Recently, my Human Development class arrived at the logical conclusion of the lifespan: death. Fitting that it comes last and we get to contemplate the finality of existence just before taking the final exam and parting ways forever. I don’t teach any higher-level courses at this school and so our association is ended here. It… Read more »
Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through. It is potential liberation and renewal as well as enslavement and existential death. –R. D. Laing I begin this writing shortly after learning of the unexpected death of John Forbes Nash, Jr. and his wife, Alicia. John Nash was a Nobel… Read more »
With modern technology and communication systems, we are bombarded 24/7 with images of tragedies and disasters. Some people I know refuse to watch the news because “real time” footage of natural disasters, wars, and people struggling to survive is too much to “take in.” They believe it is harmful to their immune system. With instant… Read more »
My Memorial Day weekend began with watching Neil de Grasse Tyson gush as he interviewed Richard Dawkins (2015) on Star Talk TV over whether God and Science are compatible or illogical. De Grasse Tyson also had a Jesuit Catholic priest, Father James Martin, who was a scientist by training, and comedian Eugene Mirman on his… Read more »
I have a student in China who for a long-time has dreamed of opening a bookstore. She is a bookworm and enjoys sharing her passion for books with others. She is also a therapist. She is very unconventional in the sense that she approaches the finances of the bookstore with a gambling-entertainment mindset. She is… Read more »
Dostoevsky said that “beauty will save the world,” and I agree with him, although personally my declaration is “empathy will save the world,” for there is nothing more beautiful than true empathy. Empathy is the most powerful force for interpersonal healing and growth within our human existence. It is stronger than the many forces (fear,… Read more »
It was always going to be a difficult morning. The alarm was set for 3 a.m. in readiness to get to the airport on time for a 5:30 a.m. flight. Security cleared and coffee in hand, the boarding process commenced without a hitch. Strapped in and ready for take off, we began to taxi out… Read more »
This week, I took my orals for advancement to candidacy at Saybrook. It seems like light years from that first residential conference when I met the Saybrook elite and fell in love with the Humanistic-Existential practice of psychology. It was a struggle, but a good struggle. It wasn’t a fair fight. They loaded the bases… Read more »
Symbols and imagery educed from the subconscious can be interpreted within the therapeutic process. Existential, humanistic, and phenomenological approaches focus on conceptual, emotional and verbal realities, while transpersonal approaches focus on spiritual longings and experiences as keys to self-actualization. The humanistic movement arose in the early 1960’s out of dissatisfactions with the natural science conception… Read more »
Agency power withdrawal. Americans are increasingly enraptured with the right to die movement. Kevorkian did his time for assisting suicides, and we overwhelmingly think his actions were righteous. More recently, a brain cancer patient elected suicide after her wedding. That term, no fewer than a dozen of my students did tearful presentations on her case…. Read more »
