My Retirement Speech from the Valley Pastoral Counseling Center

I first want to thank and recognize my most personal supporters and encouragers, my family, for being here this afternoon and caring for me through the years. I next want to recognize my therapist brother who started out as a pastoral counselor. I am further happy to have here today two groups of our life long friends.

Others who have been great supporters through the years are here as well:

My psychiatrist friend and colleague who also studied psychoanalysis.

And my long time friend and colleague who gas traveled a similar path to mine. He began in pastoral ministry. Moved to pastoral counseling, then psychoanalysis, and finally neuropsychoanalysis.

I thank you all for being here today to celebrate with me and for our long and continued history together!

The next groups I wish to recognize and thank for being here are first: My fellow therapists at the pastoral counseling center. I have known some of you for almost twenty years. Second: The Interns and Residents I supervised over the years. You taught me as I taught you. Third: The Boards of Directors over the years. We could have not accomplished the mission of the pastoral counseling center without your oversight and fundraising. Fourth: Office staff and volunteers. You worked behind the scenes to keep the Counseling Center functioning smoothly from within as well as reaching out to the community........

As I thought about what I might say today, two questions came to my mind. The first one was, " Why did I come to the Valley Pastoral Counseling Center?" That one was pretty easy to answer. I needed a job! Which was true, but more seriously, I had just graduated from a Pastoral Counseling Institute which including training to become a LPC. And, at the age of 40 I was wanting to transition out of the pastorate and into the specialty of pastoral psychotherapy. My long time friend who was then the executive director here at Valley Pastoral, was kind enough to create a position for me as a staff psychotherapist. I was very grateful to be here!

The second question I asked myself was, "Why did I stay at Valley Pastoral until retirement?" ( Note that I retired from Valley Pastoral but subsequently began a small private practice in psychoanalytic psychotherapy). That question was a little harder to answer. One reason I stayed so long was the work itself. Thanks to our expanded mission statement, staff therapists could do not only therapy, but also supervision, education and consultation. So , I got to do here much of what I loved doing! I got to do psychoanalytic psychotherapy--1100 patients for whom I am most grateful. I got to do supervision--14 students who taught me almost as much as I taught them. I got to write--two books, 100 Blog posts, The History of the Pastoral Counsrling Center, and many newsletter articles. I further got to give numerous talks/lectures in the community. I got to lead the counseling center through 12 years as the executive director and a number of years as clinical director and training director.I got to continue my education through the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, the American Psychoanalytic Association, and the International Neuropsychoanalytic Society. And I also got to travel-- one trip being to the Sigmund Freud Museum in Vienna, Austria.

And, through all of these various roles, I was fortunate to help many different people in many different ways. So I now had to ask," Why would I have NOT stayed here until retirement?"

But I stayed for another reason as well. And that was because of you all here today-- the Valley Pastoral community-- the historical community of the Valley Pastoral Counseling Center. You have been my community throughout all these years. You as therapists, residents, interns, supervisees, Board Members, office staff, and volunteers. It is our relationships that kept me here. Our relationships we forged as we worked side by side fulfilling the mission of the Center. I have valued our relationships, both past and present. And it those relationships with you in this room that I will take with me into this next chapter!!

Dunagan Family History- My mother's mother's family!!

One of the nice things about living in VA is that most of my family tree started right here, at least once they got to the USA. THAT IS TRUE FOR THE Meltons, Dodgens, and DUNAGANS. ......You will not believe that the Dunagans, upon leaving IRELAND came to Orange County VA where my family lived for 12 years from 1983 to 1995!!! THIS IS THE STORY OF HOW MY MOTHER's maternal family came from Ireland to Orange VA to GEORGIA. THE FIRST Dunagan I know about was WILLIAM Dunagan who lived in LIMERICK IRELAND circa 1680.( MUCH OF WHAT I know of the DUNAGANS CAME FROM COUSIN GEORGE DUNAGAN of GAINSVILLE Ga. I FOUND HIM ON THE INTERNET and soon learned he had done OUR entire Dunagan family tree research back to IRELAND. I was thrilled when he invited my family and my Father to visit him in 1993.) WILLIAM OF Limerick IRELAND son's name was THOMAS, christened in 1706 . Thomas was the FIRST Dunagan to travel to America. HE MOVED HERE WITH HIS FAMILY IN 1738 and settled in ORANGE County VA, to live with the John Pickett family. They lived and worked there for 3 years until he could pay MR. Pickett for his travel costs to the USA..........THOMAS's son was Joseph Sr. In the 1760's he moved to GREENVILLE County SC, and later in 1796 to Ga. Joseph was born prior to 1742. HE WAS MARRIED TWICE and had 6 sons. HE WAS A METHODIST preacher. HIS SON born in 1771 was Ezekiel. HE WAS CALLED MAJOR by the Cherokee Indians. HE had 13 children with Lydia Ann BROWN, and 1 child with MARGARET Wallace. COUSIN George, who did this research descends from EZEKIEL AND his first wife's son Joseph........OUR family descends from his son ISAAIH who was born September 25, 1808. EZEKIEL had been a soldier in the war of 1812. HE RAISED HIS FAMILY NEAR DUNAGAN CHAPEL , a METHODIST CHURCH IN Gainsville Ga, and was buried next door in the Dunagan family cemetery. I WAS ABLE TO SEE HIS GRAVE WHEN I visited Cousin George in 1993. HE DIED March 10,1836 and was buried there with his wife Lydia. ( More DUNAGAN family history to come in my next post.)

My 9 Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy and Where to Find Them

My Nine "Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy", published here on my Blog at calanmeltonw.blogspot.com, are not all in chronological order.....That is because I wrote them at different times over the last few years. But, they are all titled and numbered, so if you scroll around you can find all nine lectures..... The lectures begin with the Preface on "Why Psychoanalysis Must be Grounded in Biology", and end with " A Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy Written Case Presentation Outline". You may wish to print out the lectures and place them in order.....

To Learn More about Neuropsychoanalysis/Psychotherapy, contact me directly to learn about my Book/Training Manual (unpublished) that does place these Lectures in the following order:

Introduction....Preface.....Chapter 1 "How the Patient's Mind Functions".......Chapter 2 "How the Patient's Mind Develops"...... Chapter 3 "How to Treat the Patient's Mind"....Case Presentation Outline..... Conclusion....... Selected Bibliography.

I would be happy to meet on Zoom for consultation and reading through my Book/Training Manual together. Such consultation will introduce you to both the theory and practice of neuropsychoanalytic psychotherapy. To set up some times to meet, email me at calanmeltonw@gmail.com . I am pleased to offer such consultation as a Clinical Fellow of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society.

Update on Melton Family Tree

My recent trip to London, England where I was close to the Village of our Melton ancestor who came from England to America, has resulted in some new research findings regarding the Melton Family Tree. Our English ancestor has not changed. I still have him as William Melton I, born in 1615 likely in Longham Norfolk, England, 100 miles northeast of London. He was married to Hanna Ross who was born in 1615. William I was Anglican and baptized on May 28, 1615. He came to America-- New Kent County, Virginia at age 38 as an indentured servant to Colonel Edward Hill. He died in 1670 in Charles City which is a part of New Kent County.

William I had four children: Edward born in 1642; Thomas born in 1645; William Michael II born in 1647; and John born in 1650. My research up until 2023 showed our Meltons descended from his son William II above and his son William III, born 1698, and on down the family line.....

Then in 2023, as a gift for my 70th Birthday, daughter Kate had a Historian research our family tree. His research, conducted further down our family tree, centered on the Reverend Archelous (sometimes Archibald or Archie) born in 1828, who was Father of John Wesley born in 1853. John Wesley was father of Ira Herbert born in 1889. Ira Herbert was Father of Ira Bailey born December 21, 1918.

This Historian resource of Kate's concluded from his research that Rev. Archelous' Father was NOT Elisha " Lige" as I had concluded from my Dad's research ( with his professional genealogist), and Cousin Lucy's Research ( who was a semi professional ). This Historian discovered that Archelous' Father was Daniel!! This would mean our earlier ancestor was not William III above but his brother Robert born in New Kent VA on May 17, 1696.

Oh my! " Who was right?" I asked. So I did some further research to find out. From everything I could find online with Ancestry.com, etc., it looks like Kate's Historian was right!! So here is the corrected line of our Meltons from Archelous back.......Archelous' Father was Daniel, born in 1801 in Chesterfield County, SC ( near the City of Cheraw). And his Father was Archelous ( the elder) born in 1767 in Orange County, NC ( County seat is Chapel Hill). And his Father was Isham who was also born in Orange County, NC in 1747. And his Father was Robert who was born May 17, 1696 in New Kent County, VA. And his Father was Richard born around 1670 in New Kent County, VA . And his Father was William Michael II born 1647 in New Kent. And his father was William I from England!!

So if all this research is correct, we still come from William I who came from Longham Norfolk, England to New Kent County, VA, and had his son William II, who was the first of our Meltons born in the New World!! But it was NOT William II's son William III above we descended from, but his brother Robert above. So now we have some new direct Melton line ancestors to get to know in SC and NC. 👍

Why I Love Science

Science is a wonderful thing! It took me a long time to realize that. I spent the first half of my life in the theological circle. Moving to the edges of that circle, I began to explore the broader philosophical circle. And around the age of 40 I began to embrace the even broader scientific circle. And I am so glad I did! My first scientific fields of embrace were the social sciences of sociology, psychology, political science, history and cultural anthropology . But I later moved to the natural sciences, ie psychoanalysis ( some disagree it is a natural science but I am of the camp that believes it is), neuroscience , biology, biological anthropology, paleoanthropology, earth science and astronomy. (Physics is on my list for future study but so far I find it the most difficult to understand!)

I have learned so much about human nature, including my own, and the nature of the universe from these sciences. And the good news is that what I have learned is based in evidence. That is what I like the most about science as a source of truth. It is not based in myth but is based in the search for facts. The Theory of Evolution, for instance, in Darwin's Day, was indeed a theory. Now it has become a fact. As Richard Dawkins says, "Evolution is a fact, and the evidence for it is as strong as anything we have in science." And Stephen Gould wrote," Evolution is a fact. And the theory of natural selection is one of several mechanisms that explain the fact of evolution." Finally, Carl Sagan said," Evolution is a fact, not a theory.... and the fossil record and the molecular biology all confirm it."

What I also love about science is that unlike myth, it is not a fixed set of beliefs that are accepted as immutable Truth. Science, even more than philosophy, which is based in reason and logic, is based in observation, experiment and empirical data. And as such its findings are trustworthy because they are based in evidence.

The other beauty of science is it is always open to change and alteration. If a better scientific theory comes along and can be shown to be superior to an established one, the new theory wins. Moving from the Flat Earth Theory to the Round Earth Fact was one example of just such a scientific shift. Christopher Columbus experimented with the theory that the earth was round rather than flat. And, by getting in a boat and sailing to what he thought was India (actually the Americas), he proved his theory correct! His theory, through scientific evidence, became a fact. No one today doubts the earth is round.

To me, this makes science the best source of knowledge we have for discovering truth. That is because in science " facts reign supreme" ( Brenner). And the scientific method is the best tool we have to establish what the facts truly are. Because, it is based in evidence and proof.

I could go on about why I truly love science, but I think my point has been made. I will simply conclude by saying, I am so glad I moved through the theological circle to the philosophical circle, and then at midlife, finally embraced the scientific circle . It has been a continuous source of trustworthy knowledge for me for the last 30 years. And I look forward to what truth, based in fact, it will teach me in the future!

Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis: Lecture Seven, Part 3 "Treatment Case Example Mr. C" Ending Phase

As Mr. C's treatment is ongoing, I would like to imagine in this section how his ending phase of treatment might proceed. Gradually Mr. C began to develop a new prediction in his present life that allowed him to remove obstacles that stood in the way of meeting his needs. As a result his RAGE ceased to exist. He was then able to give up his defense of reaction formation against the RAGE, because its cause had been eliminated, by the new workable prediction he was now living by in his present life. He also became more comfortable with normal anger and frustration, and as a result was more assertive with those around him, including his therapist.

Whenever Mr. C would fall back into the old pattern of not successfully removing frustrating objects from his life, and feeling the RAGE once again, I would point this out to him again and again in many different situations. Together we kept working through the old prediction until he was able to make changes in these patterns on his own. I felt as this point Mr. C might be ready for termination. He agreed. During the ending phase Mr. C would at times repeat the old prediction. This is because the new prediction does not get rid of the old one. It is formed alongside the old one (Solms). But with time and working through, the new prediction won out most of the time over the old one. Eventually, Mr. C could experience on his own when the new prediction was working, and this helped him to adopt it more regularly. The more he implemented the new prediction, the less RAGE he felt, and the healthier he became. Thus, his therapy sessions came to a natural end.

I hope this case of Mr. C has helped you see how helpful neuropsychoanalytic therapy is for those who are capable and willing to engage in it.

Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis, Lecture One, Part 1, " How These Lectures Came to Be"

These Lectures are for mental health professionals who wish to learn the theory and practice of neuropsychoanalysis/psychotherapy.

The lectures consist of four lectures on theory and four on technique. The four theory lectures deal with how the mind functions when the patient presents for treatment, as well as how the patient's mind developed in childhood. The four technique lectures explore how to apply the theory to the practice of neuropsychoanalytic psychotherapy (from here out when I speak of theory I will use the term neuropsychoanalysis. When I speak of practice I will say neuropsychoanalytic psychotherapy. I make this distinction because I myself am a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, and a Clinical Fellow of the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society).

These lectures are the culmination of my thirty years of experience in conducting psychoanalytic psychotherapy and supervising Residents in this form of treatment. I began in pastoral psychoanalytic psychotherapy, moved to Modern Freudian analytic therapy, then moved further to integrating biology/ neuroscience into my present work of neuropsychoanalysis. I have always sought to integrate new theory and practice into my work. And, I have particularly sought to integrate the findings of biology into my approach. Sigmund Freud attempted to do the same, but in his time biology was not a mature enough science for him to do so successfully. Today, thanks to the maturing of the biological sciences and especially the new methods of research in the neurosciences, we are able to begin to fulfill Freud's dream of bringing neuroscience and psychoanalysis together. This is the aim of the interdisciplinary field of neuropsychoanalysis and the goal of these lectures as well.

In these Lectures you will note that I often cite the work of Mark Solms, the South African psychoanalyst and neuroscientist who created neuropsychoanalysis. I have sought here to integrate what I have learned from Solms into my own Modern Freudian psychoanalytic orientation. So, though I rely on Solms to a degree, these lectures are my own.

After reading a few of my Blog Posts on neuropsychoanalysis, Mark Solms asked me in February of 2023 if I would be interested in writing an introductory text on neuropsychoanalysis. I replied to him that I did not want to write a book at this point, but I would like to increase the readership of my Blog," Plain Words from an Old Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist"(calanmeltonw.blogspot.com). Solms thought this was a good idea. So I set out to promote my Blog writings on various psychoanalytically informed Face Book pages.

Michael Benn, also a South African psychoanalyst, read some of my posts on the Facebook Page where he is the administrator -- Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy . After his reading and the positive feedback of other members of the Page , he asked me in February of 2024 to publish my posts to his Facebook page. I accepted his invitation and posted on his Page on twenty one consecutive Thursdays starting in January of 2024. These Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis are the result of these earlier Blog Postings. I want to thank Michael Benn for asking me to post on his Facebook page.

I further want to thank Mark Solms for his clear and precise presentation of neuropsychoanalysis that I discovered in his three lectures during the Covid Pandemic (2020) lockdown entitled," A Practical Introduction to Psychoanalysis." Those lectures inspired me to learn more about neuropsychoanalysis. From those lectures I went on to listen to a number of Solms' online lectures, read his major books, and his major papers. I further consulted with him for four years. I dedicate these Introductory Lectures on Neuropsychoanalysis to Mark Solms as my way of thanking him for his knowledge, inspiration, and encouragement that resulted in my creating these Lectures.