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
“Sometimes things just don’t make sense, and sometimes they make even less sense.”
“Don’t focus on the pain in the world, focus on what will keep you sane in the world.”
“There are many ways to scare people. Religion seems to be the best of these.”
“It’s hard to believe that the truth lies within us. What about the churches, temples, mosques, bibles and scriptures? They offer comfort. If they cause you discomfort, toss them.”
“Once you set out for something, there may be obstacles. Avoid that which you feel safe to avoid, and approach that which you feel safe to approach. That’s how we go through the obstacles.”
“Isn’t it amazing how you can actually remember things? Where are they when you’re not remembering them?”
“You have to admit that this is a very strange life. If you don’t admit it, then you have a very high threshold for strangeness, and more power to you.”
“Life presents some very interesting situations. When you’re in the middle of a jam, you’re not thinking, “Oh that’s interesting.” You’re thinking, “How the hell am I going to get through this one.”
“Some people think and say that we came here to suffer. Hmmmmmmm. I don’t think so.”
“To help a friend is really good. To help yourself is also really good. To help a stranger is the very best.”
“In a sense, all life is a prank. We are not who we appear to be and no one else is as they appear to be. So how can we handle that little mystery? This whole business about God – what’s that all about? No one knows anything about that either. So we have people who are not as they appear to be, telling us about something that they have no idea about. We really are on our own here to try and figure it out. That’s the real adventure of it. Some people are anxious to tell you what they know and have experienced. I’d rather hear from some people who admit to what they don’t know and haven’t experienced. They’re much more interesting.”
“If you let your heart rule you, you’ll have a good ruler by which to measure things. This can be called wisdom.”
“It’s not the job of the child to make the parent happy. It’s the job of the parent to take care of their own happiness.”
“It’s almost as important to know what you need to not do, as what you need to do. Actually it may be more important, since it may save you a great deal of effort and possible aggravation. This is where restraint comes in handy.”
“The idea is to get your life to where it is doable, manageable, and somewhat in order.”
“If you feel trapped in a situation and are complaining about it, figure out how to untrap yourself and stop complaining. Save your energy for further figuring out and when there is an increase in courage.”
“If you take care of the small things with ease, then there are no big things to take care of. This is how we reduce our drama.”
“Once we step out of the picture which we have made ourselves part of, if only temporarily, our life changes.”
“Obsessing about things isn’t good for you. It’s a form of possessing things and at some level of awareness; we possess nothing. That’s how we get free of being possessed by our possessions.”
“Everyone really is an independent person. When we become a dependent person, we lose our independence. A good part of our work is to reclaim that independent person by letting go of our need for dependence. Dependence enslaves us.”
“Everyone has their own fears and their own way of dealing with those fears. Don’t get mixed up in someone else’s fears – deal with your own fears.”
“Everything that has happened to us up to this point is, in a sense, our history, yet it’s a total mysterious mystery. How can we diffuse the emotions? We do this by taking away the devotion to drama. All drama leads to more karma. Don’t be a karma farmer.”
“You don’t always have to say what’s on your mind. You can keep it to yourself for the time being. That’s called patience.”
“It’s easy then we’re just doing what’s in front of us – without judging the hell out of ourselves.”
“Some people are afraid of being alone – really alone. We need this experience in order to realize that we really are totally alone. How could that be, since we have all these characters. Look at all those characters we’re carrying around within us. An actual traveling circus.”
“Be like a detective. See what’s going on around you.”
“Stay out of situations that you don’t absolutely have to get involved with.”
“The only thing we really have to give to people is our love.”
“Things are never really falling apart; they’re just sort of getting reorganized.”
“Listen, ultimately we have to let go of all attachments - I mean all attachments.”
“Be flexible – it helps to unflex those parts of us that need unflexing.”
“Did you ever watch a smoke ring and how it appears? That’s like our thoughts. They disappear in the same way.”
“Don’t carry the world around or your history around like a burden. In fact, don’t carry it around at all. One step at a time.”
“If you can remain with absolutely nothing to do for even a short period of time - that’s a taste of freedom. Being busy is ok, not being busy is also ok. Not caring whether you’re busy or not busy is really ok.”
“Every once in awhile, give yourself a real compliment. What the hell, why not.”
“Deep down everyone is really good. It’s just that sometimes people forget that they are that good.”
“A wife can give you strife. A wife can act like a knife, and a wife can help you have a good life. And the same goes for husbands.”
“Certainty often hides fear.”
“The more we cling to the known, the more fearful we are of the unknown.”
“Things do make sense at the time we do them. Then later on, they may make absolutely no sense at all. Isn’t that amazing? Actually often they don’t make any sense even while we’re doing them.”
“Who made up all these rules anyway? If you think God’s got rules, then you need another view of God.”
“Breaking paradigms is scary. Not breaking them is even scarier. Life is scary, but mostly we scare ourselves.***”
“Picture yourself sitting in the middle of a junkyard, and there is light all around you. That’s a good one.”
“Never mind ‘near death experiences.’ Try having a ‘near life experience.’ Much more interesting.”
“Keep your life as simple as possible. That leaves room for the impossible to become possible.”
“Sometimes you may feel “I don’t fit in here.” Good.”
“Do not remain loyal to those or that which is disloyal to you. Loyalty is not always a human obligation.”
“You never know what you can handle until if comes time to handle it. The less you think about it the better you’ll handle it.”
“The world attracts and distracts at the same time. Make sure you know the difference and go with that in mind.”
“Don’t look up for God, look in.”