This essay is the second of two, comprising an article that began with my essay posted on May 1, 2015. The prior essay initiated a consideration of the spiritual aspects of existential psychology and psychotherapy, endeavoring to show that what is commonly understood to be transpersonal psychology expands, enhances, and enriches the Existential-Humanistic paradigm for… Read more »
This essay is the first of two, comprising an article that will be concluded in my next contribution to the New Existentialists. In my Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy courses, upon encountering concepts of existential philosophy and psychology for the first time, some of my more religious students become ensnared in and troubled by their perception that existentialism… Read more »
At the recent Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference in Chicago, Theopia Jackson’s keynote speech challenged the Humanistic Psychology community to wake up to the realities of their privileges. It was a heartfelt plea to honor not only the multiculturalism and diversity of the clients that we serve, but also within the community itself, and to… Read more »
Nine years ago tonight, almost to the minute that I am writing this, I was rushed to the hospital in screaming amounts of pain. You see, I had had a migraine at that point for about two days, but I knew all day long that something was very different. I had a set regimen of… Read more »
Illustration by Ju gatsu mikka. I did something unusual as a graduate student of psychology. While all my colleagues were studying ways that people can become miserable, I was interested in what makes people joyful and happy. When I would tell my professors or colleagues that I wanted to study joy for my dissertation, a… 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 »
Maurice Merleau-Ponty tells us that we are Beings-in-the-World through our bodies—that it is through our sensations, perceptions, and kinesthetic senses that we can know and relate to our Self and to others. This concept is intrinsic to understanding existential psychotherapy as a mind-body practice and appreciating that relationship has to happen on both levels. It… 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 »
Unless you are a big fan of Little League baseball, you may have missed the biggest story in sports in recent days—to my mind, bigger than the World Cup, or the opening of the football season, or the baseball All-Star Game. It is the story of Mo’ne Davis, the 13-year-old star pitcher for the Taney… Read more »
Photo by Mutt Lunker. His website now displays only a photo and the following quote: “I always tell people, live happily and die majestically.” –B. K. S. Iyengar, 14 Dec. 1918 – 20 Aug. 2014 Headlines around the world today all read with little variation, B. K. S. Iyengar, who brought yoga to the west,… Read more »
