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
“Own your own story and then disown it. See how that feels.”
“Prayer is something you give to yourself. It’s a gift. And you can do it anyway you want.”
“Contentment? Hmmmmmmmmm. That’s a really deep one. It requires diving deep into the moment and bringing up that contentment which lies deep within us. You may want to put your life behind you so that it doesn’t impede your way deeper. It’s alright to do something really slowly if that’s what it takes to do the thing you want to do.”
“The best way to do something is to do it without thought. That’s real concentration.”
“If you have to separate yourself from things, or someone else, do it without a big attitude.”
“Improve on the Guru. Don’t get stuck on the Guru.”
“To have firm conviction and to be able to surrender – that’s a strong combination. However, don’t let your convictions make a convict out of you.”
“Each one of us is made up of many different people. Who we want to be at any one time is up to us, no one else. We don’t always have to play the same part.”
“Everyone has their own drama. If you want to join the others, go ahead if you want to do that. Or, you can stick to your own. Sometimes it’s a lot easier that way.”
“Patience blocks fear.”
“Sometimes it’s better to not know about something. We don’t always have to fill our head with a lot of stuff we don’t need to know – for now anyway.”
“Love is strange. It comes in different forms. All of them are from the same root, and that’s how your love grows - from that root.”
“Sometimes the best way to really love someone is to leave them alone.”
“This whole trip certainly feels real, and yet at the same time, it is unreal. How does that work? The thing is, we have to go through the unreal to the next reel.”
“Patience is always indicated - especially if you’re in a hurry.”
“People talk of the Sufi way. Wrong. If there is a way, it’s not Sufism.”
“The best you can do is to take care of your life. No one is going to do it for you.”
“What the world considers valuable is often not as valuable as what the world considers not valuable.”
“Things can change fast if we are alert, or things can change slowly if we are even more alert.”
“No one knows who anyone else really is. We’re just getting the outside version. It’s all about love, anyway.”
“Worry has everything to do with lack of faith, and lack of faith has a lot to do with not believing in yourself as much as you believe in others.”
“Sometimes instead of creating a scene it’s better to quietly slip out of the scene, practically unseen. It saves a lot of drama, unless of course you’re into more drama in your life, in which case, go ahead and make a scene, see what happens.”
“What happens when you run out of patience? Just exert a little bit more. Keep stretching it.”
“We have arrived here in this illusory place. Now we just have to figure out how to deal with this grand illusion of our life.”
“Be fearless. What the hell, why not. You have nothing to lose except fear, which isn’t yours anyway.”
“Do everything as if it’s the last thing you’re ever going to do. And then just let go.”
“Planning ahead is good – it sets direction.”
“Religion will not get us where we need to go. It just goes so far, and then we’re on our own toward the open space where there are no religious practices or beliefs.”
“If something isn’t working for you, then something else is working for you. Every situation is repairable if we choose not to be impaired or despaired.”
“Do whatever you have to do that’s right in front you. Let everything else go. That’s concentration.”
“If you’re discouraged, then be discouraged. See how far that takes you. Then try encouragement. It’ll probably take you a bit farther into your courage.”
“The world is a university.”
“Don’t take pride to prayer. Take prayer to pride and eliminate it. It’s not a good friend, actually.”
“Give any idea time to sink in. If it sinks let it go. If it rises to the surface, go with it.”
“What’s the point of keeping all your love inside. It’ll get stale if you don’t use it.”
“If we’re looking for peace from the world, forget it. We have to find our own inside. It’s actually easier to find.”
“Don’t take everything so seriously, especially yourself. It isn’t what you think, anyway.”
“Laughing out loud is good. Laughing inside is even better. Silence on the outside is good, silence on the inside is even better. Prayer on the outside is good, prayer on the inside is even better.”
“Most people talk too much about the past. Let the past pass into the past.”
“Maybe, just maybe, when this is all over and we meet on the other side we’ll just compare notes on how we did and have a big laugh.”
“When you treat every scene as a holy scene, your life will be holy.”
“You have to surrender everything because you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. That’s what makes it all so mysterious.”
“Satan is that part of us which does not believe that we are totally connected to the source and Creator of all wisdom and love.”
“Sometimes you realize that everything you do is amazing, if you really think about it.”
“Patience is good. It lengthens the scene so you can see what needs to be seen.”
“If you do not fear rejection, then you are free to take risks.”
“If you pray – don’t ask for anything. Just pray. See what happens.”
“Really, really there is no dying for us. Remember?”
“Be content with what you are doing now – and see what happens. It’s all a question of what you want to focus on.”
“If you really love someone, be very careful – it’s a very delicate instrument.”