FMBR Editorial: Sep, 2002
Book Review: Overcoming Violence
William C. Gough
I was recently asked to review the forthcoming book, Taking Out the Violence: Shedding Light on the Science And Soul Of Human Behavior by Ursula M. Anderson, M.D. The following is my crystallization of the important message that Dr. Anderson presents.
In a ground-breaking book, Dr. Anderson provides an answer to how humankind can break the cycle of violence and terror that has plagued our modern civilized societies. The author's hypothesis is that the human's propensity for killing its own kind results from an energy field created by disorders and dysfunctions of the human soul. Her solution is to focus upon protecting the soul of children, i.e., the child's healthy sense of its own unique identity.
Dr. Anderson outlines the multi-layered landscape involving our body, mind, and soul that resides beneath the observable landscape of our personality and, hence, is effectively hidden from our view. The creation of the environment of this inner territory begins even before conception. It consists of the child's genes and other bio-energies, the child's conscious and unconscious memories of life experiences, and the child's surrounding culture and belief systems. All three components of this inner environment are inter-dependent and respond to each other. Injury to one results in injurious fallout on the other two. The energy field of the child then carries these patterns into adulthood. They become the soil from which patterns of behavior are passed onto future generations.
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Once a child's innocence is violated physically, verbally or emotionally, the soil from which the child will evolve into an adult becomes polluted. This is because the child's connection to the creative and loving source of life is injured and disassembled. In effect such acts have weakened the bonds of connectedness of the child to its source in God. In the book Dr. Anderson presents research data and her personal medical experience to support her position that the root cause of violence in our society originates at the beginning of life. She appeals for early intervention to transform these dysfunctional memories and energies into ones that are functional, and thereby slow the momentum of humankind's apparent bent on destroying itself. As the child becomes an adult, the fracture of the ego system and loss of soul identity becomes more permanent and more resistant to treatment. This underscores the necessity for early intervention.
Dr. Anderson views the world much as a quantum physicist, as energy and fields of waves. She combines this viewpoint with her extensive medical background to explore some of the impacts that the application of current medical practice could have on the evolution of a child's soul. In the book she presents her opinions regarding ultrasonography, the glucola test for pregnancy, hyperactivity, attentional deficit disorders, prescription drugs for children, dyslexia and dysphasia, and bi-polar disorders. She also presents recommended diagnostic processes for obtaining an overview of a child's inner landscape.
Dr. Anderson's key proposal is for a major effort to "immunize" the souls of children. Vaccines have proven spectacularly successful in ameliorating, preventing and even eliminating physical diseases. The physical body's immune system develops resistance to infection by creating and storing appropriate responses in its memory banks. In a similar manner Dr. Anderson concludes that we can change the nature and texture of the soil from which our beliefs and behaviors emerge. We can defend our soul by an immunization process against the intrusion of foreign or non-self elements -- exactly as we do when we immunize the physical body. In effect we need to protect the soul of humankind so that it can reflect its highest potential of love and creativity into society. To accomplish this Dr. Anderson presents a paradigm for the future that immunizes not only a child's body but a child's soul by focusing on early training in self-regulation. The book provides many tips on the use of biofeedback, meditation, breathing, imagery, music, art therapy, journaling, etc. as immunization tools. The goal is to fulfill the creative urges within the soul of every human being. This she believes is the passport to a purposeful life and a path to peace on earth.
William C. Gough, COB of FMBR, Sep 2002