A new face -- with a new approach -- on the local psychology scene is Dr.

Antonio dos Santos who specialises in the Person Centred Approach (PCA) in treating psychological and behavioural problems.

He is also an educator who, for the past 15 years, has set up and administered training programmes in his native South America, the US and Europe for those involved in the medical and social service fields.

Dr. dos Santos has also developed human resources management programmes and spent over five years working as a clinical psychologist for the Brazilian government in training doctors, nurses and social workers to deal with employees and their families cope with serious or terminal diseases.

And he is a specialist in conflict resolution (therapy for the family and couples), depression, grief, phobias, physical abuse, alcohol and drug abuse and dealing with trauma.

Using a mixture of humanistic and systemic methods, his approach is based on the fact that everyone is a sub-system of a community's overall system. "That system could be the family, the church, the workplace -- in some way, we are all a part of the whole.'' Dr. dos Santos, who joined Ashton Associates in October, is the author of several books and was one of the main translators into Portuguese of the best seller, "A Course in Miracles.'' He explains that PCA was developed by Dr. Carl Rogers, with whom he co-wrote the book, "When the Heart Speaks,'' and whom he describes as his mentor.

PCA is based on the premise that people have inner resources to change but sometimes need a facilitator to reveal those resources and how they may be applied to life and life-changing action.

"The mind is split in two -- what we call `right' mind and `wrong' mind. Most of us only get into our `right' mind a few times a day. Unfortunately, we spend most of our time in our `wrong' mind. This is the part of our mind which is negative, greedy, envious and so on. The `right' mind is what you might call oneness, when we work and live well together and are responsible to one another.'' The "right mind'' can mean peace, the "wrong mind,'' chaos, he says. "All too often,'' he says, "we use the wrong part of our minds to try and fulfill our needs and desires. For example, we can use racial and cultural differences as a means of justifying bad behaviour.'' One of the problems in dealing with the wrong mind, he says, is denial.

"We try to deny that we even have a wrong mind! We don't want to admit to things like greed, hunger, sadness. Traditionally, we are taught to deny that we feel these things -- even that we are feeling happy!'' An even bigger problem, he says, is that we tend to live in a world of illusions. All too often, we convince ourselves that what is wrong is all right, an inversion of values, when we pretend that all is well, when clearly it is not.

As a simple example, Dr. dos Santos mentions current attitudes which tend to condone men who have three or even four relationships with different women at the same time.

"People shrug it off, because this sort of behaviour, through being commonplace, has become acceptable.'' He emphasises that he is not, as a psychologist, concerned with moral judgements, but with the practical results of an individual's behaviour.

"It's hard enough to cope with one relationship, so imagine what four must be like! You end up with children who are totally confused, with three or four sets of family. So the concept of family being the nurturing centre of all society, is completely gone -- it's become a madhouse! So we have to sit down and ask ourselves why are saying this behaviour is okay, and passing it on to our children? We teach by our behaviour, whether we know it or not -- and you can't hide your behaviour from your children. They're too smart for that.'' As another example, he cites the person who thinks there is nothing wrong in smoking marijuana.

"I don't have to be a moralist to point out the obvious: If you smoke three marijuana cigarettes a day, you're going to be high for the whole day. So how can you be productive, or learn anything? What is the effect of your behaviour on yourself and on other people? This goes way beyond morality.'' The right mind is still there, "like a lighthouse and we can turn back towards it any time,'' but Dr. dos Santos points out that there are what he calls "blocks'' which can prevent us reaching our right mind -- which he also refers to as "peace.'' "We tend to complicate our lives far more than we need. Sometimes these blocks are quite simple things that we simply don't, or won't recognise. So that's when a psychologist can help to remove the blocks from the path.'' The difference between the PCA approach and 12-step programmes, says Dr. dos Santos, is that his system is not about "reaching your real self. I am talking about uncovering the blocks that keep you from knowing yourself -- blocks, or things, that you may never have thought about.'' He points out that many people, particularly those who have grown up in a climate of domestic violence, may be quite genuine in their belief that there is nothing wrong in hitting their wife or abusing their children, because that's the way the perpetrator grew up -- another example of the way in which our behaviour can become a disastrous image for the onlooker to eventually imitate.

"People who abuse children don't stop to think about the wound on the child's mind which can be as strong as the wound to the body. When society frees or excuses someone like that, we have to remember that we now have a child who may be ruined for life and will need therapy for years.'' Dr. dos Santos believes that domestic violence is at the very heart of the family crisis.

"Children suffer terribly, because they are in a constant state of fear. The wrong mind which tells the father it's okay to be violent because, `I own you, so you have to do everything I say, in the way I want you to,' breeds an atmosphere of terror. So a big game is played out which forms a triangle, with the victim, the victimiser and the saviour. Usually, the child becomes the saviour. The roles may change from day to day, hour to hour, but it usually ends in violence -- physical or verbal. The child becomes the diverter, playing about to distract the parents from their fight and then one of them turns round and swipes the kid, and the other parent lunges out because the other one has hit the child -- and so on and on it goes.'' One of the important things to ascertain in treating a family like this, is to first establish what roles each one plays most, recognising the blocks that must be removed for healing to begin.

Dr. dos Santos says that there are three basic circumstances under which a person may change. These are going through a life/death situation which seems to change a lot of people, falling in love, which can change behaviour, or through psychology.

"Some people come for help because there's an emergency, but others come to try and understand themselves, they want to understand what's going on. A lot of people come in, saying there's nothing wrong, but they're in a state of denial. I'm afraid that the world today is in a bad way and so many of us are trapped in a bad way of thinking that can to lead to great unhappiness. We blame ourselves too much if things go wrong -- mothers, especially -- but we have to learn to live without blaming ourselves or others. But all too often we use that wrong part of the mind to make decisions or judgements.'' Stress, which Dr. dos Santos describes as "the sickness of this century'' is also based in the wrong part of the mind. Cautioning that he is talking here of "over-stress'' ("normal stress is good for us, it's what makes us get up in the morning''), he points out that we are so wrapped up in pursuing things like promotion or more money, that we forget the simpler pleasures of life.

"We seem to be 24 hours on the road, we never give time to ourselves to watch the sea or the sunset. We take life too seriously. I teach relaxation because if the mind is under constant pressure it doesn't function as well. It is over-stress that kills us. A very simple solution is to first of all, learn to breathe properly!'' At the moment, Dr. dos Santos, who is married to Dr. Stephanie Hancox, clinical psychologist at St. Brendan's, is writing a book on philosophy, psychology and spirituality.

"Yes, spirituality is at the heart of psychology,'' he emphasises.

"Spirituality is your true self. It goes beyond religion. If religion is used in the wrong way -- as it often is -- we can walk into darkness. We only have to see what happened with the Spanish Inquisition to see how easily religion can be abused. The Inquisition was darkness! We can be pure spiritual beings without religion -- there are many in this world -- but, for some, of course, religion can serve as a path to spirituality. When I talk about spirituality, in the course of my work, I do so in the Socratic sense. Socrates was very interested in the practical application of working toward a state of spirituality.'' Dr. dos Santos grew up in a Brazilian town similar in size to Bermuda, "a place where everybody knew each other.'' Dr. dos Santos will be holding a series of seminars, the first one of which is open to the general public. Entitled "Magical Moments'' (the title of one of his books which he is currently translating into English), it is designed to improve professional and personal relationships. It takes place in the Anglican Cathedral Hall on February 2 from 6.30-8 p.m. and the admission fee is $10 per person.

For details on any of these courses, telephone Dr. dos Santos at 295-0999 (fax 295-6206).

WHAT'S UP, DOC? Dr. Antonio dos Santos says we need to spend more time in our `right' mind.