An Interview with Etta Ehrlich
Etta Ehrlich is one of the very few people still alive who first met Charlotte Selver in the 1950s. I had the pleasure of speaking with her in her home in Leonia, New Jersey, on December 8, 2016.
Etta had just attended a workshop with me in New York, where she was the oldest participant - in years but not in spirit! At 85, Etta is full of life, engaged and curious, a joy to be with. Our conversation touched such topics as,
Are what is happening and what is needed the same?
Learning from Alan Watts
Studying with Charlotte Selver and Betty Keane
Sensory Awareness in Psychotherapy
Meditation as therapy
Growing up in an enclosed Jewish community in New York (Etta's father was a rabbi)
– and about engraved glass bottles. That's when Etta took me on a tour through her house, where her artwork is on display everywhere. Glass vessels of all shapes and sizes, engraved with insightful and playful words, such as, "Meditation is not a vacation from irritation", or "Can WAR be civil?"
Listen to excerpts and the full interview below.