In this issue of Seeking the Self, Dr. Aaron Balick and Nathalie Nahai listen to Jack as he recounts his story of a debilitating encounter with substance abuse. Unable to locate a pain lodged somewhere deep in him, Jack embarks on a possessed ride of self-abandon. As if to first just numb away, then desperately overcome, a double affliction: what others around him saw as a dubious moral character, on the one hand, and a crisis of personality, on the other. The intensity with which he becomes aware about the source of disregard for others in the world, rooted as it seems in his own struggle to affirm and live out his sexual identity, spirals into a self-destruction that is told from the perspective of recovery. As much as it distresses in listening, this episode of Seeking the Self also strongly evokes what it means to give birth to oneself.
SEEKING THE SELF is a podcast that explores the nature of self through personal narratives and psychological commentary. We’re co-hosted by DR. AARON BALICK, Director of Stillpoint Spaces International, an organization that seeks to explore psychology, in depth, inside and outside the consulting room; and me, NATHALIE NAHAI, best-selling author and host of The Hive Podcast. Seeking the Self is proud to build on our relationship with Stillpoint Spaces to now find our new home within Stillpoint Magazine. Join us in each edition where Seeking the Self will offer an audio experience—crafted by internationally award-winning producer HANA WALKER-BROWN—that explores that issue’s theme, a compliment to the magazine’s rich imagery and text contributions. You’ll find yourself in the eye of the storm, where psychology and culture meet.
~Nathalie Nahai
DR AARON BALICK host
Psychotherapist, cultural theorist and media consultant, Aaron Balick (PhD) is the author of The Psychodynamics of Social Networking. For more than a decade he has been taking psychological findings from the clinic and the University and transforming them into useful concepts that can be applied to individuals, organisations and culture.
Aaron is also the Director of Stillpoint Spaces International.
NATHALIE NAHAI host
International speaker and author of best-selling book, Webs of Influence: The Psychology of Online Persuasion, Nathalie Nahai’s work explores the psychology of online behaviour, persuasion, ethics, and the impact of technology on culture and society.
She has worked with the BBC, Guardian, Unilever, HBR and Google, and contributes to national publications, TV and radio on the subject.
HANA WALKER-BROWN producer
Hana Walker-Brown is an International award-winning documentary maker, composer and producer based in London and currently an executive producer at Audible.
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