Author: Richard Bargdill


Wisdom from Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions

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The revelation of the NSA’s PRISM surveillance program reminded me of my earlier presentation at the sixth annual Society for Humanistic Psychology conference. I presented on Lame Deer, a Lakota Sioux medicine man, whose critiques of western culture (circa 1971) and his antidotes that are very similar to those of humanistic psychology. I want to… Read more »

Existential Activism

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Richmond GMO Protest. Photo by Lorin Droppa. In the last two years, I have noticed and become part of a trend that I hope will continue. The trend is that our community of existential-humanistic psychologists has begun to move toward social activism. We have seen the power of publically taking positions for and against psychologically… Read more »

Beacons of Humanistic Psychology: Dr. Fred Wertz, Fordham University, Part 2

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Interviewing the Students of Dr. Wertz Richard Bargdill was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview three graduate students working with Dr. Wertz at Fordham University in New York. Sarah Kamens, Rachel Levine, and Miraj Desai were all interviewed at the very raucous Division 32 Hospitality Suite at the APA conference. Realizing that it… Read more »

Beacons of Humanistic Psychology: Dr. Fred Wertz

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Many of our humanistic psychologists in academia are working in departments where they are the only person holding these values. At times, the myriad of other faculty may seem to be hostile toward the humanistic paradigm and surviving seems more important than thriving. This interview—and hopefully others to follow—acknowledges a person who is acting as… Read more »

A Psychologistês Thought Book

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Photo by David Gómez Fontanills. In 2006, I self-published a little book on art and creativity. The book was called An Artist’s Thought Book. It contained five chapters with 60 maxims on different topics related to art: painting, poetry, music, etc. I enjoyed the process of creating the book and doing few a bookstore signings…. Read more »

Reflections on What Meaning Means

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Photograph by Andreas Tille One major aspect that makes Existential Psychology stand out from other models of psychology is that we use a different Psychological Currency. What we value is Meaning as the great contributor toward an individual’s psychological health. Without meaning in one’s life, there is little to help the individual live with vitality…. Read more »