Developmental psychology, primarily the history of child psychology and education, broadened to include theories of the stages of life and the lifespan, acknowledges a linear concept of growth, omitting a nonlinear axis representing self-actualization, which can occur at any stage in one’s development. Self-actualization is a life-long process marked by existential insights in moment to… Read more »
Photo by Abbie Rowe. Jack Benny, one of the 20th century’s greatest comedians to come out of the radio and Vaudeville circuit, was forever telling people who asked that he was 39. Even when it was painfully clear he wasn’t. And everyone laughed at the joke every time. And having just experienced/endured/gone through for the… Read more »
Photo by Fanny Schertzer. Once upon a time, I remember hearing a teacher of developmental psychology say “the body is our first environment.” Indeed, it is the first place we live in and the place in which we will die. We are our body. Everything around us can change, and our bodies can also change…. Read more »
Photo by David Roseborough. It’s 2.57am, and I find myself wide awake, yet again, for the third consecutive night. Apart from the constant trips to the bathroom throughout the night (and day, for that matter), I found out that these midnight awakenings are just another one of those uncontrollable “perks” one gets to enjoy during… Read more »
An image of the goddess Kali. Existential-transpersonal interpretations of the midlife transition that have emerged in the literature in archetypal psychology (Achterberg, 1996; Andrews, 1993; Borysenko, 1996; Greer, 1991; Houston, 1996; Rogers, 1995) depict a non-medicalized view of a woman’s struggle through menopause; the harnessing of intentionality using personal myth; the psychological shift from an… Read more »
We call them “helicopter parents,” “tiger moms,” “hoverers,” … we say they’re over-involved. But for modern parents of means, the impulse to do anything to protect and advance their children is irresistible. And … come on … who can’t sympathize with that? The result, however, has been a seismic shift in the acceptable handling of… Read more »
Photo by Oscilloscope Laboratores. “Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.” (Sartre, 1957, p. 27) Or… is he? And what about his mother? A few nights ago, I watched the 2011 movie “We Need To Talk About Kevin.” Since then I’ve been saying,… Read more »
I’ve been having an ongoing conversation with fellow healers and good friends regarding something that I find troubling about Western Culture. This conversation is about the pervasive cult of narcissism that seems to not only be a symptom of an egocentric culture, but also reinforced by education, government, corporatism, and even some health and spirituality… Read more »
