Art Hochberg
After receiving his doctorate in Psychology in 1969, Dr. Art Hochberg proved himself to be a dynamic teacher and innovator in the field of psychology. Within a year of receiving his degree, he became the Psychology department head at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, and also taught at Notre Dame University where he initiated several new courses and program changes toward the field of Humanistic Psychology. Dr. Hochberg was one of the earliest members of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and gave several talks on the subject at their annual conference.
While continuing to develop his own ideas in the field over the next nine years, he taught experientially-oriented psychology courses, travelling in Uganda, Ceylon, Israel, and Switzerland, among other countries. All the while, he was deepening his spiritual focus. He visited religious centers, spent a year in a Zen Buddhist monastery and has spent thirty-nine years studying with the Sufi Master Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.
Dr. Hochberg’s vision was transformative on an organizational level as well. Wherever he worked, it was common for him to revamp the institution’s existing program, hire new staff, and take part in presenting the new program to the general public. Such examples in the late 70’s include Urbana College in Ohio where he was the Division Chairman of Social Services; in Fort Dix, NJ, where he was the Clinical Director of the Drug and Alcohol Program, supervising twenty drug and alcohol counselors, developing treatment programs for the patients at Walson Army Hospital, and conducting seminars around the base for commanders, soldiers, and their dependents. In 1979 at the newly established Fordham-Page Clinic in Radnor, PA where he was Clinical Director, responsible for counselor training, teaching nutrition, and presenting the clinic’s holistically-oriented program to the public.
In the early 80’s, Dr. Hochberg established his private practice. In the early years of his practice, he was known as a nutritional psychologist, since he was one of the few psychologists in the country at that time using nutrition in their practice. He appeared on television and was a radio guest numerous times speaking about the nutritional approach to the treatment of psychological problems. Several national magazines and newspapers also covered his groundbreaking work. He trained under such notable practitioners as Dr. Paavo Airola, a Finnish Nutritionist; Dr. John Christopher, a leading herbalist; and Dr. Carl Pfeiffer, who was the foremost orthomolecular psychiatrist at the time. Dr. Hochberg joined the International Academy of Preventive Medicine and spoke at several medical conferences about the role of Psychology and the body, appearing with Dr. Linus Pauling, and Dr. Jeffrey Bland, among others.
In addition, Dr. Hochberg had a practice at the Center for Preventive Medicine in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania for eleven years, and published fifteen articles on stress and nutrition. In November, 1981, Prevention Magazine wrote a feature article about his work on nutrition as he combined it with Psychology which was included in Prevention’s Complete Book of Vitamins in 1984. Dr. Hochberg also wrote a chapter in The Metabolic Management of Cancer — A Physicians Protocol and Reference Book. In 1993, he became the Director of the Holistic Health Program at Rosemont College in PA, and was also on the Adjunct Psychology faculty at Widener University. He also worked as a prison psychologist in southern New Jersey, and in several outpatient mental health clinics in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Currently, Dr. Hochberg continues to maintain his own private practice as a licensed psychologist, and mainly deals with the transformational process that people can experience as they go through the various “changes” in their life. These “changes” serve as the Process for each individual’s transformation, and greater self-awareness. In addition, Dr. Hochberg serves as an intake psycho
“Why isn’t everyone praying all the time? Who cares why everyone isn’t praying all the time – you pray all the time.”
“You can’t really have patience. You can be patient – if that’s what’s up for you.”
“Limit your day to what you feel comfortable with doing – put the rest on the shelf – for further consideration down the line.”
“Why think about tomorrow today, when you don’t even know if there will be a tomorrow, or if there is, if you’ll be there tomorrow?”
“Things seem one way, and then another way – you gotta get used to it.”
“Prayer is the time you spend alone with God.”
“Start out the day assuming you know nothing. That’s a good start to the day.”
“Join up the different aspects of yourself – sort of like a team.”
“This movie we’re in is unpredictable at any time.”
“Who is playing this part anyway? That’s right, play it any way you want. That’s the way to play it.”
“There is no time – everything’s going on at the same time. How does that work?”
“Don’t overplay your part – underplay your part. That’s the way to play it effectively.”
“At some point we have to be able to say, “I have no idea what is going on.” Hmmmmmmmm. I wonder if that’s the whole trip, so that we can actually know what’s going on. Hmmmmmmmm.”
“Original sin - the big lie.”
“Sometimes just shut off the outside. See what’s playing on the inside.”
“Listen, if you’re not totally surrendered, you’re not playing. It’s as simple as that.”
“If it’s always a feeling of just not being good enough – well you gotta let that one go – big time!”
“The trip is to play your part in the play knowing all along that you are not the one playing the part. That requires a good dose of faith and another dose of exquisite humor – sort of like looking in the mirror. Who is that?”
“You know when you really, really think about it, the whole digital reality is a real trip. The left side of the brain is for figuring – the right side is for doing.”
“We’ve come here to totally individualize, and yet, we're totally connected to everyone else. How does that work?”
“You could lead your life as if the whole world were watching you on TV, or you could lead your life as if no one is watching you – same thing.”
“It’s all right to change your mind about a situation, even if it’s in mid-course without fear that you’re missing something. You know, if you’re not there, it’s not happening for you at that time. All you’re doing is changing direction.”
“When you’re by yourself you can act as mature as you want, or as silly as you want – it makes no difference.”
“The unexpected things in life are often the most interesting and can impact us greatly.”
“You always have to be prepared that the thing we want most desperately to happen may not happen the way we think. That takes faith. So why not try wanting to see something happen without desperation.”
“Are you thinking about tomorrow? There really is no tomorrow – not today. Everything exists within the right now and if there is a tomorrow, then that will be right now.”
“If there’s a vote taken as to which aspect of God I treasure the most, I’d say laughing.”
“If you want to be a radical theologian, you have to be able to say, “I have no idea what is going on.” That’s being a radical theologian.”
“Everything that’s happened to you up to this point in your life is all nostalgia of equal intensity. We’re the ones who imbue the nostalgia with emotion.”
“Just be careful that your determination doesn’t turn into your fanaticism.”
“Listen, you’re not doing God any favors by praying. You’re doing yourself a favor.”
“Love is the antidote for all the fears, questions and worries that we accumulate in life.”
“Just assume that you don’t know anything – that’s a good place to start from in any situation.”
“You know you can be as sweet as you want, or as tough as you want, or both at the same time.”
“Did you ever do something and right after, you think, “Did that really happen?” Or you can’t even remember what happened? Hmmmmmmmm.”
“Just tell yourself you’re good. That’ll take care of any idea that you have about not being good enough.”
“Basically each one of us is alone here. Everything else is show biz.”
“When you get to a point where there’s absolutely nothing you can count on in this world, you’re home free.”
“Allow yourself, if only for a short moment, to go to that place where you cannot possibly think of one thing that you need to do. Go there and see what happens.”
“The thing about patience, I mean real patience, is that it is most needed when there is something you really want to see happen. That’s patience.”
“How do you not let things bother you? By placing yourself out of the physical and emotional range of that which is bothering you.”
“When you’re in the role of the teacher, the teacher must take on the role of the student and learn from him or her.”
“You know when you’re by yourself you can say the most outrageous things. No one is listening.”
“When you say, “I’m just gonna think about God,” what are you thinking about?”
“You know there are a lot of different aspects to ourselves. It’s good to meet them, even engage them if we want to. Or just say, “The hell with them.”
“Every once in awhile, have a really good argument with yourself. I mean really get pissed off. Take both sides. Then look in the mirror, and in the middle of the argument say, “You know, you’re a pain in my butt. I’m not arguing with you. Get lost.”
“So how do we do this trip, knowing it’s all an illusion? How do we do that? We can’t do that. We can only hang on for the ride.”
“It’s hard to trust our own decisions, but we have no options. We have to do that in order to be all right with ourselves.”
“This is a never-ending story we’re involved in. We’re just part of the acting crew.”
“Listen, do yourself a favor. If you ask someone about something such as, “How are the kids,” make sure you really want to know.”