization was minimal, mostly by reading the theory behind it, and the only formal co-counseling I experienced was that one month of several dates with a talented counselor who worked on me.
Soon after doing that reading, I finally joined my first 8 week class in co-counseling, and I drove five hours round trip every week to accomplish that. That class showed me I had done something entirely different from RC proper, with the basic ideas of Liberation Theory and the role of catharsis. The RC organization was not a good fit for me, not at all, 25 years ago. So I gave up on that part.
Still, I find the theory work in the books, and the glossary of terms to be useful to describe reality, and I remain certain that emotional catharsis is absolutely pivotal for emotional and every other form of well-being, for maintenance of mental health and retroactive healing of past trauma.
I give this timeline to give a context to the pieces I now share, that are clearly referencing the RC vocabulary.
In 1983 I spent a brief time in a dating relationship with someone I grew up with, who became a co-counselor trained by Harvey. Indeed, he was the one who brought Harvey Jackins into our 8th grade science class for me to see. It was within that dating relationship that my repressed memories of childhood abuse first came to the surface.
My next involvement with RC was in the mid 1990s, when I subscribed to Present Time newsletter and bought and read every book published by the organization regarding Liberation Theory. It was really true that my involvement with RC as an organization was minimal, mostly by reading the theory behind it, and the only formal co-counseling I experienced was that one month of several dates with a talented counselor who worked on me.
Soon after doing that reading, I finally joined my first 8 week class in co-counseling, and I drove five hours round trip every week to accomplish that. That class showed me I had done something entirely different from RC proper, with the basic ideas of Liberation Theory and the role of catharsis. The RC organization was not a good fit for me, not at all, 25 years ago. So I gave up on that part.
Still, I find the theory work in the books, and the glossary of terms to be useful to describe reality, and I remain certain that emotional catharsis is absolutely pivotal for emotional and every other form of well-being, for maintenance of mental health and retroactive healing of past trauma.
I give this timeline to give a context to the pieces I now share, that are clearly referencing the RC vocabulary.
