Start Over Every Morning

START OVER EVERY MORNING Start Over Every Morning is the sixth in a series of eight books by Harvey Jackins (the founder of Re-evaluation Counseling) that encompass developments in Re-evaluation Counseling (RC) from 1973 through 1995. The Start Over Every Morning concerns the period from 1987-1989. It is a collection of essays, articles, and reports covering most of the important theoretical developments that emerged during those years. Insightful, pithy statements enliven the pages of this book: * "RC is a deliberate, systematic attempt to find and use reality in the areas where society and patterns have covered up reality. RC next month is going to be different than RC today." (page 49) * The oppressors are always far more uneasy than people they oppress . . . . The balance of forces is always with us. The future is always on our side when we have a good program." (pages 108-109) * "The collapsing society is collapsing on the necks of a large number of people, not just the helplessly discouraged permanent poor, who are supposedly trained to just die quietly. The damage is reaching all sections of the population." (page 115) * "Each culture is composed, on the one hand, of useful knowledge, information, lore, and practices. On the other hand, each culture contains many distress patterns." (page 245) Speaking to white leaders of anti-racism work, Harvey states, "I don't think you can really love a person, really be close to him or her, and be oppressive at the same time." (page 188) He counsels a white person on her fear of people of color and then counsels a black person on her distresses about white people. In a "Demonstration on Discharging Internalized Oppression," Harvey works with a black woman as she fights against the racist conditioning that has kept her from knowing that she is beautiful, intelligent, and innocent. The theory of Re-evaluation Counseling views all human beings as inherently intelligent and good. It assumes that it is natural for a human to think well, to act wisely and successfully, to enjoy life, and to have good relations with other humans. In this view, every human being feels good and acts and cooperates well except where patterns of emotional distress interfere. Then poor behavior, bad feelings, and failure to cooperate or communicate replace the usual rational behavior. These patterns are the residue of physical or emotional hurts, many of them dating back to childhood, which we have never fully recovered from and which are triggered when something in the current environment restimulates ("reminds us too much of") the old distresses. These residual effects of past distress experiences could have been thrown off quickly and permanently through the natural channels of emotional discharge and re-evaluation. Instead, some of the social conditioning carried by our culture and inflicted rigidly upon us when we were children has interfered with, and prevented recovery from, these distresses. The inhibiting effect of this interference has increased the accumulation of distresses and tensions. By the time we have become adults, this has severely limited our original great abilities to succeed, to enjoy life, and to achieve good relationships with others. In Re-evaluation Counseling, the natural channels of recovery are re-opened. The prime requirement is a listener and counselor who is sincerely interested, who will remain relaxed in the face of our tensions, and who understands how the processes of emotional discharge and re-evaluation operate. Thus, Re-evaluation Counseling is a process for freeing humans from these distress patterns so that they may resume functioning in a healthy, caring way. Re-evaluation Counseling is practiced in pairs, by people listening to each other and assisting one another to release these painful emotions. Because no money is exchanged between people who counsel one another in these pairs, Re-evaluation Counseling can be used by individuals in all stratas of society.