Dr. Joyce Brothers visited with an audience of approximately 800 at the TCC Auditorium. Her talk was based on how to unlock mental powers and other subjects concerning her profession of psychology. She was sponsored by the Student Activity Committee.
Dr. Brothers makes no excuses for the advice she gives her audiences. She believes in what she is saying and also opens herself to questioning after her speeches.
“When you’re giving advice to people, you’re in a very vulnerable position,” she said in beginning her speech here last Tuesday.
She gave advice on how to know when to make people feel more at ease to start her lecture.
“Sometimes, there are certain signals of the body an individual gives to show thought. The most obvious being what we all know and see such as a flushed face or clenched fists, but there are other signals like drumming (of fingers) on a desk, pacing up and down, or a lady fidgeting with her necklace. In these instances, you know something you have said has made this person hostile towards you.”
Her concern with happy and depressed people is evident. She says a happy person more than likely has a friend but a depressed person usually does not.
In discussing friendship and who people talk to when they have a problem, Dr. Brothers brought out some interesting points about the relationship of married people. Surveys show that more women have confidence than men. She also pointed out that men choose their wives to confide in, but women do not choose their husbands as often.
Another important topic to Dr. Brothers was the power of love. She discussed unconscious love.
“When someone leaves something with you like a book or an umbrella or anything, that person is saying that they love you because you are so fascinating, so absorbing, so knowing and they will always return to retrieve their possession and see you again.”
She then discussed powers of the conscious mind in the form of energy used by the brain. According to Dr. Brothers it takes more energy when a person does not use their brain than it does when they are maintaining sensitivity or thinking about something. The energy used by the brain can also be recorded in the form of tension waves.
“Tension flows in waves and is worst in the back of the neck and shoulders. By getting in a position where your head is relaxed, a lolling motion while you are thinking, the pressure is decreased,” said Dr. Brothers.
Dr. Brothers appealed to the audience by their reactions to the quizzes she gave during her lecture. Both involved male and female relationships. The answers to the questions she asked the audience surprised almost everyone.
Toward the end of her speech, she presented a method of meditation, or as she put it, “Unplugging the unconscious mind.”
By getting a very comfortable chair which is positioned near greenery with a clock nearby, a person has achieved the first step of relaxation needed for meditation. They must also make sure it is not within an hour of eating.
To achieve total relaxation, start by first clenching and then unclenching the toes, then the feet, thighs, abdomen, and upward. After getting to the neck, breathe slowly in and, while breathing out, say the word ‘one.’ Any word will do, she said, as long as it is a ‘nonsense syllable.’
According to Dr. Brothers’ research, napping for 20 minutes and meditating for the same amount of time finds the brain waves very similar, but study of this fact is just now getting underway.
After her speech, she answered questions from the crowd. Most of the questioning concerned children.
Part of Joyce Brothers’ talk involved how women have changed since just 5 years ago. She said women are getting more involved, no longer accepting the ways of the past, and are asking more questions. Dr. Brothers is answering some of these questions through her lectures like the one here. No wonder she is one of the most admired women by college students in America.