Nils Friberg opened the meeting with the Pledge and invocation.
 
Jeff Benson introduced his guests, Garry Johnson and Jill Truth, Farmers Insurance Agents in New Brighton.  Garry is interested in joining the club.  We also had a walk-in guest, Brent Mehrin, who saw our newspaper ad and decided to check us out (way to go, Communications Committee!).
 
PDG Gary Campbell was here to present a check for the District's matching contribution to our ECHO grant.  Gary is shown presenting the check to Nils Cindy and Geoff, below.
 
President Dana noted the upcoming Parkinson's Walk on May 7th. Check here for more information.
 
Next week's meeting will be focused on final planning for the Gold Plate Dinner.  Future programs can be found on the website at http://nbmvrotary.org/.
 
Egg Hunt News:
  • Many thanks to all who helped stuff eggs last Sunday. We had a great turnout and were done in just over an hour. Our special thanks to Bev Aplikowski for providing space at Lakeside Homes.
  • Those who have agreed to transport the eggs and prizes from the garage under our meeting place to Driftwood Park should be at the garage at 9 AM on Saturday.  EVERYONE else should be at Driftwood Park at 10 AM. Driftwood Park is located at 2974 5th NW St (just west of Silver Lake Road on 5th).
Don't forget that the Gold Plate Dinner is April 1st, 6:00 PM.  If you haven't gotten your ticket stubs (with meal choices) to Bev yet, do it right now!
 
Mary Stewart brought delicious Oreo Cookie cake today to thank everyone who attended and supported the CPY Spring Luncheon.
 
Gerry Tietz auctioned off 4 T-Wolves tickets donated by John Risdall.  Dave Hoel and Mary Stewart each got 2 tickets.
 
Val announced an upcoming "Walk for Water".  Stay tuned for more details.
 
Cindy Carlson thanked those who have contributed toward sponsorships for two Nigerian children.  We just need a few more $30 contributions to complete the sponsorship for the 2nd child. Let Cindy know if you are willing to help sponsor.
 
Nils Friberg introduced our speaker, Shawn Hofer PhD, LP.  Shawn is a licensed psychologist with Arden Woods Psychological Services. Shawn's topic was "Freud Strikes Back". Shawn began by explaining that, although some of Freud's ideas have lost favor, the effectiveness of Freudian style psychoanalysis cannot be denied.  Psychologists routinely use Freud's original concept of "talk therapy" to help their patients. Research shows that the relationship between the therapist and patient, built on conversation, is the key to successful treatment.
 
Shawn says that the foundation of Psychotherapy is the belief that we are all crazy, it's really just a matter of what kind of crazy and how much. In fact, psychotherapists themselves need regular therapy to be at their best for their patients, Shawn reviewed the basic concepts for understanding of the human mind.
  • We all have an unconscious mental life, unaware of inner thoughts and feelings.
  • Our minds are in conflict, often harboring mutually contradictory thoughts and feelings.
  • The past is alive in the present. Throughout our lives we have internalized ways of dealing with people and situations and these coping mechanisms are hard to change.
  • Psychotherapy involves a new situation and a new relationship to which patients must apply their previously formed relationship and situation templates.
  • Defense - Patients often must face facts about themselves that they don't want to admit, resulting in defensive behavior.
  • Psychological Causation - Nothing in the mind is random. All thoughts and actions serve some psychological function.
Shawn's presentation was adapted from: That Was then, This Is Now: An Introduction to Contemporary Psycho-Dynamic Therapy by Jonathan Shedler. Shawn and Nils and Dana are shown below.