Third, we need to be acutely aware of the potential abuse of substances—be they alcoholic drinks, tobacco products or heavier duty drugs. Remember the poppy fields on Dorothy’s journey to the Emerald City! We even need to be thoughtful about our consumption of caffeinated drinks. A colleague of mind, John Preston, is a noted clinical psychologist who cautioned all potential psychotherapy clients to moderate or even reduce their caffeine intake while undergoing therapy. Caffeine can make us “trigger happy” when we confront personal challenges during therapy sessions. We are already aroused by the coffee we drank before coming to the therapy session and are likely to become even more aroused (and less competent in addressing the therapeutic challenges). Preston has assisted his clients by creating a Caffeine checklist. I have modified this checklist and include it as Appendix D.

Conclusions

I close by acknowledging that Dorothy (and her colleagues) each deserve considerable credit for the engagement of their individual wisdom, compassion and courage. Each of them could not have healed their own heats without the assistance of their colleagues. However, their own strengths and strategies played a major role in their successful journey to the Emerald City—and in healing the hearts that each brought on the way to meet the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard might have been a huckster and charlatan, but he seemed to know something about the spirit and soul of those people with whom he interacted. The emerald glow of Oz conveyed hope and healing—outcomes that would bless the life each of us is now living in a world of VUCA-Plus.

__________

References

Bellah, Robert and others (1985) Habits of the Heart. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Bergquist, William (2023a) Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart I: The Nature of Energy and Anxiety. The Library of Professional Coaching. Link: Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart I: The Nature of Energy and Anxiety | Library of Professional Coaching

Bergquist, William (2023b) Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart II: Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Preparation for Treatment. Library of Professional Coaching. Link: Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart II: Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Preparation for Treatment | Library of Professional Coaching

Bergquist, William (2023c) Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart III. Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Treatment. Library of Professional Coaching. Link:  Oiling the Tin Man’s Armor and Healing His Heart III: Reich’s and Feldenkrais’s Treatment | Library of Professional Coaching

Bergquist, William and Kevin Weitz (2023. The Life of Facts I: Their Nature and Construction. Library of Professional Coaching. Link: https://libraryofprofessionalcoaching.com/concepts/decison-making-and-problem-solving/the-life-of-facts-i-their-nature-and-construction/

Kahneman, Daniel (2013) Thinking Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Kelly, George (1991) The Psychology of Personal Constructs. Volume II. New York: Routledge.

Kelly, George (2015) A Theory of Personality: The Psychology of Personal Constructs. New York: Norton.

Sapolsky, Robert (2004) Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (3rd Ed.). New York: Holt Paperbacks.

Vaill, Peter (2008) Managing as a Performing Art. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Waldinger, Robert and Marc Schulz (2023) The Good Life. New York: Simon and Schuster.