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New Existentialists

The Emerging Cultural Approach to Existential Psychology: Diversity Language and Symbols

04/09/2013

Existential and humanistic psychology has struggled in is embrace of diversity (see Hoffman, 2012, for an extended discussion of this topic). Yet, there is hope that change is coming. The first vital step was working to gain widespread acceptance that diversity is an important topic worthy of consideration in existential psychology. Increasingly it seems evident that a growing majority of people in existential psychology have accepted this. Next, it is vital that increasing depth be cultivated around this topic. Becoming diverse must be about more than bringing people from different...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

Change, Flex and Intentionality

04/08/2013

In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789, Benjamin Franklin stated: “our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” I would add to this quote the fact that change is also certain. In a way, both death and taxes are two states on a long chain of changes that we personally experience. Change is built into the fabric of the universe. With the recent update from NASA from the Planck satellite study, the Big Bang took place 13.8 billion years ago initiating change...

Posted at 10:55 AM

New Existentialists

Letting Boys Be Boys, Not ADHD Diagnoses

04/08/2013

On April 1, The New York Times reported on the startling fact that 11% of children in the United States are now diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). One in five young males of high school age now have the diagnosis. Among children between the ages of 4 and 17, 6.4 million now bear the ADHD label and, no doubt, are medicated for it, most likely with psychostimulants. Since 2007, the ADHD diagnosis has seen a 16% increase, and over the past decade, the increase has been an astonishing 41%. In a scathing response to this news in the American Spectator, Daniel J. Flynn...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Mind-Body Medicine

Jana Downum, PhD, Student in the Saybrook School of Mind-Body Medicine, Carries Mind-Body Learning into her Work with Head-Injured Population

04/08/2013

Jana Downum is a PhD student in the School of Mind-Body Medicine, with a specialization in healthcare practice. She is also a biofeedback therapist working for Pate Rehabilitation in Dallas, Texas. Her patients at Pate Rehabilitation typically present with traumatic brain injury, and she is able to help patients better manage their stress and pain, and improve their sleep.

Posted at 08:18 AM | Permalink | 0 Comments

New Existentialists

Marginalization: The Pendulum Swings Both Ways

04/05/2013

To marginalize is the process of relegating or confining to a lower or outer limit or edge, as of social standing. Hence, marginalization is the social process of becoming or being made marginal (especially as a group within the larger society): "the marginalization of the underclass,” "the marginalization of literature." Although marginalization is often defined as the process of making a group or class of people less important or relegated to a secondary position, (e.g., when one class of people is grouped together as second class citizens), this article intends to...

Posted at 10:00 AM

New Existentialists

The Future of Existential Psychology: Introductory Psychology Textbooks and the Commitment to Essentialism

04/04/2013

When I think back to my college education, I consider it a small wonder that I ever found my way to existential psychology. My undergraduate psychology department as a whole was hostile to the threat of philosophy encroaching upon their discipline. One professor even announced to my cohort that psychologists do what philosophers merely think about. As a teacher, I have taken great pride in providing access to existential forms of psychology. I feel that it is crucial to the future of existential psychology for incoming college students to know the potential benefits of an existential...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

The Workplace: Individual Contribution or Community

04/03/2013

Marisa Meyer--new CEO of Yahoo and a new mother--took a strong stand on a debate about the nature of a progressive, employee-valuing and innovative workplace. Emulating her former employer Google she decreed that Yahoo employees were now required to be present in person and working together. She feels that a creative and high performing workplace is needed to renew Yahoo. In order to harness the collaborative creativity she feels that employees must be physically together, to have the sort of informal time to exchange, learn from each other and build new ideas. While as a new parent she must...

Posted at 12:02 PM

New Existentialists

Enlightened Self-Interest

04/03/2013

Our government is designed to be dysfunctional. The various “checks and balances” keep any one group from having too much power, making it difficult to get anything done in Washington unless there is almost unanimous agreement from it. This is by design, to prevent tyranny. Our government is also designed to be for the people and by the people, relying on people to pursue their own enlightened self-interest. One person obviously can have little impact on the decisions the government makes. However, the founders anticipated people would form groups around their interests, and use...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

Language, Worldview and Culture

04/02/2013

Individual consciousness/awareness --> comprehension of complexity --> increased potential for effective development and action Consciousness is a term related to awareness. Awareness of what? Awareness of ourselves and others, those things we can observe and those that we cannot. Those we can measure and those we intuit. Victor Havel wrote, "Consciousness precedes being, and not the other way around. For this reason, the salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility. Without a...

Posted at 02:07 PM

New Existentialists

What Happens to an Athlete Happens to the Team

04/02/2013

In the wake of a crisis situation, we often do not know how we are going to react—we are trained as therapists to learn to stay calm, to assess the situation, and to determine which steps to take next. However, situations arise that even cause us to question what the “correct” way to react is, or even if there is a “correct” way to react? A huge controversy has recently arisen surrounding the Steubenville Rape trial—is the reporting biased? Are they being overly sensitive to the accused rapists and neglecting the victim? In reality, we are humans—we...

Posted at 10:00 AM