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Workplace wellness starts with leadership

26 August 2020
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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.

Learn more about Saybrook University

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References for “Our Psychological Response to the Pandemic

26 August 2020
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From empty promises to policies and action

26 August 2020
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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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The early old bird gets the worm

20 August 2020
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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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Our Psychological Response to a Pandemic

20 August 2020
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The coronavirus calls for dramatic behavioral responses to contain a pandemic of uncertain magnitude. Among the responses is the restriction of social contact through self-isolation so as to reduce likelihood of contagion. For psychology, this introduces a paradox. Isolation, as a theme in psychology, has preceded the coronavirus. One major contribution to psychology has been in understanding the importance of social contact for both physical and psychological, health and well-being (Caplan, 1974; Novotney, 2019). Social isolation has been shown to be a factor in weakening immune-competence and precipitating health breakdowns, ranging from cardiac and respiratory conditions to injuries from accidents. Breakdown is a generic term, including any form of mental or physical pathology. In epidemiological studies, the term is sometimes measured by number of medical service visits, excluding pregnancy. This provides a label for identifying overriding factors, like poverty or social isolation, which may contribute to illness that is expressed in diverse forms (Berkman et al., 2014). For the most part, people linked closely to others are better able to stay well. Evidence for this is summarized in Berkman et al.’s (2014) review of this prevalent theme in social epidemiology. Recognition of the importance of supportive networks has historical roots. Sydney Cobb’s 1976 presidential address to the Society of Psychosomatic Medicine states:

The conclusion that supportive interactions among people are important is hardly new. What is new is the assembling of hard evidence that adequate social support can protect people in crisis from a wide variety of pathological states: from low birth weight to death, from arthritis through tuberculosis to depression, alcoholism, and other psychiatric illness. Furthermore, social support can reduce the amount of medication required and accelerate recovery and facilitate compliance with prescribed medical regimens. (p. 310)

Since this time, there has been increasing corroboration of the evidence linking supportive ties to health maintenance. The spread of isolation and loneliness has led to documented accounts of increased behavioral disorders, including depression and suicide attempts (Putnam, 2000). It has also led to increases in arthritis, diabetes, respiratory disorders and failures to respond to cancer treatments (Novotney, 2019).

Evidence on the extent of mental health consequences associated with isolation during the coronavirus pandemic is still being assembled. The director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use at the World Health Organization has drawn our attention to the psychological distress likely to be increased by the coronavirus crisis (McKeever, 2020). A large number of people are worried about their own health and the health of their families and are frightened about their loss of ability to hold a job. Among them are people who have had a history of mental disturbance. For them, the new crisis precipitates exacerbations (Solomon, 2020). The coronavirus is bringing with it substantial casualties and a significant degree of personal trauma felt by those bearing the illness and by those serving them. The effects extend to everyone and are exposing many unresolved problems of inequality and priorities of government policy. Responses to the coronavirus involving reduced social contact can surely add to the health effects of isolation. Paradoxically, the responses to the coronavirus offer both a chance for many to survive it and an opportunity to build a healthier society for the future.

Sensory deprivation and social isolation

The field of psychoneuroimmunology has added biological understanding to the question of how the immune system apparently recognizes, through neural and other physiological mechanisms, that one is loved (Azar, 2001). More to the point, there are studies suggesting the wide range of contacts needed to sustain healthy functioning. For some, the restrictions of the pandemic include a lack of tactile sensation—not divorced from the meanings ascribed to contact more generally.

Hugs and handshakes reinforce a sense of connection. Whatever the source or intent, isolation and separation as practiced in containing the spread of coronavirus add to vulnerability.

Isolation has been shown to increase memory loss in older people (Shankar et al., 2013). Early studies of people cut off from sensory stimulation (visual, auditory, and tactual) show that within a relatively short time, their cognitive capacities falter and some begin to hallucinate (Stribling & Essau, 2011). Prisoners in jail who are subjected to long stays in social isolation units show similar symptoms of disorientation (Smith, 2006). Totalitarian governments have used social isolation in painful experiments to wipe out former beliefs and replace them with official propaganda (Lifton, 2012; Taylor, 2004).

Solitary confinement was frequently used in colonial boarding schools as a punishment for American Indian children. Forced separation from families and from signs of tribal culture caused depression and illness, with more students dying than graduating from the schools (Estes, 2019). Classic studies of attachment and maternal deprivation show infants deteriorate rapidly if deprived of physical contact with a mother figure (Ainsworth, 1982; Bowlby, 1973). While social distancing is different from sensory deprivation, the latter does suggest harm from the former for some people under some conditions.

Empirical findings on the effects of supportive contacts

Human interconnectedness is multi-faceted and is better conceived as a theme of human existence than as the sum of component parts. It ranges from sensory transactions to affiliations with families and other groups. Physical touch is an important part of contact. In the classic 1965 experiment conducted by Harlow, researchers separated infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers and bottle fed them with a mechanical device. For one group, the bottle was held in place by a metallic mesh. For another group, the bottle was held in place by a soft cloth covering. The wire mesh group deteriorated quickly, while the cloth substitute mothers provided the contact apparently needed at this stage of development. Even the lactating wire mother was deserted after feeding, in favor of a dry cloth substitute (Harlow, 1965). Tactual sensations have a special place in human bonding.

More recent research has shown the value of physical touch when working with children in institutionalized settings with AIDS patients and with breast cancer patients. The mechanism appears to be a lowering of cortisol level and an increase in natural killer T cells (Pilisuk & Parks, 1986). Decline in the incidence of direct touch has been noted in the United States (Jones, 2018). The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2020) reports that neglected children suffer worse consequences and subsequent developmental impairments than those who have been abused. Touch deprivation is but a part of the larger problem of social isolation and threadbare networks of social support.

Events that isolate people or cut off a significant relationship puts one at a higher risk of health breakdown (Pilisuk, 1982). In this sense, the accommodations needed to contain the coronavirus can predictably preclude the contact with important caring relationships needed to reduce our susceptibility to illness (McKeever, 2020). If this contact, so needed for health and well-being, is placed out of reach, the necessary isolating response may be increasing our susceptibility to other illness. When we are requiring social distance, isolation in homes, and disruption in contact among friends and family members, can psychology help us to reduce the anticipated toll? What does the field of psychology have to say about dealing with this paradox?

First, psychology and related disciplines have confirmed the extent of the relation of social support to physical and psychological health maintenance. Consistent with findings from the laboratory, larger scale studies confirm the importance of social ties in limiting breakdowns in physical and mental health (Pilisuk & Minkler, 1980). A classic example came from sociologist Emile Durkheim’s (1951) study of suicide, finding its rates to be highest among people with low integration in their communities. Persons who develop schizophrenia, or who are admitted for any form of psychiatric hospitalization, are likely to share the fact of fewer supportive social ties (Lim & Gleeson, 2014). Social linkages among people are indirect communication but are also intangible exchange of resources. With this broader view, insufficiency of such ties comprise a definition of social marginality, which has been linked to most forms of physical and psychological pathology (Foster et al., 2018; Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020). This same factor frequently characterizes the victims of suicide, alcoholism, multiple accidents, and hypertension (Novotney, 2019; Pilisuk, 1982; Stravynski & Boyer, 2001).

A study of coronary disease among Japanese men living in California showed those with traditional close-knit Japanese family ties to be at significantly lower risk than those who had been assimilated (Marmot & Syme, 1976). Another large-scale longitudinal study of residents of Alameda County, California, examined social and health status at one point in time and followed their records of illness and death over a subsequent nine-year period. It showed that disease, morbidity, and mortality rates, from all causes, were related to an index of the individuals’ personal ties at the start of the study. The relation appeared for both sexes, for all ethnic groups, and across socio-economic classes (Berkman & Syme, 1978; Pilisuk & Parks, 1986). For those who do fall ill, social support is important in fostering compliance to medical treatments. These seminal studies have been replicated and expanded to document the scope of conditions affected by isolation and by the relation of isolation and of support to resilience (Novotney, 2019; Solomon, 2020).

The importance of supportive ties is highlighted in studies of the death of a spouse. Among the newly bereaved, the rate of coronary mortality, particularly among men, is substantially higher than that found among others of their age group (Pilisuk and Parks, 1986). Bereavement proves a time for unusually high susceptibility, not only to coronary disorders, but to all forms of health and mental health breakdown. These adverse effects, however, were shown to be absent when the individual maintains even one close supportive relationship (Pilisuk & Parks, 1986). A study of circumstances surrounding 275 sudden deaths reported in newspaper accounts found that the most frequent category (135 deaths) to have followed upon an exceptionally traumatic disruption of a close human relationship or the anniversary of the death of a loved one (Pilisuk, 1982; Pilisuk & Parks, 1986). Escalating mortality rates during the coronavirus pandemic are likely to demonstrate similar consequences for bereaved survivors.

The effects of social disconnection on health cover an amazing diversity of circumstances. Surely there are different circumstances that may lead an individual to be prone to one form of illness rather than to another. Asthma, cardiac disease, accidents, suicide, or depression all have distinguishing risk factors. The argument here is that weak or disrupted ties fall upon individuals who already have their own ways of reaction to the stressors they face and with inadequate support, a breakdown will be more likely to occur. The wide diversity of diagnostic conditions should not detract from the broader conclusion: social connections are vital to our health and well-being, and coronavirus is limiting them.

Limitations of empirical findings

The warning that social distancing is likely to portend negative health consequences is clearly supported by early empirical evidence and reinforced by contemporary studies (Whitley, 2017). Fortunately, that is not the only contribution psychology and related fields contribute to our understanding of human resilience. The consequences of social disconnection mentioned so far have been developed through empirical studies, some of animals or humans in controlled settings, and some equally powerful, comparing populations living under different conditions. The heritage comes from an era in which psychology strove to be a science by copying methods identified with the physical sciences. The importance of social connection, loneliness, or losses in one’s network had of course been noticed by authors, artists, and indigenous healers (Putnam, 2000). However, the major formulations were part of an empirical psychology that was dominant through the 1960s, when it ran into criticism for its Western biases. Unwittingly, the field of psychology became part of a colonial mindset, helping the larger society demand conformity to its norms from diverse or deviant children or victims of conquest. Mainstream psychology also displayed a preference for measurable behavior over less tangible conscious or even unconscious experience. And in an effort to appear scientific, psychology inadvertently eschewed a deep value and appreciation of its core subject matter: the human being.

Virtual contact and humanistic psychology

Humanistic psychology has been one of the enduring voices of this criticism of an overly mechanistic, quantitative, and normatively biased field of psychology. It spawned methods that reach into the subjective and have a bearing on response to coronavirus. The new circumstances, an anti-epidemic strategy requiring physical separation, oblige us to dig into other contributions from psychology and from the social sciences. I have grouped these other contributions under the rubric of “humanistic psychology.” Humanistic psychology has a rich legacy of therapy and research that lies beyond the scope of this paper. What is relevant here are roots in ethnographic anthropology, ecological psychology, feminist psychology, existential therapies, and humanistic sociology. One unifying contribution underlying humanistic psychology is an appreciation and understanding of phenomenological experience.

The phenomenological approach can be described as one that focuses upon the study of consciousness and the content of one’s direct experience (Husserl, 1999; Merleau-Ponty, 1962). These contributions deal with our experiences, the reality which each of us constructs. They include the cognitive maps of kin and other associates, both close and distant. These inner libraries, carried within us maintain identity and buffer us from destructive levels of stress. They sustain us with images of our connection with and appreciation for others, as well as with our familiar habitats and ecology. It is not only the physical contact and face-to-face engagement with people that sustain us. It is also the internalized depiction of our experience. This inner reality can be used to enhance our sense of connection with others, even in the absence of direct contact. It can be used to vitalize our continued participation in virtual activities that keep us connected and provide outlets for our participation in preserving a sustainable world.

Advances of internet communication have offered one tangible example of adaptation: support groups for many health and personal needs are now conducted on the computer screen. Some are professionally led, and some are informal and spontaneous. They may provide synchronous or asynchronous participation and offer opportunities for people facing rare conditions to find each other. They provide opportunity for family gatherings, even among geographically dispersed families. One consideration is that access to equipment and an internet connection is not guaranteed for everyone (Gary & Remolino, 2000). Just how meaningful virtual communications can be to the meaning and richness of human experience is a question raised by humanist scholars. Schneider (2019) clarifies a distinction between authentic communications of real people and the artificial messages designed by algorithms. The latter undermine the vital creative insights and criticisms so necessary for social change.

Within the humanist framework are persuasive philosophical arguments about the existential centrality of the symbolic worlds we create (Husserl, 1999; Merleau-Ponty, 1962). The framework has included departures from deterministic outlooks, which may curtail the possibilities for newness in our lives. Psychotherapeutic approaches, such as nondirective therapy, have evolved as methods in which the client does the work of uncovering their own potentials to create something new (Rogers, 1961). The plethora of experiences that can be harnessed into promoting deep change have extended into music and dance therapies, visualizations, and meditation. Creativity has been moved from nonessential characteristics of life, to the central task of being human (May, 1975). Rather than viewing creativity as an exceptional talent, we have rediscovered it as an aspect of everyday life (Richards, 2007).

One important strand of this outlook is humanistic sociology. Traditional sociology, like traditional psychology, has focused upon observations that can be measured. They tell us what is but not what could be. The goal of humanistic sociology is an emancipatory potential for such possibilities as peace, love, and social justice. It works toward securing a voice for those victimized by neglect and injustice (Du Bois & Wright, 2002).

Humanistic modes of thought are useful in matters that introduce great uncertainty. The current pandemic is such a situation (Crockett et al., 2018). Humanistic psychology enhances the visibility of caring. Moreover, the experiential emphasis welcomes deep compassionate concern at a spiritual level, for people and places we will never know on a direct level. Humanistic psychology has something important to offer in going beyond deterministic frameworks and emphasizing subjective, phenomenological experiences. The approach has something significant to say about how people can accommodate positively to the changed environment imposed by the coronavirus.

The passion and creative power to build something better

At a time of relative isolation, humanistic orientations can be harnessed to capture the value of quiet and of looking within. In so doing, we find a measure of respite from the overstimulation to which we have grown accustomed and a deeper look into ourselves. Our inner life can hold on to deep connections with our communities, with the natural world, and with the future yet to be attained.

The loss of close, cuddly connections is real, but so too are our passionate connections with people that continue to be carried from within. Even the homes, shops, and landmarks that defined communities have evolved into a psychological sense of community (Sarasson, 1988). These settings are kept alive in our imagination. The potential relief from overstimulation provides a motivation to honor the value of quiet and to recall the depths of renewal that we gain from contacts in the natural world. Part of our loss of the noisy world of direct contact creates a space to become reacquainted with ourselves. Hopefully, the credence that we give to our experience of what really matters helps us to harness the world of our dreams.

Finding community and solidarity through other means

We cannot help but be impressed by the creative ways people find to maintain not only the physical necessities of life, but also the social affirmation coming from friends, neighbors, and agencies. We are traveling less, consuming less, walking more, conversing electronically with family and friends more frequently, and enjoying contact with local nature and home gardens (Nguyen & Animashaun, 2020). People are finding creative ways to check the immediate needs of neighbors, including elders living alone (Damron, 2020). As people sharply cut travel, we notice the air a bit clearer, the waterways a bit less contaminated, and the roads less congested (Regan, 2020). We are reminded that the sacrifices needed to assure a viable planet should not have to wait for a pandemic, but rather should be on our minds always.

The learning opportunities emerging from physical isolation are not available to large portions of our population. Some lower-income, working families have no choice but to continue to live in crowded conditions, to continue to work in high-risk situations, and to stretch their time to care for elderly parents or children who would have otherwise been in school (Vesoulis, 2020). Many others have felt the impact of losing their job, and with it, their health insurance and income needed to support their families. In an eight-week period beginning in mid-March 2020, more than 35 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits (Tappe & Luhby, 2020). The economic and psychological consequences of such losses are detrimental (Ananat & Gassman-Pines, 2020).

For those of us who are able to find meaning in our ability to cope, we are faced with the realization that combating the virus requires reaching out to those who lack the necessary resources, as demonstrated by the current occurrences of community mobilization and mutual aid networks (Hogan, 2020). The strengths we gather from the humanistic tradition of creative imagining serve us in personal coping. Such individual adaptations need to be augmented by work with and for others. Collectively, we will need to apply our awareness to those deteriorating conditions of the planet that give rise to the proliferation of pandemics for which we are unprepared.

Interconnectedness with nature

A persuasive link has in fact been made between the origins of this virus and climate change. The UN’s environment chief Inger Andersen said:

There are too many pressures at the same time on our natural systems and something has to give … We are intimately interconnected with nature, whether we like it or not. If we don’t take care of nature, we can’t take care of ourselves. And as we hurtle towards a population of 10 billion people on this planet, we need to go into this future armed with nature as our strongest ally. (Carrington, 2020)

We are all interconnected, whether it be in working together to slow climate change or in protecting each other from this virus through social distancing and staying at home. Both climate change and a pandemic are problems that require us to work together with respect for nature.

Creating a future

Activism from home relies upon harnessing the potential of inner experience. It is needed on several issues. People at higher risk in particular are limited in their ability to join marches and demonstrations, visits to legislators, and knocking on doors to encourage others to vote. But meetings on big issues have turned to Zoom, and organized post-carding and phone banking events are drawing people to the sense of purpose from cooperative action on superordinate goals. Major shocks to a social system offer opportunities for drastic change (Klein, 2007). For those concerned about the world after this pandemic, it is important to recall that the change may be toward a more compassionate world. But it could also portend surrender to an authoritarian ruler, promising to restore order while moving toward a dystopian (technologically monitored and controlled) militarized state. This dark outcome is currently happening with Prime Minister Orban in Hungary and is viewed favorably by anti-immigrant movements in other countries (Tharoor, 2020).

National budgets reflect a nation’s values. When we find the Centers for Disease Control underfunded, insufficient hospital beds, lack of ventilators and protective gear for courageous doctors, nurses, and health care workers, we should reflect upon whether the 53% of the federal budget spent by the military is doing what is actually needed to promote our health and security (Li, 2020; Lindorff, 2010). Some who have long been dismayed over harmful social systems were too busy to demand their change. Now the virus has exposed the harm of inequality and the futility of finding scapegoats to hide the need for real social change.

We know that economic inequality has an even stronger effect upon health within a country than overall economic level (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). We are aware now, more than ever, that priorities should have favored the search for cures and the prevention of disease and that the policies that might have gone to improve the quality of our lives have been slighted. Despite physical barriers for advocacy, the message we can deliver to policymakers has become clearer. Moreover, the principles underlying successful citizen participation remain valid, even while indirect means of contact need to be emphasized (Pilisuk et al., 2004).

Looking forward

Experience that accepts existential uncertainty and accentuates creativity is an important ingredient for coping in ways that build a newer and more adaptive reality. A self-concept that emerges with belief that disaster can be faced is an instrument for change. Creativity can be used to envision a better future and to bring it into being. Time spent in solo contemplation, devoid of customary distraction, leaves opportunity for developing a sense of agency. The gaps in our lives required by social distancing can be filled in part by novel ways to come together, in our devices and in our minds. These propensities are critical components for building a level of organized social action so needed to bring about a safer, healthier, more peaceful, and sustainable world. The empirical findings on pandemics and violence are daunting. Hopes lie in our inner capacities to conceive and to create a kinder world.

Finally, just as we seek creative means to fill our home-sheltered lives with personal contacts, some among us find ourselves with time to join in activities to build a more humane world. Our discussions with colleagues, the petitions we sign, and our letters to elected officials are all part of the revolution in societal health care. Through home-scale activism, we can remember how interconnected we are. A case of the virus in Iran or in India, in a prison or in a nursing home, increases the risk of cases in Seattle or New York. Countries whose public health systems have been demolished by economic sanctions pose a risk beyond their borders. Everyone who needs testing, a place for shelter, and food is a part of our human family. It is for us now to promote the promise of humanistic psychology, to appreciate who we are, and to fulfill our potential to become stronger advocates for what we may become.

About Marc Pilisuk, Ph.D.

Marc Pilisuk, Ph.D., is a clinical and social psychologist whose published works have covered topics in cognitive consistency, self-concept, community intervention, game theory, social problems, international conflict, ecology, and peace studies. He is a professor emeritus from the University of California and faculty member at Saybrook University. He is the author of 11 books and the recipient of state and national awards for teaching, research, and community applications. He was a founding member of Psychologists for Social Responsibility and of the first Teach-in.

The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Rebecca Ferencik and Salvador Cumigad in preparing the manuscript.

References listed here.

A letter from our president on being a better ally and agent of change

2 June 2020
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In turning the page to a new fiscal and academic year, we find ourselves at a critical juncture in our nation’s history: a global pandemic, an economic crisis of historic proportions coupled with the ongoing pernicious effects of racism, resulting in more trauma across the country. Indeed, the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery remind us that while some progress has been made over these many generations, there is much hard work that remains in the areas of racial justice and equality.

Our university community recognizes the importance of this present moment both in terms of the continued psychological and sociological effects on our faculty, staff & students; our communities of color; and our nation as a whole. We also recognize the immediate need for both substantial dialogue and action addressing individual and structural racism.

Moving forward, our hope is that as a university grounded in humanistic principles, our faculty, students, and staff will come together to engage in those efforts leading toward greater social progress. All of our future work is informed by the knowledge that nothing can be changed until we face racism and social inequality head on. To accomplish these ends, we’re asking members of our community to consider the following points.

  1. Engaging in Dialogue

As a community, we have shared many conversations that have proven challenging, yet have led to healing and action. I encourage all of us to find opportunities throughout our Saybrook experience and in other dedicated forums to engage, to discuss, to lean on each other for support, and to delve even more deeply into difficult questions that exist around race and social inequality.

2. Taking Part in Individual and Collective Action in Support of Our Communities

If we are to address the deep wounds inflicted not only recently, but by generations of racism and social inequality, we must translate our words into action. What this action looks like will emerge over the coming days, weeks, and months as members of the Saybrook and wider national community engage in dialogue.

In support of this process:

  • Academic departments including Clinical Psychology, Counseling, Leadership and Management, and others have planned sessions beginning this week to meet with community members regarding recent events. We anticipate significant, intense dialogue to occur during these sessions, with the goal of bringing greater clarity to the events happening around our country.
  • Our faculty are in the process of compiling a number of materials including but not limited to readings, multimedia, community-based and trauma-informed care organizations, anti-racist and anti-bias education tools, and national advocacy groups dedicated to advancing racial and social justice. Several of these items, provided by our Clinical Psychology and Counseling faculty, are located at the end of this article for your reference/perusal. I have already begun listening to and watching several of the podcasts/videos and I urge you to do the same.
  • We have expedited partnership meetings with key local groups including the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP to explore ways in which our university community can be of service both regionally and nationally
  • We encourage our talented scholar-practitioners to share how your work might be directed towards making a positive difference in and among the communities we serve.
  • We invite each of you to offer your own insights as to how Saybrook can effectively promote meaningful, long-lasting, positive social change, especially where racial justice is concerned. We believe that our programmatic offerings are one way among those identified above, to support the necessary social change so vital to moving us forward.

I would ask that if you’re inclined, please share resources that are meaningful to you so that we may highlight these critical resources to our university and the larger community. Feel free to email me directly at [email protected].

In conclusion, let us bond together in community and in mutual respect for one another. Let us hold each other up while actively and authentically addressing the hard realities of racism. If we are to advance as a society, it begins here with each of us recognizing that progress necessitates dialogue and action.

James Baldwin’s words hold as much power as they did many years ago when he stated that “…not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

Clinical Psychology Resources

Podcasts

  1. Code Switch: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch
  2. TWIB (this week in blackness): https://api.prod.stitcher.com/sunset/show/this-week-in-blackness-radio-twibradio
  3. Teaching Hard History Podcast: https://www.learningforjustice.org/podcasts/teaching-hard-history/american-slavery
  4. Seeing White: http://podcast.cdsporch.org/seeing-white/

Videos

  1. Tim Wise: On White Privilege. Posted 2/19/2008. Retrieved 2/9/18. Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc&feature=related
  2. Life of Privilege Explained in a $100 Race – Please Watch to the End Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K5fbQ1-zps

Books & Readings

  1. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander (2012)
  2. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo (2018)
  3. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Strategies for Facilitating Conversations on Race, Caprice Hollins and Ilsa Govan (2015)
  4. Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race, W. Sue (2016)
  5. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Ibram X. Kendi (2016)
  6. So You Want to Talk About Race? Ijeoma Oluo (2019)
  7. It’s time to talk (and listen): How to have constructive conversations about race, class, sexuality, ability & gender in a polarized world. New Harbinger Publications. Kim, A.S., & del Prado, A. (2019).
  8. Where we stand: Class matters. New York, NY: Routledge Press. hooks, b. (2000).
  9. The colonizer and the colonized. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Memmi, A. (1965).
  10. Privilege, power, and difference. McGraw Hill: Boston. Johnson, A. (2006).
  11. Uprooting Racism: How White people can work for racial justice. New Society Publishers: Canada. (2) Kivel, P. (2002).
  12. How does your positionality bias your epistemology? Thoughts & Actions, 19 (1), p. 27 – 38. Takacs, D. (2003).
  13. A different mirror: A history of multicultural America(Revised ed.). New York, NY: Back Bay Books. Takaki, R. (2008).

Department of Counseling Recommended Resources

For everyone working towards racial healing, Toward a Psychological Framework of Radical Healing on Communities of Color: French, B. H., Jioni, A. L., Mosley, D. V., Adames, H. Y., Chanvez- Dueñas, N. Y., Chen, G. A., and Neville, H. A. (2020). Toward a Psychological Framework of Radical Healing in Communities of Color. The Counseling Psychologist, 48 (1), 14-46.

For White folks wondering how to engage check out the article from Embracing Equity: The Role of White Co-Conspirators in Dismantling Systemic Racism

For those engaged in, or moving towards social action, the S-Quad model is helpful in conceptualizing and breaking down the where, how, and with who of social justice engagement:

  • Strength includes reflecting on your strengths and assets including knowledge, skills, and experiences as well as social capital and resources. What do you already do well? What do you enjoy doing? What resources do you have or can access? Ask, “what do you have to offer?”
  • Solidarity is about engaging in with cultural humility and in culturally response ways. How are you building and investing energy in relationships with those most affected? Who’s experience is being centered? Ask, “with whom?”
  • Strategy requires defining and understanding the focus of one’s social action. Consider the different levels of intervention, individual, organizational or
  • Ask, “how can I do this”, or “what will I (we) do?”
  • Sustainability refers both to the sustainability of the strategy as well as your personal investment. For this pillar, work in relationship is crucial in fostering community and resilience. Consider what self-care and community-care actions you need to engage in to maintain your physical, emotional, spiritual, relationship health.

To learn more read the following article or watch the video from Alexander Street video database: Helping Counselors and Psychologists as Advocates and Activists: Strength, Solidarity, Strategy and Sustainability

Toporek, R, L. (2018)). Strength, Solidarity, Strategy and Sustainability: A Counseling Psychologist’s Guide to Social Action. The European Journal of Counselling Psychology, 7(1), 90–110. doi:10.5964/ejcop.v7i1.153

For everyone with children, here is a resource to help you have conversations about race, Talking Race With Young Children

Lastly, we urge everyone to consider your social media production and consumption. Within this think about what you are viewing and what you are posting. Does it contribute to racial healing and justice or does it perpetuate trauma and White supremacy? While the videos of the killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery have been helpful in bringing charges, they also are being widely circulated as trauma porn.

To learn more about systemic racism check out these resources:

Tilting Our Homeostatic Balance for COVID-19 Prevention (Part 2): Mind-Body Practices

11 May 2020
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As part of COVID-19 prevention, mind-body practices can strengthen immune response to resist infection by controlling inflammatory response.

Mind-body medicine can help minimize risk to COVID-19. Mind-body therapies and practices encompass a full spectrum of activities that promote healing and well-being. A diverse group of procedures or techniques can be administered or taught by qualified practitioners. Many also can be applied as self-initiated practices, sometimes with foundational training, e.g. meditation and yoga.

Prevention

Evidence demonstrates multiple positive effects of mind-body practices that enhance wellness. By mitigating the stress response, beneficial outcomes range from improved management of chronic conditions to healthier approaches to managing stress, pain, and mental states. As part of a COVID-19 prevention strategy, mind-body practices used daily can strengthen immune response to resist infection by controlling inflammatory response, like reducing levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and also improving health markers for existing chronic conditions that appear to worsen COVID-19 symptoms.

Recovery Support

In addition to supporting COVID-19 resistance, mind-body practices can help those who get infected. In a clinical study just released, the mind-body practice of progressive relaxation was found to reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality in COVID-19 patients, thus aiding their recovery. While further studies are needed, current evidence indicates that various mind-body practices could support COVID-19 patients even in active stages of infection. Yet if introduced using sound clinical standards, some practices such as guided imagery could be introduced to patients in active stages of infection using passive means.

Mind-Body Practices

A wide range of practices come under the mind-body umbrella. Some more widely used evidence-supported practices are chunked together.  Here is a summary of the main categories.

Evidence-Based Mind-body Practices for Better Health

Self-Care PracticePercentage*
Yoga92%
Hypnosis91%
Biofeedback90%
Meditation86%
Qi Gong86%
Tai Qi83%
Relaxation Response Training79%
Imagery68%

 *Percent of patients benefiting from integrative health practices who would benefit from this particular intervention. Based on Russo & Fortune (2016)

Breathing. Controlled breathing is the primary and foundational mind-body practice. Techniques can be learned to regulate breath flow and rate.  Breath practices are rooted in ancient traditions, such as prana yoga, and foundational to contemporary mindfulness. Specific to COVID-19 prevention, experts recommend diaphragmatic breathing, deep and slow. Conversely, once infected with COVID-19, patients should adopt shallow breathing; this allows the lung tissue time to rebuild and heal. Those who contract the virus outdoors might end up with a milder case, but those they infect back in their close-quartered homes seem to get worse cases. With this in mind, it may be helpful to keep fresh air circulating indoors.

Yoga. Multiple research results show that yoga improves fatigue, balance, mood, and anxiety. It also slows the aging of the brain. While strenuous exercise is contraindicated for COVID-19 infection, gentle movement and postures of yoga can support immune functions for prevention and in later stages of infection recovery.

Meditation and mindfulness. A vast body of research demonstrates positive outcomes with a range of mindfulness traditions and methods.  Meditation slows brain aging, reduces stress, anxiety, and depression, improves mood and mental functions.  Specific to COVID-19, mindfulness meditation can have positive impact on inflammatory markers.

Tai Chi and Qi Gong. Both practices involve postures and gentle movements that are accompanied by practiced breathing and mental focus, accomplished while moving or stationary. Research supports positive outcomes for musculoskeletal issues, pain management, and mental health. Since these practices require sufficient strength and stamina for movement, these practices are more appropriate for prevention and later stages of recovery.

Relaxation response training. Autogenics and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) are the most researched practices with slight differences. Both can be guided practices that are adopted to individual use. Autogenics directs awareness to explore different areas of the body, while PMR focuses on relaxing specific muscles in a progressive protocol.  In a recent study, PMR improved anxiety levels and sleep in COVID-19 patients.

Biofeedback. Biofeedback uses visual and auditory feedback to direct involuntary body functions including heart and pulse rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension.  It can involve sophisticated monitoring equipment, but the essential skills begin with channeling breath and somatic awareness.  Biofeedback has been linked to positive outcomes in a range of conditions including reduction of migraine symptoms, reduced hypertension, improved TMJ dysfunction, improving attention, and enhanced immune function. Specific to COVID-19, the foundational breath work in biofeedback could support respiration and pulmonary recovery.

Guided imagery. Various studies have shown it to mitigate symptoms of multiple conditions. In a recent white paper, Dr. Fredric Mau introduces a guided imagery script specific to COVID-19 patients.  Because guided imagery is accessible and highly mobile, it offers possibilities for supplementary support while in confinement and otherwise non-ambulatory.

Conclusion

COVID-19 poses a powerful threat. Beyond damage from infection, the fear, anxiety, and daily living disruptions can result in multiple levels of disease and distress. The stress we feel, in both mind and body, can be harmful to the immune system, resulting in countless secondary infections and conditions.

Mind-body practices can improve immunity for better resistance and potentially support recovery. For the COVID-19 patient, these can potentially provide comfort and support and at the least, do no harm. For the many who are resisting infection, and particularly those on the front lines under unimaginable strain, mind-body practices can help with emotional regulation and mental balance. Adopting mind-body practices during this crisis could lead to long-term adoption of practices that have been demonstrated to improve quality of life and overall health. These same practices can promote more mindful leadership at a time when it is most needed.

Luann Fortune, Ph.D., LMT is on faculty at Saybrook University in the Department of Mind-Body Medicine, where she also coordinates the specialization in Mindful Leadership. Her research focuses on integrative health and wellness.

 Shannon McLain Sims, Ph.D., MS holds degrees Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University’s College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences where she currently serves as a post-doctoral fellow.

If you are interested in learning more about Saybrook’s graduate programs, fill out the form below to request more information.

Emotional self-regulation: how to check-in with yourself

24 April 2020
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Emotional self-regulating is a large umbrella phrase that describes a person’s ability to check in with him- or herself to monitor emotions and decision making. With the ebbs and flows of life, having the ability to check in with yourself and assess your emotional wellness can help improve your quality of life.

As the coronavirus crisis carries on and on, changing our daily lives and leaving the future uncertain for many, more and more people are dealing with anxiety or other mental health issues as a result. The ability to self-regulate can help you make better choices concerning your mental and emotional well-being during this unsettling time and thereafter.

What is self-regulation?

Before hopping into skills, let’s first breakdown self-regulation. The Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery defines emotional regulation as “a term generally used to describe a person’s ability to effectively manage and respond to an emotional experience.” Emotional experiences can include a wide range of feelings from positive to negative or anything between.

Self-regulation takes place when a person is able to think through his or her emotional response and make a more calculated, healthy reaction rather than acting impulsively or making decisions that might be harmful.

A common example of preliminary self-regulating occurs in childhood. Children are at the very early stages of managing their emotions. When faced with discomfort or challenging interpersonal relationships, children may respond impulsively or have an outburst. We learn and practice self-regulation by mitigating our primary response (outbursts or impulse) and making choices as to how we respond to situations that might set us off.

Self-regulation strategies

Another way to think about self-regulation is as a skill that “allows you to act in accordance with your deeply held values or social conscience.” Generally, we don’t always have control over what happens in the world, and we don’t always have control over what happens to us individually. Self-regulation helps put you in control of how you respond to a stimulus.

Here are three practices that can help you develop, maintain, or improve your self-regulation skills:

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice and state of mind that is dedicated to staying in the present moment. It involves observing what is happening around you as well as what is happening internally, including your thoughts and feelings.

In your observation, mindfulness promotes living in the moment without making judgments on your thoughts or feelings. Rather, mindfulness is more about tuning in and observing what is happening.

The American Psychological Association notes stress reduction, improved focus, and less emotional reactivity as benefits of integrating mindfulness practices into your day to day.

Define your values

Having a more defined understanding of your values can help you in your effort to regulate your emotions. If you’re looking for a way to begin this work, Psychology Today offers six ways to discover your values and what’s important to you. During tough and challenging circumstances, take a moment to make sure you’re acting in accordance with what is most important to your character and beliefs.

Consider working with a professional

You don’t have to sort out your emotions and emotional responses alone. If you’re having difficulties figuring out how to self-regulate, consider enlisting the help of a mental health professional who can assist you in taking charge of this task.

If you’re finding yourself distracted or feeling like it’s difficult to control of your emotions—whether perpetuated by the COVID-19 pandemic or during any other period—cultivating self-regulation skills can help you have better control and balance in your life. While self-regulation skills begin in childhood, we can continue to develop and fine-tune them as life’s challenges increase or change with time.

Having a better handle of these skills can help you feel more connected in your conversations, improve your focus on tasks, and help you cope with life’s frustrations. Consider integrating these skills or seeking more professional help to assist in improving your quality of life and day-to-day experiences.

Community

22 April 2020
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Artist’s note: This piece captured and conveyed perfectly a childhood memory! It feels alive and speaks to an appreciation for our Earth’s bounty in ways not known by many in today’s world. The days of toiling to grow our own sustenance are gone for most, as are the communal gatherings in which we bond, share goods, and recognize each other’s efforts. In our fast-paced, fast-food culture, too few know the beauty of watching the corn grow or a tomato ripening on the vine. Patience…a lost virtue…as a farmer’s daughter, I, too, have memories of a productive land, including our herd of dairy cattle and the crops we grew to support them…our personal gardens kept us busy in between milkings!

A shared human experience, alone

15 April 2020
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It’s no secret that these are trying times—the future isn’t as clear as it was yesterday, or the day before that—our tomorrows aren’t as easy to plan for as they once were. When we set out to work on UNBOUND a few months ago, our worries were fewer, our lives more static. As the entire world shifted its focus and means of connection, I was left wondering if the stories that we were telling would fit our new state of being. But then I thought back to the name of our digital magazine: UNBOUND.
When I conceptualized this magazine, I envisioned it as a digital representation of how our community has been unbound by tradition and history—always paving the way for a more just, humane, and sustainable world. In what time could this be truer than now? We are all living through a pandemic the likes of which has never been seen in our lifetimes—untethered to any traditions or rules.

Our new normal doesn’t feel normal at all. But I hope that this circumstance, with this enforced isolation—a movement away from the loud, overstimulation of our every day—allows us the vital time needed to sit with difficult, existential questions that we sometimes avoid. From how we approach the end of our lives, to combating filter bubbles of information, to racism in technology, to the balance between theory and practice in workplace wellness, these are all topics you explored in this issue that require contemplation. At Saybrook we are devoted to systemic change, and I believe these stories will inspire and reenergize us to continue to seek solutions.

As president of Saybrook University, I know that our devotion to the principles of humanistic psychology and deep existential questioning are needed now more than ever. I want to let you know that through it all, we are in this together—across communities, across geographic borders, and across the globe. Stay safe and stay centered.