Q: Peter, first
off I want to thank you for taking the time to sit down with me as we discuss
the relationship between exercise and a person’s mental state. But before we get into that, talk a little
bit about what you do and the path that brought you to this point in your life?
A: Sure thing Keith,
thanks for having me. I’ve been in the
field 40 years and during that time I got a LCSW, which is a master’s level
degree and kind of the fast track to psychological practicing. I can pretty much do the same thing as a PhD
but had to go through a lot less heartache.
Starting at
a young age, I knew I had a natural ability in talk therapy, so when the time
for schooling came it wasn’t about the credential, I just wanted to get the
green card so to speak so that I could start practicing. There are about 300-400 talk therapies and
the license gives me permission to work with any of those recognized, but I am
kind of more self-taught. I’ve received
an awful lot of training and have done a lot of reading but some of my biggest
lessons have been from my clients. I
started out with EMDR (Eye movement desensitization reprogramming) developed by
Francine Shapiro, and the therapy mimics rapid eye movement sleep in a wakeful
state. Currently, I primarily specialize
as an attachment trauma therapist.
Q: Can you prescribe medication?
A: No, and I wouldn’t
even want that responsibility, but I work in conjunction with physicians who
can.
Q: What was it
that made you want to become a therapist?
A: Well, you know
there isn’t one of us in the field that isn’t recovering. We’ve all had our own axes to grind and I thank
my mother for my career;-) So I had my
own trauma background, but I was always a natural, even as a kid, being able to
do some rough fashion of what I do now.
Q: You and I
are fully aware of the value in exercise and understand how it positively
affects so many aspects of a person’s life, but discuss with our readers more
specifically how exercise can positively affect a person’s mental state and the
relationship between exercise and a person’s mood?
A: Let me first
say that there are 4 things that make you ok in life…Being a securely attached
person versus being insecurely attached.
1. Stress
hardy
2. Pacing
3. New-found
creativity
4. Acceptance
of body image
Q: Just by
looking at you, a person can tell you are a big advocate of health and
wellness. Talk about some of the
different facets of your life that contribute to you staying in the kind of
shape that you do.
A: As I’ve
mentioned to you before, when I look good, I feel good! I think that I have an innate desire to move,
but not everybody does. For some people
with a lot of trauma you couldn’t put a bomb under them in order to get them to
move. In one of my past lives I was a
hand writing expert. For instance, one
indicator of a person’s activity level is whether or not a person makes lower
case loopy “p’s.” If so, I know that person craves physical activity. Now there are a lot of other indicators you
must compare it up against but that’s just one.
Additionally,
I’ve always exercised vigorously and go “balls to the wall.” That’s kind of how I live my life and at the
age of 63 I feel it’s a necessity to have an anti-aging program. Exercise is a big part of this. When I turned 55 I decided to really get into
exercise and at that time I hired a personal trainer. As a writer, I’m pretty sedentary outside of
the gym and part of my madness is that if I go all out in the gym I’m going to
need the down time to recover.
Q: What did you
like about your personal trainer and what advice do you have for someone who’s
looking to hire a personal trainer.
A: To tell you
the truth, the first few workouts there was nothing that I liked about my
personal trainer. I thought I was going
to die. However, as my body adjusted to
the circuit training, I actually started to crave the physical exertion.
As for
hiring one, my #1 rule of thumb is they have to look good. If the person doesn’t look good, that’s your
first clue. Next, I think you need a
trainer that understands how to train the core as well as shape the body. If you’re not training the core, you’re
missing the boat completely. So you have
to be able to marry the two.
Q: What do you
personally struggle with in your path to live long and strong?
A: I must admit
that sweets are my downfall. Talk about
being addicted to something, if I taste sugar I’m off and there’s no stopping
me. So a lot of my effort is to stay
away from that stuff. But once per month
I will go to Extraordinary Desserts.
Q: Excessive
exercise can be a bad thing and exercise can sometimes become an
addiction. Is there a term to describe
this and why is it that these individuals (who look great) are never
comfortable with how they look?
A: Yes, there
are a lot of disorders in regards to a person’s body, but generally speaking I
think what you’re referring to is body dysmorphic disorder. In my experience, these kinds of people tend
not to come into counseling. They’re
pursuit of perfection is so strong that to step out of that for a second and
come talk to somebody is very against the grain of what they’re trying to
accomplish.
When you
talk about an addiction to exercise I think what you’re really talking about is
compromise. I measure addiction on how
compromised is that person. Have they
compromised their relationships or finances or themself legally & if you
find someone who has a lot of compromise in their life, then they’re addicted
in a negative way.
- Over the
past twelve years, Peter has been developing a trauma model and his
recently completed written manual will allow him to go on the road and train
people. Stay posted for Peter’s soon to
be launched website and more information pertaining to the availability of his manual.
Peter’s office is located at 4452 Park Blvd Ste
304, San Diego, CA 92116
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