Arthur Panaro is a psychotherapist, teacher and writer. He did 7 years of hard time on fantasy island, Manhattan, NYC, before making the jump to hyper-space in New Mexico.
Topic: Sinuhe Speaks
It was 1970 and Art Panaro, wearing a wool turban, was strolling through the outdoor bazaar in Kabul chatting with the various vendors practicing the basic Farsi he was studying. Art was in Afghanistan as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English to students at Kabul University.
Art found that his life in the Peace Corps satisfied his passion for new experiences, and ancient climes and peoples. This was to become a theme that has defined so much of his life.
After he finished his Peace Corps commitment and travels to Buddhist places in India, Art returned to the US and got a job teaching philosophy, his graduate major. But he found that teaching in a New Jersey community college somehow did not provide the same sense of adventure as visiting the giant Buddha statues in Bamiyan (destroyed by the Taliban in 2001). Feeling restless, he moved to New York City to study anthropology at The New School for Social Research while he contemplated possible moves to Nigeria and China. In the end, he decided that the western US might be just as exotic and interesting as living abroad, and he moved to Santa Fe. There would be plenty of ancient ruins, diverse peoples and artifacts to keep an a searcher engaged.
After a few introductory jobs in the hotel industry and part-time teaching at SFCC, Art finally decided to settle down and get a master’s degree in counseling at Southwestern College. “You know something is happening if it keeps on happening”, he says. “ I kept coming back to the idea of being a counselor. I loved philosophy and I believe psychology derives from philosophy so it made sense for me.”
Art has been in the field since 1994. "Through counseling and therapy I am privileged to lead clients on an expedition of the archeology of their mind and heart, and I keep learning and growing personally --- and intending the same for my clients."
Another privileged and inspiring phenomenon that has manifested in Art's life in Santa Fe is his being cast as an extra in four Santa Fe operas starting in the 2006 50th anniversary season production of Salome in which he played a Roman noble. Art plays a waiter in the cafe scene in the 2011 season production of La Boheme.
As he learned from the great philosopher Nietzsche, Art uses his passions - opera, philosophy, anthropology, psychology - to influence his work and life. He likes to spice up his therapy with archetypal stories. “Human nature is in love with stories,” he says. “I want my clients to claim what kind of world they want to create during a hero's journey, and how will they do that. I ask them: “What’s the purpose of your being here? You can offer the world your passion, your vision and mission. That’s how I am committed to live my own life.”
Based on an article by Laura Feldberg
Profile photo by Adrian Panaro
March 26, 2012 at 11:30 AM
My Visit to a ‘Think and Act Tank’
"...the Academy is dedicated to cultural transformation"
January 20, 2012 at 2:16 PM
"...memes are formed starting at birth and get progressively more sophisticated and implanted throughout life"
November 2, 2011 at 4:04 PM
"Here is a chance to review the power of language..."
October 3, 2011 at 5:14 PM
"These wishes are life-sustaining if satisfied in a balanced, vital, and healthy manner. They also might prove to be the basis for problems if they are not carefully monitored..."
September 30, 2011 at 4:06 PM
What I Did Last Summer: My Nights at the Opera, Part 3
Open Air Theatre/The Performances/Closing
August 30, 2011 at 2:29 PM
Rehearsals/Backstage/The Set
What I Did Last Summer: My Nights at the Opera, Part 2
"I was amused to discover that even in the rarefied atmosphere of the opera, the banter in the men’s dressing room was sometimes indistinguishable from men’s locker room lingo"
August 22, 2011 at 6:17 PM
Prologue/The Adventure
What I Did Last Summer: My Nights at the Opera, Pt. 1
"Little did I know that what I was about to begin would indeed be fun and more than fun"
