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“My degree from Saybrook is kind of unconventional, and what I am doing is unconventional. But it is important that we continue to talk about these issues so we can bring the pain that so many people are experiencing to the surface, and then work to help them heal.”
Innovator Healer
Arielle Dance, Ph.D., is using her education to challenge taboos around women’s health and mindfulness in the workplace.
Mind-Body Medicine alumna Arielle Dance, Ph.D., has long been an advocate for women’s health: as a doula, as a doctor for the American Cancer Society (ACS), and through her research into techniques for easing painful symptoms of endometriosis, a disease she was diagnosed with at 15 years old. Through it all, she’s striven to break down the stigmas that surround unconventional treatments and preventative care.
After earning her master’s degree in women’s health, Dr. Dance chose to continue her education at Saybrook University because it was the only graduate school she found willing to support her unconventional research interests. Throughout her time at Saybrook, Dr. Dance studied how specific relaxation techniques including meditation, deep breathing, and guided imagery could positively affect different aspects of women’s health—specifically endometriosis, which often results in infertility.
In 2015, she was awarded the Herbert Spiegel Scientific Poster Award for her research poster titled “The Utilization of Hypnosis, Hypnotherapy, and HypnoBirthing for Childbirth and Labor.”
Today, she finds that her research continues to attract a diverse range of women seeking to learn more about her nontraditional methods of treatment.
“Besides my full-time job, I am balancing roles as a doula and unofficial consultant,” Dr. Dance says. “Because of my final dissertation on endometriosis, I have found a lot of people reaching out to me specifically related to their pain and how they can cope with their pain and infertility…. It’s been a unique group of women all in different phases.”
Dance has also used her education to help transform the culture in her day-to-day work at the ACS, where she manages a team of employees. She has begun integrating techniques she learned during her time at Saybrook to increase mindfulness in the workplace, routinely beginning staff meetings with meditation and using aromatherapy and dim lighting in her office to help her begin each day.
Dance remains firmly committed to bringing awareness to the issues she is passionate about by speaking up.
“My degree from Saybrook is kind of unconventional,” she says. “And what I am doing is unconventional. My original research is still kind of stigmatized because it is very much about every female topic possible, and every taboo topic that a woman could talk to a male-identified person about. But it is important that we continue to talk about these issues so we can bring the pain that so many people are experiencing to the surface, and then work to help them heal.”
Saybrook University is proud to provide access to our Mindfulness Moments podcast episodes. Anyone anywhere in the world can discover and learn to enjoy the gift of mindfulness. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our Mind-Body Medicine faculty banded together to provide these recorded sessions, which are available below, as a source of centering and solace in these extraordinary times.
“Mind-body practices provide much needed restoration and sources of health. These practices, such as guided meditation and imagery, have been demonstrated in multiple research studies to contribute to improved immunity, as well as better quality of life. Applying content from the curriculum and research, our Mind-Body Medicine faculty continue to lead brief daily meditations. Taking a few minutes from the stress of daily responsibilities through a structured mindfulness practice can support wellness and a stronger immune system and help restore balance.”
—Luann Fortune, Ph.D., Specialization Coordinator, College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences
Join the Saybrook community from January 13 through April 27, 2025, for our weekly 15-minute Mindfulness Moments series every Monday at 9:15 AM PST. On select dates, we will host special 1-hour workshops on mind-body practices starting at 9:00 AM PT.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Select Dates for 1-Hour Workshops:
The Role of Storytelling in Scholarly Writing with Dr Jei Pearcey, PhD on February 17, 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM PT
Mindfulness Practices with your Four-Legged Friends with the Saybrook SACRED Team on March 17, 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM PT
Mindful Yoga: On and Off the Mat with Dr. Jenny DeDecker on April 14, 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM PT
In the field of social work, practice models guide patient care and an individual’s approach to treatment. These models act as a way of moving abstract theories of social work into the real world and applying them to concrete situations.
A social worker does not subscribe to a single practice model, but instead usually integrates them depending on the patient and issue at hand. Social workers may also choose to combine practice models into their own unique modes of practice.
Of the various models available to social workers, four distinct types are discussed below.
4 different types of social work practice models
1. Narrative therapy
Narrative therapy is often employed to provide objectivity to a client and the current issues they’re facing. In a narrative therapy model, clients are urged to separate themselves and their self-worth from their problems, as to not conflate the two.
This is done through third-person storytelling, from both the social worker and the client. By explaining the situation at hand as a story, clients can achieve a more objective perspective and potentially gain clarity into the direct causes of the issue. Through this process, the social worker may be able to develop “alternative stories” that show clients how the problem could have been avoided or what can be done to fix it.
2. Crisis intervention model
The crisis intervention model of social work is typically used when a client is experiencing a severe or critical issue. This could include crisis situations such as suicidal ideation or other harm (self-inflicted or otherwise).
Stage 1: Perform a biopsychosocial and danger assessment Stage 2: Quickly establish a rapport and relationship with the client Stage 3: Identify what has caused the crisis and the major problems involved Stage 4: Listen: encourage and allow the client to express emotion and vent Stage 5: Offer alternative options to the crisis, collaborate on coping solutions Stage 6: Enact a clear follow-up action plan Stage 7: Plan and perform follow-ups
3. Task-centered practice
In a task-centered practice model, social workers assist clients through a series of clear steps. These are assignment-like tasks related to therapy or mental health goals that are completed on a schedule and evaluated. In this model, social workers will empower their clients to work through their challenges independently.
Task-centered practice acts as a means of goal setting but with the planned-out implementation of these goals. This is a future-thinking method that allows clients to think less about past issues and instead focus on future improvement and concrete steps to achieve this.
4. Integrative social work
Integrative social work is a model that approaches the field from a holistic, systemic perspective. This includes physical, emotional, community, and spiritual well-being when providing support to clients.
The integrative social work model believes that if you do not recognize all of the above dimensions in your practice, it will undermine the whole. Many times, this is referred to as a “person-centered” approach to health—the social worker sees a person as “person in environment” and tends to the individual well-being and resilience of that individual over the course of their lifespan. It also works to emphasize the conditions within a community that either support or undercut an individual’s well-being.
By deploying one or a combination of these practice models, social workers have found unique and personalized treatments to support both individuals and communities across the globe.
At Saybrook University, our Integrative Social Work department prepares students to create transformational change in organizations and communities, ultimately working toward a more just, humane, and sustainable world. By achieving a Ph.D. in Integrative Social Work, students receive an education that focuses on both the time-honored traditions of social work with the values of social justice and social transformation.
Visit our program page to learn more about Saybrook’s Ph.D. in Integrative Social Work or fill out the form below to request more information.
Many think that meditation is simply closing your eyes, clearing your thoughts, and breathing for about five minutes. Many do not know about the plethora of options when it comes to meditation.
Maybe being home more during the pandemic has offered you the opportunity to welcome meditation into your life. Or maybe you are looking into meditation to help you deal with new anxiety that has arisen. Either way, meditation is free, easy to start, and has many benefits.
“Mindfulness and meditation—tools for wellness and self-care—can provide calm and restoration,” says Luann Fortune, Ph.D., a Mind-Body Medicine faculty member at Saybrook University. “Research shows that related practices contribute to improved immunity and mental well-being, as well as better quality of life. Evidence also has shown such practices can connect us as a community to support health and healing.”
To help others find peace during this stressful and chaotic year, Dr. Fortune offers further tips and explorations on how to practice meditation—and what kind might be best for you.
The origins of meditation can be traced back to as early as 5000 BCE, to ancient Egypt and China and tied to the religious practices of Judaism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism. Spread along the Silk Road, it moved throughout Asia. Before the 20th century, meditation spread from Asia into the west. In the past few decades, doctors and scientists started studying meditation for its medical and other health benefits.
Dr. Herbert Benson, a Harvard Medical School professor, found that people who meditated used 17% less oxygen, had lower heart rates, and produced increased brain waves found to help with sleep. Years later, he said the following about his research: “All I’ve done is to put a biological explanation on techniques that people have been utilizing for thousands of years.”
Who can practice meditation?
Meditation is available to all, requiring only a few minutes of quiet, an openness to try, and a willingness to let go. The mind is powerful—meditation is called a practice because its practitioners always have room to grow and try again. When you begin meditation, it is important to refrain from judgment of yourself and your process.
Before you meditate, find a quiet spot. You can either sit down in a chair or on the floor. You can even lay down if that is more comfortable to you. As you begin your practice, be patient. If your mind wanders, take a moment to pause and reflect and bring your attention back to center. And remember, the more you do it, the easier meditation becomes. With some commitment, you will be able to focus more deeply each time you practice meditation.
How do I start incorporating it into my daily routine?
Meditation draws from a vast array of traditions, histories, and methods. Selecting the “best” method depends on personal preference and background. Most practices are cultivated to bring emotional calm and mental clarity and involve setting aside time each day, from a few minutes to an hour for intentional practice.
Here are a few of the more common forms with an example of each.
Guided Meditation is the collection of techniques and practices that focus one’s thoughts on a particular object or invite suspension of thoughts, so it is often associated with our mental life. In guided meditation, a leader provides verbal prompts or instructions to direct the individual or group through the practice.
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Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) was developed to help people suffering from tension and stress and can provide many benefits. The practice, which can be considered muscle-body based, focuses on relaxing specific muscles in a directed protocol, tightening specific muscle groups and then releasing. Research shows that PMR can help reduce anxiety and reverse stress as well as help release tight muscles. In a recent study by Liu and colleagues (2020), PMR was found to improve anxiety levels and sleep in COVID-19 patients.
Guided Imagery, also called guided visualization, involves directing thoughts and sensations to engage positive mental images and sensory recall, meaning conjuring smells, tastes, sounds, and textures as well as visual images. Because it is multi-sensorial, it draws on our creative selves. Strong research supports many benefits, from invoking calm, improving performance, and healing trauma. Guided imagery can be conducted in individual or group settings. Multiple quality audio recordings are available that provide guided imagery, which makes it a suitable form for use in clinical settings where access may be restricted.
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Abhyanga (Self-Massage) is one active form of mindfulness practice that draws on the ancient (ayurvedic) practice of self-massage. It is meant to be practiced daily to stimulate the immune system and promote circulation and body-mind awareness. It can also bring calm and vitality. It is especially helpful during times of sheltering and isolation.
Loving Kindness Meditation, a gentle guided meditation, is widely used to support emotional and mind-body wellness as well as prevent compassion fatigue and build mindful leadership. Based on supporting research, it has gained prominence in clinical settings, particularly to prevent burnout for health care workers. It involves sending out thoughts and intentions for unconditional love toward oneself, outward to others, and to bring peace and healing. It is sometimes considered a “heart-based” form, drawing on feelings and thoughts of pure love.
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Learn what meditation practice is best for you
The examples provided are appropriate for mindfulness experts as well as those who are new to meditation and mindfulness practices. You can explore more practices as well by listening to Saybrook’s Mindful Moments. Faculty from the Mind-Body Medicine program provide these live guided sessions during the week and are open to the public. They are recorded and available at Saybrook’s website or through Spotify.
Taking a few minutes from the stress of daily responsibilities through a structured mindfulness practice can support wellness and a stronger immune system and help restore balance in these challenging times.
If you’d like to learn more about the academic programs available at Saybrook University, fill out the form below to request more information.
We have all heard the tale of Sisyphus—forced by Zeus to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity. Whenever he would seem to make progress, it would roll back down. He was forever tortured, never making any substantial progress or seeing the fruits of his labor fulfilled.
The systemic inequities and racism that surround us can seem a lot like this torturous process—especially with the continual rise of police violence against Black men. In 2019, police in the United States fatally shot 1,099 people. So far in 2020, 1,021 people have been killed. By comparison, in 2019, 36 fatalities were reported in Canada; 21 in Australia; and three in the United Kingdom. Even when adjusting for population size, the United States’ numbers are far higher. Many would agree that this is more than what is acceptable for a first-world democracy, but more bothersome still is the fact that a Black man is twice as likely to be shot than a white male by police.
The problem is not new, but like Sisyphus, the progress put in place has not stopped the violent treatment against, and murders of, members of minority groups.
Ginger Charles, Ph.D., Saybrook alumna and former police officer explains. “There is no one size fits all approach to fix these problems—some departments need complete dismantling, while some need moderate education and reform,” she says. “Nothing will be successful, however, until we break down the language. A student of policing needs to learn the history—it is a systemic racist organization, but we can change it. Defenses automatically arise individually with, ‘That’s not me. I’m not racist—just one bad cop,’ and systemic racism doesn’t mean that you are racist, just that you are part of an organization with a racist history. But until you acknowledge you are a part of it, we can’t change it.”
Dr. Charles traces the history of policing—from Jim Crow to slave patrols—arguing that until law enforcement can acknowledge and become educated about historical implications of this type of racism, it is difficult to move out of these systems. “It permeates the culture, and then that culture—unless it’s addressed—never changes. So it’s never been addressed because people will not acknowledge it to this day.”
“When you look at the fact that we have oversight committees with doctors, massage therapists, hairdressers—where we have these boards they have to pass, where there are complaints that can be filed—why are we not doing more of that for law enforcement?” Dr. Charles asks. “This is a career where you are authorized to take somebody’s life, yet we don’t do that.”
It is no surprise then that many leaders and activists are ready to try something different, a new way to push the boulder up the hill—completely reforming the process to be less violent and more community based. Calls to defund and dismantle police departments have become the rallying cry for many, and some communities—like Minneapolis—have moved forward with these steps.
Dismantling the defunding controversy
Minneapolis’ City Council, after years of accusations of improper and racist policing—brought to light nationally with George Floyd’s murder—recently voted to dismantle its police force and replace it with a department of community safety and violence prevention to better address issues that police officers have traditionally dealt with. To begin, the new charter seeks to change the large financial support the police department receives. The city is looking to cut $200 million from the police’s $1.3 billion overall annual budget.
“The definition of defunding the police is controversial in and of itself. We are not looking to take away the police but reallocate resources to help them and others better address the public health challenges we currently and have historically faced,” says Marianne Jankowski, DHSc., department chair of the Division of Health Services at The Chicago School.
Working with other professional fields is not a new concept—but it has recently received a renewed sense of urgency.
“Mental health professionals and social workers have always collaborated with one another in a multidisciplinary team setting, tackling different problems and issues that communities face,” says Trent Nguyen, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Integrative Social Work at Saybrook University. “With this cooperation and collaboration between the two, different perspectives and skills are utilized to examine the root causes of the phenomenon, for the betterment of society in the long term.”
Addressing problems within the law enforcement community is not an overnight project with a simple, one-off answer. Additionally, some of the driving forces behind finding a new, innovative way to address issues that law enforcement officers often encounter will have to include public health officials, mental health practitioners, and social workers. It requires community support and collaboration from a variety of sectors—which inevitably requires funding.
“The defunding of police departments would increase funding support for a variety of experienced community-based nonprofit organizations that offer trained mental health professionals, community safety advocates, gang intervention specialists, case management, and other resources to address the various disparities impacting underserved communities,” says Mary Starks, Ph.D., MSW, program director of the Bachelor of Social Work program at Pacific Oaks College.
“I think that with the collaboration of community organizers and activists, community members, social workers, and public policy makers, we will better equip our police officers and our communities with the care needed. We cannot work in silos while addressing the needs of the community, whether it is responding to a crime or to someone’s mental health issues,” Dr. Starks continues.
Call 911
When someone hears about defunding the police, their first question might be: But who will come when I call? What about the times when society does need the protection of police officers?
“Extremists take the term ‘defunding’ and run with it to create panic for their own personal gain, making people think we are getting rid of law enforcement. Common sense should tell you that will not happen. No one system is isolated serving only its immediate role,” Dr. Jankowski says. “Public health, with law enforcement as a part of that larger group, is a collaborative approach to ensure our safety and security as well as addressing both health and social issues as identified in a given time. It will take the forces of many health care practitioners and law enforcement officers to unite and fight for solutions for the greater good.”
The next iteration of collaborative community care could involve social workers and public health officials to streamline prevention and early detection of issues, along with funding programs—like free mental health resources, after-school care, and skills training—that offer vulnerable populations ways to care for themselves.
Dr. Charles explains that in her research with communities of color, she asked a direct question of citizens: How would you want to be policed?
The answer? From a distance.
“In white neighborhoods, seeing police officers around, citizens feel safe and protected. But in Black neighborhoods, the opposite is true. The prevalence of patrols makes them feel less safe, which historically makes sense. Time and again, members of those communities asked, ‘Can you teach me to manage my neighborhood?’ but that’s not a quick hashtag,” Dr. Charles says.
In her conversations, citizens expressed that they wanted to learn how to manage their own community issues, to care for their own—without an outside force with a history of disproportionate violence against their community. “If you think about it from their perspective, if you’ve got somebody hovering over you, just on top of you, and an authoritarian state looking for something to go wrong or somebody to do something wrong, then that’s scary,” Dr. Charles says.
A new way of doing things could offer these vulnerable communities the tools they need to finally feel capable of protecting and policing themselves, without being scared of those doing the policing.
Enter social work and public health practitioners
The two professional fields of social work and public health have gained particular attention in discussions about reforming law enforcement systems.
Dr. Nguyen explains how social workers are especially equipped to deal with the complex problems that exist at many levels.
“Social workers can be seen as ‘jacks of all trades,’ meaning that we can work at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels,” he says. “This is a societal issue, and things have to take place at a macro level in order for real change to occur. When macro issues are resolved at the grand level, communities tend to experience the phenomenon less at the mezzo and micro levels. Social workers are trained to be crisis workers, therapists, advocates, social policy analysts, etc., so that they can utilize their skill sets to combat this societal phenomenon at all levels in society.”
Systemic issues touch many sectors of society, and as such, solutions to these issues are multilayered. From policy to practice, each helper serves an important role in keeping vulnerable populations safe and secure—free from police harm. Social workers and mental health practitioners work in schools, health care facilities, prevention programs, and places of employment that allow them to be some of the best public health advocates because they understand the issues from a human perspective. And other public health professionals are well-versed in understanding how to craft and implement policy on a broader scale to help address the various challenges our society faces.
“As a public health practitioner, it is important to advocate for access to equitable care as well as prevention and education programs through policy to support public mental health initiatives. Social workers also need to be advocates of policy,” Dr. Jankowski says. “Vulnerable populations should be allocated specific resources to minimize their vulnerability, but many see this as quite costly. However, as a public health and health care practitioner for many years, I can say that utilizing evidence-based approaches to policy development and ensuring the sustainability of the policy for the greater good of all populations should be first and foremost. After all, is there a price on human life?”
While a one-size-fits-all approach may not work to solve a centuries-long systemic issue that pervades the law enforcement arena, Dr. Charles agrees that focusing on the human aspect of all parties involved is a good place to start. “We have got to recognize in policing that these are human beings we’re dealing with, and we’re human beings. It may sound corny, but really when you think about it, we are in service of a community. Period. That’s why you have the badge. Somebody hands that to you from the community. You’re not militarized. You’re not a part of an army. And as bad as things get, your job is to go out there and try and educate and encourage people to be lawful and caring for one another.”
Learn more about Saybrook University
If you are interested in learning more about the community and academic programs at Saybrook University, fill out the form below to request more information. You can also apply today through our application portal.
Maybe you hugged your co-workers before leaving the office for the last time, congratulated your brother on his engagement on St. Patrick’s Day, or consoled a friend who just broke up with their partner?
Do you remember the last person you hugged before we were told it was too dangerous—before we were warned not to hug people outside of our households?
Even for those who claim not to be big on hugs, after months without human contact (or not a lot of it), many of us miss hugging or at least hugging certain people. The value of human touch cannot be overstated—and because of COVID-19, we’re learning what is lost when we can’t embrace. How it affects our mental health. How it can bring such sadness.
My mom lives 15 minutes away, but during the lockdown we acted as if we live a thousand miles apart. Even before the pandemic, we spoke several times and texted throughout the day. My mother and I both suffer from anxiety to varying degrees, which may play a part in our attachment.
I will admit, in the first week of lockdown, I was sobbing on FaceTime with my mom. I was struggling with the demands of remote work adjustments, terrified by the unknowns of coronavirus, and failing horribly at pretending to be OK.
All I wanted was a hug from my mom.
My mom is extremely affectionate, and the idea of going without hugs for a prolonged amount of time was unimaginable. My mother’s depression and anxiety are severe, and she lives alone. During the months of quarantine, we have had to find new ways to express our love. We’ve resorted to FaceTime dates, front porch dinner drops, and sidewalk meet-and-greets with my dog.
But on the days that I didn’t have time to FaceTime or my wife and I didn’t cook anything to bring over to mom’s porch, I heard a heaviness and sadness in my mom’s voice. I could feel clouds and waves of darkness washing over our family. She became distant and quiet on our phone calls. Some nights she cried.
By May, two months into our hug withdrawal, my mother was barely sleeping or eating. She was always apologizing for being down. I was not sure if it was because of her work furlough or any host of other life circumstances. The pandemic had taken a toll on her finances and living situation, and I could see it stealing her joy. But she would light up every time we visited for puppy therapy and during our video dates, so we kept up our routine. I just wanted to keep her in a positive space.
We sat in silence often, partly because quarantine isn’t very eventful but also because she just wanted me on the phone with her. My heart would break when she would sob and apologize for her sadness.
Learning to be a virtual caregiver is really something our generation will perfect by the end of this pandemic.
The day our state announced its lockdown in mid-March 2020, I ran into my older cousin. Her wedding was two weeks away, and she had just left a hair appointment for her wedding day trial run. Everyone in our community was rushing around preparing for the impending lockdown—getting groceries, prescriptions, all of the necessities. But running into my cousin brought me a needed sense of calm.
With the governor’s order in mind, everyone around gave us the “Don’t get too close to each other!” judgey-eyes as we hugged. As my cousin leaned in, I said, “I’m not supposed to hug you.” She grabbed me into the warmest embrace and said, “You’re my cousin. I love you. If you go, I go.”
I did not realize that would be the last hug I would have from someone other than my wife for three months.
I know that many will say, “At least you had a spouse to hug during those months.” And I am grateful for the love and comfort my wife has been able to give me during this time of distancing from others. But there was no one I wanted to hug more than my mother. My wife knew it, and so did my mom.
In early June, my mother lost a close friend who was also dealing with mental health challenges. It hit her deeply. She was wailing and weeping when she told me the news. I couldn’t console her.
We couldn’t hug.
The next day, Tuesday, June 9, our governor lifted the stay-at-home order. The first thing I asked my wife was, “I’m going to hug my mom, right?” My wife, our pup, and I hopped in our car, and I told my mom we were on our way. Unaware of the governor’s announcement and in true mom fashion, she asked if we had dinner with us. (We didn’t. I was one-track-minded that day).
When we arrived, she was already a bit weepy—grateful for the surprise visit. Our dog was loving on her a little extra. I said, “Mommy, the governor lifted the stay-at-home order today.” She lit up—as if she had been waiting for this moment. We were standing at a distance, but she stood up from her slump on the porch steps and opened her arms to welcome me in.
We embraced. She wept.
She held me in a way she hasn’t since I was a college student home on break. She inhaled as if she hadn’t smelled me in years.
I gave my mom the time she needed to weep, to hold, and to remember what hugging felt like. We didn’t move for minutes. I thought I would cry, but I was just so happy to have her close.
I thought I was finished meditating on hugs and writing this piece, and then the next morning our world shifted again.
I was awoken with the news of the sudden passing of a loved one. The loss of this young son rattled the community and my family. I had never heard so many mothers in my community cry out in pain at one time. On that warm June night, a group of loved ones and I went to a candlelight vigil to honor this young life.
At the vigil, my wife had her first hug. My wife had not been able to hug her mother yet, but at the vigil she hugged students whom she mentors, grateful that they are still alive. She hugged community members who were openly grieving and sobbing. She hugged our nephew, only 7 years old, who wants to know why God would take such a young soul. These were her first hugs.
I witnessed so many mourners have their first hugs.
Weeping, grieving, and reuniting, people gathered, blocking streets and sidewalks, embracing. Everyone’s first hugs were not with the person they thought they would be. They may not have been full of joy or love. Some hugs were full of sadness and pain.
You will get to experience your first hug again, if you haven’t already. You may drive down the street and see strangers hugging in a driveway. That may be their first hug. Some people still have not had a hug in months and do not know when one is coming.
Whatever your situation, whether your first hug (handshake or shoulder pat) is full of joy, gratitude, or mourning, please honor that connection.
About Arielle D. Dance, Ph.D.
Arielle Dance, Ph.D., is a left-handed only child, currently living in Maplewood, New Jersey, with her wife, Stevana, and chihuahua-terrier, Minnie. She received her Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University in 2017. Arielle is focused on highlighting invisible illnesses, inclusive family structure, and caregiving.
A pre-published children’s book author, Dr. Dance’s stories feature a young child named Spencer who loves unicorn dance parties, playing with the best dog ever, and hanging out with Mommy and Mama. When she’s not writing about Spencer’s adventures, Dr. Dance is writing about health-related topics in her community and advocating for health equity.
Within her community, Arielle is actively involved in numerous initiatives with the North Jersey Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., including co-chairing the Physical & Mental Health committee. Near to her heart, Arielle serves as an Ambassador for World Thrombosis Day, fearlessly sharing her Blood Clot Survivorship journey.
In her academics, Arielle is an Integrative Women’s Health Researcher and Endometriosis Advocate. Her most recent research focuses on noninvasive coping mechanisms for endometriosis and specific relaxation techniques, including meditation, deep breathing, and guided imagery. Arielle empowers those with chronic pain to break the silence and stigma related to their illnesses and advocate for their rights.
Learn more about Saybrook University
If you are interested in learning more about the community and academic programs at Saybrook University, fill out the form below to request more information. You can also apply today through our application portal.
Workplace wellness has most recently been synonymous with lunchtime yoga classes, smoking cessation programs, free healthy snacks, and even afternoon naptime. Employers have offered more and more benefits, but have these programs actually led to wellness? What is true workplace wellness? And what does it look like now during the COVID-19 pandemic?
As this crisis continues to challenge our health care system and economy, companies need to take care of their employees now more than ever. Millions of people are currently working remotely, and in a digital space, traditional HR efforts to offer wellness initiatives either don’t translate or lose efficacy. And as we come up against this existential threat, together, it’s going to take a lot to combat the mental health crisis accompanying this pandemic.
Defining what true workplace wellness is and how it can help employees requires an examination of creativity and leadership, a reconsideration of what “balance” means, viewing work and life as one integrated experience, and encouraging others to bring their full selves so they can do their best work.
We unpack both the theory and the practice of wellness at work with input from Saybrook University board member Gloria Chance, Ph.D., and President Nathan Long, Ed.D.
THE THEORY: GLORIA CHANCE, PH.D.
Since the 1970s, U.S. and U.K. corporations have taken an approach to work-life balance that treats work and personal and family life as equal. This approach resulted in stress to the individual when an attempt at these balances were difficult or illusive.
The COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for us to rethink not only how to find balance but also how to integrate our lives so that work, life, family, and health are one holistic experience. This approach will encourage a healthier and holistic individual as well as result in a more innovative and creative workforce but will require changes for individuals and dynamic changes for organizations and work policies. Leadership must make this shift strategically. As Elliot Ackerman, a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, wrote: “There is antidote to our fear. It’s called leadership.”
The logical and the creative
Society, over the centuries, has increasingly shifted its focus from internal (being introspective) to external (ego-based). As humans have evolved, we have moved into a “scientific culture that has increasingly surrounded us—and some would say imprisoned us—for the last hundred years (and) sees the world in terms of analysis, quantification, symmetry, and mechanism” (Briggs & Peat, 1999, p. 5).
Leaders must shift from this scientific culture that embraces analysis, quantification, and mechanism to one that embraces and combines creative attributes in an effort to cultivate openness, learning, imagination, emotion, and meaning.
Only 20% of leaders operate out of the creative mind, which is the leadership imperative.
The phrase “work-life balance” implies that there’s a formula that can make the experience just right. But life is not logical. Thus, a more holistic approach has better outcomes for all stakeholders. Ulrich and Ulrich argued that a holistic approach creates a “workforce that is competent, committed, and that contributes positively, but most importantly, these employees love to come to work.”
As the CEO of a management consulting firm focusing on expanding our creative minds, I believe that integrating the logical and creative parts of our thinking and emotions with strong inner health while also powering the imagination will drive our ability to enhance our performance and potential both at home and at work.
Both shifts in the leader and employee toward work-life integration begins an important, agile, and collaborative partnership that requires new skills and thinking. “Leadership is what you do with people, not to them” (Mathew & Gupta, 2015, p. 76).
The role of creativity
Years ago, I became fascinated with creativity, trying to figure out how it works and how I can drive others to be creative as a repeatable process. My research says that we’re all creative—we just haven’t been taught how to tap into it. I found that when people are creative and are able to use creative problem solving at work, amazing things happened: increased performance, better attitudes, more connection to self and others, increased teamwork and collaboration, better products and services, and expanded thinking to solve problems. However, only 20% of leaders operate out of the creative mind, which is the leadership imperative. The collective consciousness of leaders is not complex enough to provide the leadership needed to lead the cultural and systemic change needed to compete; creative or higher is required. (Anderson & Adams, 2016)
Traditionally leaders try to apply old ways of thinking to something new and ultimately fail. I believe this is the challenge we face regarding work-life integration. As Einstein stated, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” This applies especially today when deciding how to incorporate wellness into the workplace in the context of our changing paradigm. Creative problem solving is required to create models and approaches that are adaptable and lean enough to support the shift to an adaptable and dynamic work-life integration culture. According to Jerome, 2013, “Leaders who can satisfy employees’ self-actualization needs are the most effective leaders. This enables organizations to fully utilize employees’ ability and potential to enhance the overall productivity and effectiveness of the business.” This is the leadership call to action.
Breaking free: work-life integration
Work-life balance has been a mantra really since the 1970s. While it helped improve work culture at the time, it also forced people to feel like they had to choose one or the other—that they could never have both work and life simultaneously. That way of thinking separates us from ourselves, both psychologically and individually.
The opportunity we have with work-life integration is the creation of a holistic experience that supports both life and work, to support an individual’s entire experience. This will require leaders to create a culture that will not only support work, but will introduce holistic, creative, collaborative, and meaningful interactions that lay the foundation for all humans’ increased productivity at work as well as new energy and possibilities for their individual lives.
Individuals tend to hide their creative side during their day jobs, trying to keep who they are at home and who they are at work separate. Work-life integration enforces that you don’t have to make a choice. Teammate positive emotion and engagement is increased when we are encouraged to design work in a way that supports responsibilities at home. There is no one size fits all, so the need for openness and collaboration becomes the foundation for creative thinking to solve problems and creates a win for all.
Soft skills are the new hard skills: making the wellness shift
So how do you get people to feel comfortable enough to bring their full selves to work?
As leaders, we’re trained to keep emotions in check, but that’s the very thing that makes us robotic and builds a wall between the employee and the leader. And we can no longer afford to have walls. We must learn to build, improve, and flex our emotional and imaginative muscle. As author and researcher Daniel Goleman is often credited with saying, “Emotional intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, value and effectively apply the power of emotions as a source of human energy, information, trust, creativity and influence.”
There are times when leaders must focus on creating environments for positive engagement, and there are times when they need to stay focused on the bottom line and revenue. The humanist leader in my research is in pursuit of balance of both soft and hard skills to build an effective work-life integration experience. Leadership generally has been a sterile exercise. But leadership without emotion, heart, and soul gets us the results many organizations have today where employees generally feel disconnected from leaders. According to my experience and emerging trends, the humanist leader, armed with imagination techniques, is an instigator of change, a joiner and a bridge of things and people—connecting meaning and imagination to work communities for the good of all.
The leaders who are the most successful understand that one of the most important things in life (which will benefit work) is being able to transition to your creative self to bring your whole self to the table. When this happens, people come up with better solutions. People increase their execution and performance—they’re not operating in a robotic way and making mistakes. Because now there’s energy, sustainability, and greater teamwork, people are producing better results, not just individually but collectively.
Additionally, embracing creativity and imagination has health benefits that reduce stress, decreasing days lost at work and driving higher productivity, engagement, and personal authority and agency. Expressive arts, mindfulness, and stress reduction approaches can provide further expansion of this leadership shift. This shift will begin the journey to true wellness that puts the human experience at the center, propelling us toward sustainability, resilience, and expanded thinking and creative problem solving for a better experience and world. But more than anything, our challenges today can be improved by seeing, hearing, and supporting the humanity in us all. This requires everyone at the table to be willing to shift mindsets while increasing imagination.
When we think of our interconnectedness and the ways that we all want to connect, do you think there may be things we carry forward past this time?
Dr. Apprey: Presently, patients and family send emails, make phone calls, and message or meet via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Skype, Google Duo, and Zoom. If I have any more contact in any other forms of communication, I may turn into a patient.
I’ve always said that every day I wake up is a blessing. Everything else is a bonus. In my family, my father has always said, “learn in times of a recession.” My mother’s family has always said, “love everyone.” During this pandemic and the days ahead, I think it’s best to be grateful when we can wake up, keep learning, and keep loving regardless of the circumstances.
THE PRACTICE: NATHAN LONG, ED.D.
My first foray into wellness came out of managing the stressors of my own job and figuring out how to come into things more mindfully, more serenely, and in a more focused fashion. And that really changed my general leadership practice over the last four years in a very positive way.
So many things go through your mind as you’re trying to process work and enjoy life. Because as you live, you hear all the various voices in your head that arise from self-doubt and frustration. You get bombarded. Being more mindful helps me to capture and identify when I am going down a certain pathway whether it is in a meeting, in response to a situation, or how I was managing someone. It allows me to pause and say, “Wait a second. I need to reset and rethink.”
Taking care of myself in a more holistic way has made me be more present in my family relationships, be more effective as a father and a partner, and become a stronger leader. I’ve tried to stop the additional distractions that are out there as we’re engaging with one another, to really hone in and focus in on what’s in front of me. In that way, I can bring my full self to an interaction and actually connect with the person I am communicating with.
Re-centering and grounding
Every organization goes through difficult times. We’re living through a moment in history right now where every single individual is struggling with the ramifications of a global pandemic with COVID-19. The question for leaders everywhere is, how do we keep business going but also increase and improve faculty, student, and staff connection and morale—and take care of each other and everyone’s own unique needs?
Figuring out how people and profits interplay together in a very holistic humanistic way is crucial—they’re both essential for the other to be doing well. I can’t ensure that the Saybrook faculty and staff are OK and in a good space if we’re not doing well financially.
Part of being humanistic is recognizing yourself and what goes on inside you and those areas you need to work on so you can enhance how you show up in a situation and how that carries into your department, your organization, and ideally in your community—and embracing it.
In Saybrook University’s strategic plan, there is a strong focus on mindfulness. Not only in how we track faculty, student, and staff engagement but how we create an environment that people feel connected to. After all, the workplace is where we spend 40+ hours a week. It’s almost like your extended family, and how you show up and engage is really key to keeping up morale.
Part of what’s incredible about operating as a nonprofit is advancing a mission—especially in a university setting. Yes, the financials are important; yes, enrollment is important, but the primary goal is advancing our mission and we need everyone to be connected to what we’re doing. If I as the president or if one of our partners is not connected to what we’re trying to do, then we’re not really serving the mission.
Putting it into practice at Saybrook
One of the things that Saybrook stands for is this focus on mental health and whole health. It’s permeated the university in many ways, and it’s becoming more a part of the fabric of the institution.
A couple of weeks ago at a faculty meeting, our faculty co-chair started off with a guided imagery and mindfulness meditation moment to center the group. It was the most focused I have ever seen us. And that’s really what mindfulness is all about: what are we doing, what are we thinking in the moment, bringing ourselves or our group or the organization back into some sort of balance.
In the wake of COVID-19, Saybrook has started to offer daily Mindful Moments. Designed to be 15 minutes in length, our Mind-Body Medicine faculty have banded together to provide these sessions as a source of centering and solace in these extraordinary times. I’m so proud to be part of a community that are helping people show up better and find some peace in the world right now.
Our team is really committed to personal and professional growth in that regard. We’re looking to do some things around what they call gracious space. It’s at the beginning of a meeting where people go around the room and speak about where they’re at. It’s an opportunity to both receive positive affirmation or empathy and then from that moment create the space for individuals to start engaging productively, because everyone’s bringing their whole selves to a situation.
Part of being humanistic is recognizing yourself and what goes on inside you and those areas you need to work on so you can enhance how you show up in a situation and how that carries into your department, your organization, and ideally in your community—and embracing it. That recognizes the humanity of the situation rather than just the cog-and-the-wheel mentality.
We’re evolving as a university to think about the whole, not just the parts, and how all of these factors—financial state, enrollment, and employee and staff morale—affect the other in order to create a really dynamic great place to work. It’s figuring out how to get all those to play well together and help everyone feel connected to the outcome—because ultimately, it’s about sustaining the mission and ourselves.
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For years, when tragedy struck, companies got off the hook by generally offering thoughts and prayers.
These words ring hollow in 2020.
Consumers see companies as people. Companies have quirky brand voices on social media, showing up in our feeds with posts much like friends do. No wonder people have come to expect more from them in the wake of so much hardship—starting with COVID-19 and picking up even more as protests erupted across the country in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.
The past few months have seen companies speak up, call themselves out, and promise to be better. It’s a type of momentum that hasn’t been seen before—but all this leads to a critical eye, since words alone no longer cut it. What if a company donates money to an organization devoted to racial justice but then turns around and profits from prison labor (which disproportionately affects people of color)? By the time donations trickle down, who and what are they really helping?
“A lot of companies donate money, yet it doesn’t end up having the impact they expected,” says O’Dell Johnson, Ph.D., an alumnus of Saybrook University’s Existential-Humanistic Psychology program as well as a former Presidential Fellow. Dr. Johnson is the founder and CEO of the Institute for Education and Justice, a criminal justice reform organization. “What we’re seeing here is corporations giving money to entities, and by the time it gets to the people the donations should actually be helping, it doesn’t make as much of a difference as the original investment would have.”
So what would be better? The key word is investment. In order to have proper investment, companies need to build relationships with the communities they seek to help.
Even though it seems like companies should just “do the right thing,” they are often too focused on perception and their bottom line to focus on much else. What role should companies have in social movements like Black Lives Matter? And are they willing to do what it takes to actually create tangible change?
Hypocrisy in activism vs. actions
If a company says it supports Black Lives Matter, it needs to do more than just say so.
Companies can’t simply capitalize on the moment. Take Microsoft. Artist Shantell Martin was commissioned by Microsoft and its advertising firm McCann Erickson to make a Black Lives Matter mural on the Microsoft store in New York City on June 3. Martin, however, declined after receiving an insensitive email from the team, that said: “Hoping to complete the mural while the protests are still relevant and the boards are still up …”
Worth Rises is a nonprofit advocacy organization, dedicated to dismantling the prison industry. In May 2020, it published its annual report: The Prison Industry—Mapping Private Sector Players. They called out some big names in the sector, and for the first time introduced a harm score for each corporation that measures involvement in human rights violations in the prison industry and flags corporations that support prison labor. Each harm score takes into account the gravity of the violation, how they were responsible for it, and their responsiveness to advocacy engagement.
Corporations that scored more than 10 points are recommended for divestment. Microsoft has a harm score of 11.
“It’s contradictory. Companies want to show that they’re culturally and socially sensitive, but they’re still making their profits lead the way,” Dr. Johnson says. “All of this is guided by profits—and a lot is also guided by a large amount of racism and disenfranchisement as well.”
Aramark is another company that plays both sides—for profit (by using unpaid labor) and for credit. The American foodservice, facilities, and uniform provider is the main supplier of CoreCivic, one of the largest privately funded American prison systems. Aramark partners with more than 600 college campuses and is a $16.2 billion company. It has been cited by activists over the years for violating human rights and supporting the prison industry.
A Mother Jones article detailed the struggle of one previously incarcerated individual, Bert Davis, who worked for Aramark in prison—for no pay. Working out of Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County in California, Davis is now a part of a lawsuit against Aramark and Alameda County, arguing that the 40-hour work weeks of unpaid kitchen jobs were forced labor. A particular poignant point from the Mother Jones article: “While the 13th Amendment bans slavery, it makes an exception for work performed ‘as a punishment for crime,’ essentially permitting forced labor in prisons.”
“It’s like the new Jim Crow,” Dr. Johnson says. “This system has elements of enslavement. We have people who are in prison working for zero, practically. Some corporations are benefiting greatly from the products that are being made out of these prisons.”
Yet when protests began in May over the murder of George Floyd, Aramark released a statement citing its outrage and pointing employees to its Employee Assistance Program.
The harm scores of Amazon, Google, and 3M. Amazon is ranked #2, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) #22, and 3M #97 on the Fortune 500.
A systemic upheaval
According to Dr. Johnson if companies are willing to put their skin in the game to reap the possible benefits of saying “Black Lives Matter”—of appearing woke and with the times—they must be willing to analyze AND sacrifice themselves. They need to take a systemic approach to uproot life and business as they know it. Otherwise, they’re taking a Band-Aid approach to a crisis that has festered for hundreds of years. To combat hypocrisy, they need to be willing to change. A lot of the work that companies preach they are willing to do would actually require them to change their business models. It will require revisiting how certain companies make products or the business relationships they have. But that change affects the entire economy. For example, if prisons are shut down, especially in rural U.S. cities that depend on the boosts to the local economy that prisons bring, alternative investment strategies will be needed to help these towns survive. Currently, 70% of prisons are located in rural America. Similar to the arguments people are making about defunding the police and reallocating those resources, the same discussion needs to include prisons. Instead of prisons, build hospitals. Instead of prisons, build schools.
It’s a layered approach. Dr. Johnson explains what can happen, using an example of a company that hired 24 previously incarcerated people. While it was great to give these individuals the opportunity, most of these employees were living in halfway houses, surrounded by people who just got out of prison. They weren’t set up for a wraparound support that would allow them to truly succeed.
“If you’re going to take on this kind of work, fully take it on and address this holistically,” Dr. Johnson says. “Instead of just giving them a job and minimum wage, let’s provide access to housing so they can have a decent place to live, instead of still living in the system. If we’re talking about investing, truly investing, let’s invest in all of it.”
But how do companies begin to invest properly? One way is by building relationships with the community they’re hoping to impact.
“To have the relationship is key,” Dr. Johnson says. “When you have a relationship, you can share your stories—then you can identify how best to invest in the community. If you look at it from a distance as an observer, you’ll never get it right.”
When companies build relationships on the ground and in communities, they can actually get constituents what they need and create change. THAT is true investment. It opens the door on both sides, and these relationships can help build a more equitable future together.
“You have to send people down to those communities, tell them in person that you care, and build a relationship,” Dr. Johnson says. “Those real conversations enable people to be honest about what’s actually going on. These companies can actually hear honest answers, like, ‘I don’t need that. I need this.’”
The systemic issues in our society will only be solved from a multifaceted human approach. Humans have made it the way it is—and they can change it too. After all, who is behind the social platforms of companies? Who is behind the blanket statements that are released time and time again? Despite their voice and influence, companies aren’t people—they are run by people. And if they wish to see change in society, they must start with themselves.
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Older generations have been revered for centuries for their expertise, secrets, and experiences. Researchers have studied for years what makes someone live longer—convinced that just maybe there is a trick we haven’t figured out yet. And advertisers love selling us the latest Mediterranean diet, red wine trend, or higher altitude methods that will keep us all alive for longer. This search for immortality makes sense when you remember that in 1940, the average life expectancy was around 60 years old. So when someone lived to 89, they were special—someone to be respected by children and adults alike. Stories about what they had eaten, drank, how far they walked, how they loved, and how they truly lived were shared throughout families and communities.
But in 2020, when the average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years, old age seems like old news. We’re less impressed and less curious about what these older generations have seen or done—apathetic to their presence.
Coronavirus revealed many inequities in our cultural system, and perhaps none so grave as the way we treat our elderly. More than 60% of those who have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. were 75 or older, and almost 80% were age 65 or older. It’s not just that the disease targets the older generation—it’s the lack of protection that society has provided them. Even with the news surrounding the impacts of coronavirus on our older populations, there is no shortage of disinterest in caring for them and their well-being.
Valuing older generations is not just about learning what they know but also is equally about their right to a future too. Respecting older generations means treating and caring for them well. In humanistic psychology, each individual’s experience is valued equally. Yet as society continues to value youth and economic progress, Baby Boomers and the Greatest Generation are dying at higher rates during this pandemic.
Valuing older generations is not just about learning what they know but also is equally about their right to a future too. Respecting older generations means treating and caring for them well.
Different strokes
Both of my grandmothers lived in my childhood home before their passing. They continued to be an important part of our day-to-day lives—no matter their physical conditions or deterioration. We talked about my day, about their days—presently and in the past. This intimacy and approach to aging and relationships didn’t start overnight—it was a value system in my family. Growing up, I wasn’t aware that this wasn’t the norm. Generational respect is not a given.
Depending on how one was brought up and what one places value in, treatment of our elder generation can vary. In any discussion of human behavior, especially from a humanistic lens, one must remember: Not everyone lives the same experience.
Theopia Jackson, Ph.D., co-chair for the Department of Humanistic Psychology, chair of the Clinical Psychology program, and the president for the Association of Black Psychologists, Inc., explains that as a humanistic psychologist, it’s important to look at what it means to be human in context—in a socio-political-economic context.
“It’s important to acknowledge that there is not one way to be in regards to how we treat older generations,” she says. “In our Western thinking, we are trained to think either/or, right or wrong. But what humanistic principles are saying, we must do both/and because one person’s lived experiences and their values and practices are just as important. Certain socio-economic factors contribute to how we treat our elders and cultural traditions that directly affect how we treat our older generations.”
Take, for example, the ravaging of the nursing home population during COVID-19. Current statistics suggest that of the U.S.’s 155,000 coronavirus deaths, more than 40% have been residents or employees of long-term care facilities and nursing homes. Before we explore what this says about our values as a society, it’s important to note that even being able to send a loved one to a nursing home is a privilege.
Sending older people to nursing homes has become a rising practice, but looking through the long lens of history, it is a relatively new concept. In the past, most cultures shared one residence spanning three to four generations—simply out of necessity. From birth to death, you lived at home. Not only did you live at home, you added value, you were cared for, you were listened to.
But as families moved up and out, communities began the sprawl and generations began to separate. However, as Dr. Jackson goes on to explain, when long-term care facilities are working, they offer a valuable resource.
“They’ve probably saved many people; probably improved the quality of life for many who are aging, to be able to be in a safe place, a caring, loving place, surrounded by their own generation,” she says. “This can affirm them again in this new phase because the things that are of interest for them are similar.
“Yet we also know that in a capitalistic society, in a society that is born from white supremacist ideology and capitalism, there is a perpetuation for, ‘Me, me, me, me, me,’ a value for youth and individuality. All of a sudden having to care for your loved one can be a burden, and sending them away can alleviate that.”
In over a dozen states, more than 50% of deaths related to COVID-19 were residents of nursing homes or assisted living residences—as high as 80% in Minnesota and West Virginia. What was supposed to be a safe haven for older generations turned out to be a festering sore during the pandemic. The ACLU reports, “In some cases, facilities have not only failed to report, but have actively hidden deaths from residents, families, and the government.” The way systems have failed so many of our older generation during this current pandemic can be seen in the lack of care and assistance that nursing homes have been able to provide. You care for what you value, so this can be seen as a direct representation of our social and cultural values and practices. But what’s being overlooked is the ways in which this pattern and loss will negatively impact younger generations as well.
It’s important to acknowledge that there is not one way to be in regards to how we treat older generations…because one person’s lived experiences and their values and practices are just as important.
Where were you?
Even before it was written down, history has always kept us alive. Oral history has been a key part of social evolution and resilience since the beginning of time—we have survived predators, natural disasters, plagues, and dying crops because someone is there to remember what happened in the past and how they lived through it.
“Stories are better than simple explanations for history. Their content is richer and more applicable to a broad range of circumstances. Older people love to share stories and those stories are well worth listening to, if only for the value of hard-won insights over a long period of time,” says Drake Spaeth, Psy.D., co-chair of Saybrook’s Department of Humanistic Psychology.
Our grandparents and elders can tell us what getting running water was like, how many friends perished in Vietnam, where they were when the Challenger exploded, when JFK was shot, what their first ride in an automobile was like—a vast array of big events that have marked their lives. But the small events provide some of the most important bits of advice too—a perspective that has weathered time and challenges. Learning how to live through the difficult and thrive in different situations proves a spirit that is valuable no matter the year, decade, or circumstance.
“What older individuals get from aging is an increasing openness through life experience to universal reality,” Dr. Spaeth says. “They more easily recognize patterns among events that allow for a depth of foresight, intuitive understanding, and an array of coping resources that were not available to them when they were younger.”
It’s not just that they have seen more. It’s that they connect more—they can put the pieces together for us. We often forget that we too will have these large events to mark our time—9/11, the coronavirus, Obama’s election—and we’ll be ready to share what we learned personally and as a society too. But will anyone want to listen?
“Elder is not simply a term of endearment or a term that one holds because they’ve gotten old. We learn of the idea of the term elder from our African traditions,” Dr. Jackson explains. “Like with other indigenous groups, including Native Americans, an elder means that you serve a role in the community or in the village. And most times they’re the wisdom keepers. They are the protectors. They are the storytellers.”
What older individuals get from aging is an increasing openness through life experience to universal reality.
Older than all of us
One of these valuable storytellers is Jeanne Calumet. You may have never heard of her or her story, but born in 1875, she did the unthinkable and lived through it all.
And lived.
And lived.
For 122 years.
For 122 years, she managed to outlive lovers, friends, children, neighbors—everyone. Recently, a few researchers have suggested that her age was fraudulent and she had begun lying about it much earlier in her life. While the evidence suggests that she was truly 122 years old—an outlier—in a world that equates beauty over age, prioritizing youth over all else, it’s difficult to believe that someone would willingly choose to lie about being older. But perhaps this high value on youth and diminishing value on age is a new phenomenon.
Relationships and mentorship between younger and older generations have been a large part of a variety of cultures throughout history. From Native Americans to African traditions, to quinceaneras and presentation balls for affluent white young men and women, initiations into the next part of life abound. Generational progress has long been praised and valued with older generations leading the young, but the value has been placed more on youth and less on what we can learn from our elders.
“In a Jungian or depth psychological sense, the adulthood initiation is archetypal—universal in the human psyche, a thematic pattern of striving that has evolved throughout human history,” Dr. Spaeth explains. “Without an adult mentor, that archetypal yearning is extremely vulnerable to the unconscious shadow—the repository of repressed aspects of humanness with which we are uncomfortable.
“Sadly, the wisdom of elderhood seems to be more neglected, and (alarmingly) even despised, in comparison to indigenous contexts where popular recognition of that wisdom would earn one honored places and roles in society,” Dr. Spaeth adds. “This disconnect impedes the meaning of formal and informal rites of passage or initiations into the experience of adulthood.”
The disconnect
We are living and working longer, which provides opportunity for older generations to continue contributing and affecting society for many more years. Our current president is 74, and the Democratic nominee who hopes to unseat him is 77 years old—meanwhile the resident favorite Supreme Court judge somewhat surprisingly passed at a spry 87 years old while still working doggedly, and the Speaker of the House keeps order at 80.
Yet in the demographic making up the electorate that will choose who leads for the next four years, one in 10 voters will be in Generation Z—meaning between the ages of 18 and 23. The generational divide between those leading and those living seems to continue to expand.
As the way we experience the world continues change, the frustration from the generational divide grows. “It may also mean that younger people may find it more difficult to attain positions of leadership, increasing the tension among generational cohorts who are coming of age and craving more meaningful responsibility and participation in social contexts. Understandably, resentment and frustration arise among younger generations for what they regard as the legacy and consequences of past mistakes when they are in less empowered positions with regard to making substantive and sustainable change,” Dr. Spaeth adds.
But by listening, caring for, and incorporating the world through a multi-generational lens—like generations before us—every generation can gain insight to thrive well into the future. The only difference between the young and the old is time. And if the young are lucky, they’ll one day understand what it’s like to be a part of the older generation.
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