My name is Clinton Matheny. You can call me “Clint” or “Clinton”. Welcome to my blog, where I share insights and strategies for emotional well-being.
Research indicates that positive emotions play a crucial role in enhancing well-being, improving health, and extending longevity. Emotions such as joy, gratitude, and contentment not only foster stronger coping skills and emotional resilience but also boost immune function and reduce stress levels. This blog focuses on overcoming the negative emotional states that hinder our ability to thrive.
With nearly forty years of experience in “Brief Therapies” and a lifetime of mistakes spanning seventy-nine years, I have observed the escalating need for mental health support in our society. Regrettably, the scarcity of competent therapists has led to long waiting periods for numerous people in pursuit of assistance.
My primary mission is to provide an emotional self-help resource for laypeople—a place where you can thrive without relying solely on paid therapists or coaches. Rather than delving into abstract theories, this blog focuses on actionable steps—“How-Tos”—to transform your emotional experiences.
My other goal is to provide therapists with additional tools (how-tos) to help their clients resolve traumas without having to talk about or engage in introspection of the traumatic events. My therapeutic approaches focus on facilitating healing from trauma, rather than delving into the traumatic events themselves.
I joined LinkedIn in February 2022, and now over 10,000 psychiatrists and psychotherapists on LinkedIn follow my blog.
My blog is one of the “100 Best Psychotherapy Blogs and Websites on the Web.” There are more than eight postings on “how to” heal a traumatic memory. All of these processes in this blog are safe if followed correctly and avoid re-traumatizing the client.
I have a strong belief in scientific evidence and avoid using “psychobabble.” I hold the view that most of our emotional states, barring those altered by pharmacological interventions, have their roots in our early years. I have never subscribed to the biomedical disease model of mental health:
https://clintmatheny.com/what-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg-depression-or-a-chemical-imbalance/
The year 2022, marked the discrediting of the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory as a cause for depression, ADD, ADHD, OCD, mania, and other emotional states, a notion that had long been considered dubious. Despite this advancement, it’s disheartening to note that a vast majority—over eighty-five percent—of Americans still adhere to this outdated perspective.
I also avoid magical thinking and I consider myself a pragmatist with a results-oriented personality. Sometimes even a severe mental health problem can be permanently resolved without drugs, simply by having a different strategy than what created the problem. Many of the trauma healing procedures on this blog can be self-administered:
If you actually do the procedures rather than just read, your emotional life will improve. See disclaimer below.
With the exception of myself and Steve Andreas (1935-2018) very few therapists have made videos or audios session with clients and then did follow up interviews with those client months or many years later after an one hour session (one was a 29 year followup). You can watch or listen to these sessions on this blog, and see for yourself how powerful and lasting the changes are.
Note: *All 22 clients on this blog gave their approval to allow public viewing. The post that have a # are one session “Clean Language” therapy interventions.
The videos and audios are proof by showing what is possible if you have rapport with the client, the client is focused on changing, and you have a process/procedure that works. These sessions were not miracles or magic! They are repeatable if you know how to and have the trust of your client.
After three years in the US Army I took every available undergraduate and graduate course class without having any real idea how to help another person in crisis. I learned how to diagnose, but had no clue on how to help a person heal their traumas until I attended a therapy workshop in 1984. At that workshop I was able to heal my twelve years of PTSD “flashbacks” caused by me witnessing a fatal airliner crash and it took minutes rather than years.
As a result of that workshop, I have been a practicing results driven international therapist/coach for more than thirty-nine years.
I guess I could be called, “ A man of many hats”. Besides practicing therapy, I spent 38 years as an air traffic controller, dedicated four years to wildlife photography in Africa, and have owned several businesses.
In the late 1980s, I worked as a contractor for Continental Airlines EAP for employees experiencing PTSD.
In the early 1990s, I conducted two “Healing Traumatic Memories”workshops for therapists in Houston, Texas. In these two-day workshops, I taught two effective therapy techniques to heal traumatic memories. The most common question I received during our breaks was, ‘How can you make a living curing trauma so quickly?’
In 1994, I was the co-founder of the FAA/National Air Traffic Controllers Association’s Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) program for over 15,000 air traffic controllers, staff, and supervisors. This program is active today. Air traffic controllers in the USA are involved in an average of fifty aircraft crashes yearly.
I have been trained in Imperative Self Analysis (what-is-the-imperative-self/), Ericksonian hypnosis, EMDR, CBT, BrainSpotting, Flash Therapy, EMI, and have completed numerous other psychotherapy modality trainings. In addition, I was trained by David Grove in the use of “Clean Language” questions in the healing of traumas. All “Clean Language” sessions and follow ups have a # sign next to the post’s title.These are the most advanced of the psychotherapies modalities in use today.
This new self administered therapy procedure is the greatest psychological breakthrough of the Twenty-First Century: https://clintmatheny.com/freespotting-an-emotional-reset-in-minutes/
I know many people without insurance can not afford help, no matter how great the need. However, if you are financially able, and feel psychologically stressed to the point that it is interfering with your ability to function, please seek the help you need in the form of a professional counselor.
If you or someone you know is suicidal contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Trained crisis workers are available to talk 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just dial 988. Your confidential and toll-free call goes to these near by centers to provide crisis counseling and mental health referrals.
You can also text 988 to be connected with a trained crisis counselor and receive free support via text messages.
Veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can contact the Veteran Crisis Line through 988 or at 1-800-273-8255. Callers should select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, troops or their family members can also text 838255 or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net for assistance.
No matter what amount of training you have, you can save a life:
Without the support of my wife, Laurie and my son Darren, whom started this site, I would not be online. My email address is:
clint77090@gmail (dot) com
Clint Matheny, Ph.T
Disclaimer
Before participating in any of the blog’s recommendations, I recommend that you consult with a physician or other Medical and Mental Health Provider.
If you choose to ignore the above advice and decide to use this material for your own or another’s recovery from prior trauma – for instance you are a trained facilitator or therapist – you are accepting full responsibility for your own actions and through this you absolve the author of any liability for any repercussions from your actions.
clint77090(at)gmail.com