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ILENE SEGALOVE Stumbling Blocks 8 A YEAR OF PROBLEMS MMXXII

Insanity and stumbling are perfectly rational adjustments to an insane world R D Laing M D

8 COPYRIGHT 2022 BY ILENE SEGALOVE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS PROLOGUE 21ST CENTURY BOOKS BY ILENE SEGALOVE 2 Dreams 3 Dreams 61 Dreams 42 Dreams Mom Dad Careers 8 CHAPTER ONE WINTER PATIENTS 8 CHAPTER TWO SPRING PATIENTS 8 CHAPTER THREE SUMMER PATIENTS 8 CREDITS Traditional and vintage card games include but not limited to Happy Families Snap Black Peter Old Maid OTHERS LOST OVER TIME CHAPTER FOUR FALL PATIENTS 8 PATIENT OUTCOMES 8

88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 8 PROLOGUE 8 A stumbling block is a difficult something thrown at you or that you throw at yourself It gets in the way of life even though it is life It makes you feel crooked It makes you hesitate It makes you sloppy or distressed A stumbling block is often really about something else A deeper problem We all have problems They can last for more than a week They can be seasonal These 52 stumbling blocks or problems are based on an official list from a state mental health handbook from the 1980 s way back in the 20th century A patient was asked to check off any items on the list of 52 stumbling blocks that applied to their life

8 A patient was also asked to rank their problem with an X in the appropriate location in the appropriate box The therapist would then come up with a game plan to help the patient lessen or eliminate their stumbling blocks Sometimes they succeeded But often one stumbling block turned into another turned into another Much of the time stumbling blocks might disappear for a little while hiding out only to reappear again These 52 problems could make for a difficult year Imagine one stumbling block a week Endless X s Endless therapy WINTER PROBLEMS SPRING PROBLEMS Alcohol Anger Anxiety Appearance Assertiveness Boredom Career Choices Children Concentration Dating Depression Disgust Distress Divorce Drugs Eating Ennui Family Fear Grief Guilt Headaches Irritability Isolation Legal matters Loneliness SUMMER PROBLEMS FALL PROBLEMS Making Decisions Marriage Memory Money Moody My Thoughts Nervousness Nightmares Pain Parenting Perfectionism Relationships Relaxation Religion Rumination School Self control Self esteem Sexual Problems Shyness Spiritual Concerns Stress Suicidal thoughts Unhappiness Work Worries

RANKING WAS BROKEN DOWN Sample Ranking Charts INTO FOUR CATEGORIES IN ORDER OF LEAST DIRE TO MOST DIRE AL C O HO L 8 1 1 MILD 2 MODERATE 3 4 DAT I N G 8 1 2 3 4 EN N U I 3 BAD 4 SEVERE 2 8 1 2 3 4 HEAL TH 8 1 2 3 4

8 Patient 16 21 in the handbook was illustrative of this dilemma At her first appointment Patient 16 21 checked off four major stumbling blocks She tripped over them on a daily basis and ranked them accordingly Over the next season Patient 16 21 and her therapist made little progress Patient Outcome Dire

8 Winter PATIENTS 20 21

W 1 8 1 2 22 3 4 Alcohol 23

W 2 8 1 2 24 3 4 Anger 25

Anxiety W 3 8 1 2 26 3 4 27

Appearance W 4 8 1 2 28 3 4 29

Assertiveness W 5 8 1 2 30 3 4 31

Boredom W 6 8 1 2 32 3 4 33

W 7 8 1 2 34 3 4 Career Choices 35

Children W 8 8 1 2 36 3 4 37

Concentration Copy W 9 8 1 2 38 3 4 39

8 Dating Copy 4 41 W 10 1 2 40 3

Depression Copy W 11 8 1 2 42 3 4 43

8 Disgust 4 45 W 12 1 2 44 3

Distress W 13 8 1 2 46 3 4 47

8 Spring PATIENTS 48 49

Divorce Copy S P 1 8 1 2 50 3 4 51

S P 2 8 1 2 52 3 4 Drugs 53

Eating S P 3 8 1 2 54 3 4 55

Ennui S P 4 8 1 2 56 3 4 57

Family S P 5 8 1 2 58 3 4 59

S P 6 8 1 2 60 3 4 Fear 61

Grief S P 7 8 1 2 62 3 4 63

Guilt S P 8 8 1 2 64 3 4 65

S P 9 8 1 2 66 3 4 Headaches 67

Irritability S P 10 8 1 2 68 3 4 69

Isolation S P 11 8 1 2 70 3 4 71

Legal matters S P 12 8 1 2 72 3 4 73

S P 13 8 1 2 74 3 4 Loneliness 75

8 Summer PATIENTS 76 77

S U 1 8 1 2 78 3 4 Making Decisions 79

Marriage S U 2 8 1 2 80 3 4 81

Memory S U 3 8 1 2 82 3 4 83

S U 4 8 1 2 84 3 4 Money 85

Moody S U 5 8 1 2 86 3 4 87

My Thoughts S U 6 8 1 2 88 3 4 89

S U 7 8 1 2 90 3 4 Nervousness 91

Nightmares S U 8 8 1 2 92 3 4 93

S U 9 8 1 2 94 3 4 Pain 95

Parenting S U 10 8 1 2 96 3 4 97

Perfectionism S U 11 8 1 2 98 3 4 99

S U 12 8 1 2 100 3 4 Relationships 101

Relaxation S U 13 8 1 2 102 3 4 103

8 Fall PATIENTS 104 105

Religion F 1 8 1 2 106 3 4 107

Rumination F 2 8 1 2 108 3 4 109

F 3 8 1 2 110 3 4 School 111

F 4 8 1 2 112 3 4 Self control 113

Self esteem F 5 8 1 2 114 3 4 115

F 6 8 1 2 116 3 4 Sexual Problems 117

Shyness F 7 8 1 2 118 3 4 119

F 8 8 1 2 120 3 4 Spiritual Concerns 121

Stress F 9 8 1 2 122 3 4 123

F 10 8 1 2 124 3 4 Suicidal thoughts 125

Unhappiness F 11 8 1 2 126 3 4 127

Work F 12 8 1 2 128 3 4 129

Worries F 13 8 1 2 130 3 4 131

Patient OUTCOMES Sometimes it is time to simply stop chasing problems Blocks are a part of life And life is ultimately a groundless landscape fraught with a chance and more so a likelihood to stumble Outcomes vary from client to client based on expectation pocket book and the therapist s evaluation experience and tenacity Seems like most of the patients in this cross section had less than ideal outcomes The bell curve isn t very curvy As the wise Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki said Life is like stepping onto a boat which is about to sail out to sea and sink 132

Patient Patient O U T C O M ES OUT COM ES UNCONTESTABLE INDUBITABLE W 1 W 5 W 2 W 6 OBVIOUS W 8 SP 1 SAD BLISSFUL W 11 PROVEN 134 ENLIGHTENED W 10 W 7 OPEN AND SHUT W 13 HAPPY EVIDENT W 3 W 4 W 9 CUT AND DRIED CONVINCING BEYOND CENSORED SP 2 IMPOSSIBLE UNKNOWN W 12 135 SP 3

Patient Patient O U T C O M ES OUT COM ES UNFINISHED UNEXPURGATED SP 4 SP 8 SP 5 SP 9 A TOTAL LOSS SP 7 SP 13 SP 10 136 SP 11 SU 4 DEFICIENT UNSATISFACTORY SU 1 LUCID HOPELESS UNCONVINCING AMBIGUOUS WOEBEGONE SP 6 SU 3 SP 12 DEFICIENT IMPAIRMENT UNCERTAIN ACHIEVED SU 5 UNSETTLED INCOMPLETE SU 2 137 SU 6

Patient Patient O U T C O M ES OUT COM ES UNFINISHED VAGUE SU 7 SU 11 SU 8 SU 12 INCONCLUSIVE F 1 F 7 UNDETERMINED DEBATABLE F 4 UNPROVED 138 DISCHARGED F 3 SU 13 UNDECIDED F 6 INDEFINITE UNRESOLVED SU 9 SU 10 F 2 INDECISIVE BLISSFUL DOUBTFUL OPEN TO QUESTION F 8 VAGUE QUESTIONABLE F 5 139 F 9

Patient O U T C O M ES LEFT HANGING MOOT F 10 F 12 PASSED AWAY UP IN THE AIR F 13 F 11 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 140 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 88 8 88 888 8 88 141

ILENE SEGALOVE is a conceptually driven multi media artist who bounces between multiple platforms From photographic and video narratives to audio commentaries for NPR from academia as professor and mentor to book editor and writing consultant she is also the author of numerous quirky books Her work is collected by many noteworthy institutions including The MET MOMA The Getty LACMA The Hammer and MOCA Segalove lives in Santa Barbara California with infinite succulents and no living pets 142 C ONC EP T TEXT I M AGES I LENE SE GALOVE BOOK DESIGN JOHN BALKWILL 143

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