Unbound Posts Archive - Page 17 of 27

Once upon a hashtag

27 April 2018

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A plot by a foreign government to hack a U.S. presidential campaign sounds like the narrative of a spy film, invoking images of high-tech gadgets and ending with a foiled plan. But in reality the gadgets that could do such a thing are tools that anyone can use anywhere: social media.

And because real life isn’t Hollywood, the insidious plot did, in fact, succeed.

On February 16, a federal grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for interfering in the 2016 presidential election. They stole American citizen identities; posed as political activists; and fired up social media posts on already divisive political topics, such as immigration, religion, and race. These Russian nationals manipulated and divided American constituents, and declared “information warfare” on the U.S., using the Internet Research Agency as a cover.

The Russian indictment is another layer on the already hefty topic of “fake news.” There is actual fake news, where individuals create inaccurate stories to spread false information through the population. Then there is Trump’s version—where he attacks the credibility of legacy publications for “unrelenting bias, unfair news coverage, and even downright fake news.”

We are living in a changing media landscape where once-trusted sources have lost influence, everyday citizens are able to produce and amplify news stories simply by posting them on private social media accounts, and foreign entities can influence national elections and affect the lives of millions of people.

Through all the noise, how can we contribute productively and make a positive impact? Is it possible to counteract the negative consequences created by this new media landscape?

For almost 10 years, Sahar Driver, Ph.D., faculty in Saybrook University’s Transformative Social Change program, has worked to create impact campaigns for social action projects. For Dr. Driver, what has persisted through time is the ability to fight for social justice with storytelling.

“It’s gotten more difficult, that’s all,” Dr. Driver says. “What hasn’t changed is that the stories that I work with are an entry point. The real work happens when we’re able to use those stories and that media to get people to interact and engage with one another face to face, and then begin to organize together.”

Social campaigns take planning and preparation to execute properly. It requires groundwork before even moving into the online world and getting people involved; it isn’t enough to start posting and hope the movement follows. According to Dr. Driver, the best approaches target a specific audience with their values and what they care about, and relate to their everyday experience. However, that doesn’t mean trying to create a message with mass appeal either.

On February 16, a federal grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

“If you are communicating in a way that everyone, from the left to the far right, agrees with you, then that message actually hasn’t done anything,” Dr. Driver says. “You’ve come up with a message that’s palatable to everyone, but not one that challenges anyone to go beyond their current viewpoint. What you really want is a message that pushes those people who are somewhere in the middle.”

Yet the sheer amount of content available online makes it challenging for this type of advocacy to work. With too much information and too many groups vying for support—and no distinction between what’s real and what isn’t—there is a risk that people will tune out every message they encounter. There is also a risk that the subconscious effect of seeing fake news so consistently will lead people to start believing it, almost as if by osmosis. A 2017 study shows that repeating information, even to say it is incorrect, instead reinforces the untrue statement.

Retweets and shares matter, and can cause questionable stories to seem totally legitimate. This is what allowed the Russian Internet Research Agency to succeed: In a crowded online sphere, the agency’s posts, and actions, were able to catalyze voters to act out the whims of Russian agents—and even be okay with doing so.

One incident of this occurred when two Russian agents posed as “Joshua” and “Matt”—fake University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) students who worked for a grassroots organization called “March for the Trump.” They organized a pro-Trump rally in Florida and called local Trump supporter Anne-Marie Margaret Thomas to ask if she’d participate while dressed up as Hillary Clinton. The agents also called Harry Miller, another Trump supporter, to ask him to build a cage and put the actors playing Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton in it at the event.

By the time Miller arrived on August 20, 2017, the day of the protest, a few dozen people were already there, chanting “Lock her up!” Thomas was in a Hillary Clinton mask and a prison uniform she made herself. Photos of the event garnered 500,000 online views in just 24 hours.

In a conversation between Thomas and reporter Simon Adler from Radiolab’s episode “The Curious Case of the Russian Flash Mob at the West Palm Beach Cheesecake Factory,” Thomas defended her role in the Russian-organized protest:

Adler: Are you concerned that you may have been used as a puppet by people in St. Petersburg [Russia]?

Thomas: No, I wasn’t used as a puppet.

Adler: But would you have done it if they hadn’t reached out to you in the first place?

Thomas: Well, I wanted to help Trump.

She went on to say: “I’m not unwitting. And I’m not a Russian. I’m an American. And I decided that I didn’t want to vote for Hillary.”

This form of fake activism, called “astroturfing,” held tremendous weight. It didn’t matter to Thomas that “Joshua” and “Matt” didn’t exist. To her, it was a matter of supporting Trump—no matter what.

“I think there’s a lot to learn from the indictment because if nothing else the Russian operation has been effective at getting the message out and striking a chord in at least some individuals to take action,” says Britt Christensen, Ph.D., faculty in the Social Impact Media specialization of the Transformative Social Change program. “A major takeaway for me looking at all of this is that they have a pretty savvy understanding of the societal issues in the U.S. They used the societal cleavages to cause conflict between groups and individuals.”

It’s easy to demonize social media. After all, the Russian agents discovered the real Thomas and Miller on Twitter. The Internet Research Agency used Facebook for their political posts and to mobilize Americans to attend their organized protests. But becoming disillusioned with social media in general because of such abuses would be a mistake, says Joel Federman, Ph.D., chair of Saybrook’s Transformative Social Change program.

Dr. Federman emphasizes the good that can be accomplished through these tools: “Social media has democratized the flow of information and political opinion everywhere. It also helps create global solidarity, by allowing people all over the world to support each other’s political causes and social movements, unmediated by governments or traditional news media channels.”

“What’s at risk here is that people will become so disillusioned by the misuse of social media that they will give up on its positive potential,” Dr. Federman continues. “When people who have been traditionally marginalized withdraw from political conversations, they cede these important spaces to those who already dominate political, economic, and cultural power.”

“The Russian Internet Agency attempted to deceive people and spread lies; that is propaganda and deception,” Dr. Driver says. “Strategic communications, however, is about communicating in a way so that you can be heard. It’s about cutting through the noise or other barriers that exist for understanding (preconceived notions, misunderstandings, biases, etc.) so you can bridge the gap and help people understand different perspectives.”

“Storytelling in particular is magic,” Dr. Driver says. “I think it helps connect people in ways that a lot of media can’t do. It’s that connection and emotional resonance that matters more.”

We see examples of storytelling in the most current movements. On February 18, 2018, 17 people lost their lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In the aftermath, student survivors started #NeverAgain, a new movement to stop school gun violence in America. Its origins played out in real-time on social media during the Parkland shooting. The whole premise of the movement is based in storytelling—because each of the survivors and activists have their own story and truth from that day.

In a crowded online sphere, the agency’s posts, and actions, were able to catalyze voters to act out the whims of Russian agents—and even be okay with doing so.

Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School gave an electrifying speech to a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale. A video of the speech has now gone viral: “Instead of worrying about our AP Gov. Chapter 16 test, we have to be studying our notes to make sure that our arguments based on politics and political history are watertight. The students at this school have been having debates on guns for what feels like our entire lives…Some discussions on the subject even occurred during the shooting while students were hiding in the closets. The people involved right now…are being listened to for what feels like the very first time on this topic that has come up over 1,000 times in the past four years alone.”

Gonzalez’s speech has catapulted her into a “visual icon” and leader of the movement. Since joining Twitter in February 2018, she has amassed 1.23 million followers. It goes to show that a scene, rooted in facts and relatable to the targeted audience, can be more impactful than a one-off, polarizing post.

Out of the national spotlight, storytelling can be seen in the beginnings of social change movements. Transformative Social Change student Joslin Roderick is using the tools she has learned about to start her own revolution: reframing peace.

Currently, Roderick has a business model in place for PeaceinPower, LLC, the parent company of four for-profit divisions and one nonprofit she is developing. The inspiration came from a desire to put power back into peace.

“All of the social change work is a fight against power,” she says. “So, how do we use the power that exists within us, or the power that exists in business, in my case, to become peacefully empowered?”

Roderick is currently launching this movement and is using her courses at Saybrook to deepen her understanding of not only what peace is, but also the ecosystem of creating a movement: the research, strategy, and trajectory needed to build it.

With a few hashtags already created (such as #ThereAreAnswers, #TheNewPeaceMovement, #FitforPeace, and #PeaceNow), Roderick plans to employ one of the most iconic storytelling structures in developing her movement: Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.

“For me, it really centers on creating a story that has the arc of mythic hero ideas: people who are not really sure about their place, then figure themselves out and save the world,” Roderick says. “What we see in popular culture about heroes is them using violence to fight evil. In redefining peace, I want the new hero of peace to be somebody who’s completely empowered with consciousness and care for the self and the other—someone who is truly tough, strong, and has the fitness and capacity for substantive and powerful peace-filled action.”

For Roderick, this message emphasizes that anyone can be a hero. It fits well with the Transformative Social Change program’s mission of encouraging students to become agents of positive change. The program supports students as they seek to raise awareness about the stories that are often untold, but need to be shared.

“Universities have often been centers of independence from political and economic power,” Dr. Federman says. “Within a university environment, there can be space for inclusive dialogues that challenge existing social structures and create alternatives to them. We designed the Transformative Social Change program to provide that kind of space.”

In the United States, student activists have long led the charge. Now they can use new media in intelligent and productive ways to create change.

“The purpose of our program is to enable our students to perceive beyond the noise and to make actual transformative social change,” Dr. Federman says. “We provide students an environment that allows them to deeply reflect on their values and the larger historical context in which they live, and supports their unique ideas for making the world better with a variety of social change tools and strategies—including effective and ethical use of social media.”

Psychophysiology treatments: Using biofeedback therapy to treat phantom limb pain

29 March 2018

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Phantom limb pain is a common–and commonly misunderstood–condition that affects amputees. Dr. Richard Sherman explores how biofeedback therapy can be used as an effective treatment.

Phantom limb pain is a condition that affects amputees, causing them to feel pain or sensation that seems to emanate from the missing limb. It is a commonly misunderstood condition. So, Saybrook faculty member Dr. Richard Sherman, Ph.D., is helping to clear some things up. Let’s explore phantom limb pain, its causes, and biofeedback therapy as a treatment below.

What is phantom limb pain and what are its symptoms?

Virtually all amputees experience at least some sensations which seem to emanate from the amputated portion of a limb. These sensations may be intermittent or continuous, and range in intensity from nearly nothing to excruciatingly painful. They are frequently described as itchy, warmth, unusual position, or a “pins & needles” sensation. An amputee may experience only one or many of these sensations simultaneously or at separate times.

Phantom limb pain occurs when the sensations which seem to come from the amputated portion of a limb are sufficiently intense for the amputee to consider them painful. Phantom pain has been reported from most organs including the breasts and the most common descriptions of phantom limb pain are cramping/twisting, burning/tingling, stabbing, & shocking/shooting

Just as with phantom sensations, an amputee may experience only one or many of these sensations simultaneously or at separate times. The pain may be intermittent or continuous and intensity generally varies tremendously over time.

The silent experience of phantom limb pain

While U.S. military veterans aren’t the only population who experience phantom limb pain, they do make up a large population. And surveys of many thousands of U.S. veterans have proven that nearly all amputees experience phantom pain with about half finding it debilitating at times. Most want treatment but few tell their health care providers that they have the problem let alone request treatment for it. Sadly, those who find it debilitating tend to “self-medicate” in excess with alcohol, and other drugs.

Some common reasons amputees refuse to tell their health care providers about their phantom limb pain include:

They don’t want their health care providers to think they are nuts.
The “word” in the amputee community is that any time a health care provider is told about phantom pain, the provider’s trust in the patient goes to nearly zero – and many are referred to psychiatrists.
When treatment is provided, it is not only ineffective but is frequently physically exhaustive, like a major surgery.
They want to return to their pre-amputation activities so they don’t want reports of phantom pain to interfere with a prosthetic provision.

What are phantom limb pain causes?

While phantom limb pain has been reported for hundreds, if not thousands of years, its causes have been unknown until recently. As recently as the American civil war, everybody “knew” that people could still feel their amputated limbs.

Thus, if a person reported burning sensations from the phantom limb pain, it was because the amputated limb had been burned. The same logic applied to crawling feelings (worms in buried limbs), and biting feelings (fish eating limbs that were thrown into lakes).

It wasn’t until recently that clinicians realized people couldn’t actually feel what was happening to their amputated limbs.

Sadly, the general conclusion was that the problem must stem from psychological problems such as the “pain” of “grieving” for the lost limb. Surgeons felt that there must be something wrong with the remainder of the limb – even if they didn’t know what – so they frequently cut off more of the stump to solve the problem.

Without actual evidence of underlying physiological and anatomical causes of phantom pain, there was no way to develop mechanism-based interventions. Thus, clinicians eventually wound up trying over 63 unrelated treatments – ranging from benign massages through horrible neurosurgical procedures – on many thousands of amputees. No actual follow-up studies of their effectiveness were performed so clinicians didn’t realize until recently that nearly all were useless. Many of these unsubstantiated interventions are still being used today.

It is important to know that the actual physiological mechanisms causing burning and cramping descriptions of phantom pain have been identified. Knowledge of mechanisms has led to the development of effective treatments such as biofeedback therapy.

Biofeedback therapy as a treatment for phantom limb pain

Instruments such as biofeedback devices help the therapist and patient recognize what is happening in the body and how well control strategies are working. This makes biofeedback training an extremely important technique which every clinician of any background can incorporate into his or her practice.

Biofeedback is the process of using psychophysiological recording techniques to monitor one or more physiological parameters whose malfunction is causing the pain and showing the instantaneous levels of the parameters to the patient. The patient and therapist use the information to change the level at which the parameter is functioning from a pattern leading to pain to a pattern which avoids the onset of the pain or stops the pain.

Biofeedback is an excellent tool for showing the therapist and patient what a physiological parameter (e.g. tension in the muscles of the residual limb or heat emanating from the limb) is doing. This process of recording and immediate display cannot be used alone for either assessment or treatment as it provides no integral interpretation of the display’s meaning. It has to be incorporated into some logical therapeutic process aimed at eliciting meaningful responses. Biofeedback is one tool among many in a professional’s armamentarium. It provides one bit of the information needed to make decisions and is only one element of the treatment process.

Modern biofeedback devices range from tiny ambulatory recorders to larger units meant to be used with personal computers. Virtually all of them are highly sophisticated, microprocessor-based systems which can provide unparalleled quality and flexibility in signal recording and display. Nearly all of the controls are accessed through the computer’s software.

For more information on biofeedback, check out my introductory YouTube video.

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Interested in pursuing a degree in psychophysiology? Explore graduate-level psychophysiology degrees at Saybrook.

Mary Kay Chess, Ph.D.

21 March 2018

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Mary Kay Chess, Ph.D.
Business Administration

“Teaching values is fundamental in leadership. I appreciate Saybrook being invested in our communities because that’s where we examine justice, inclusion, and innovation.”

Community Builder

“Our students will become the leaders our society needs. What I hope is that they apply the gift, science, and art of critical thinking and think about other perspectives and why that’s important. And I hope they do all of that with joy, enthusiasm, and a thirst that can’t be quenched.”

Mary Kay Chess, Ph.D., believes in the power of uniting people in the pursuit of knowledge.

“There is stupendous innovation and creativity in coming together,” Dr. Chess says. “Boxes are turned inside out and containers no longer exist when you get diverse voices talking.”

Dr. Chess is chair of the Department of Business Administration at Saybrook University. She began teaching at Saybrook several years ago, implementing systems thinking and leadership into the Mind-Body Medicine program before joining faculty in the Leadership and Management program.

“You need to know yourself and your values—no leader can do it all,” Dr. Chess says. “I believe that we lead from every seat. You really need diverse perspectives and skills as well, because in life we’re dealing with many, many complex cases.”

She initially started her career in the health care sector and has held numerous leadership roles in higher education systems. These positions have given Dr. Chess relevant experience on what it takes to effectively manage others and has instilled in her a passion to amplify diverse ideas and voices.

“The way I define diversity is that you open up a safe space for as many different beliefs to be in respectful dialogue at the table,” Dr. Chess says. “I tend to not go to categories—I go to perspectives. I go to beliefs. And those are the two things that I believe allow all other categories we attach to diversity to be acknowledged.”

This desire to connect different voices and to continue her work in the health care realm led to the creation of Coffee and Tea Chats in 2015. These chats, created for executives of similar services organizations, connect individuals from across the United States for an hour-long phone conversation.

She speaks of these conversations as innovation in action, since oftentimes these executives are competitors. The executives discuss developing and growing their leadership, as well as the issues they face in their practices, like how best to listen to constituents, work with diverse populations, and address short-term and long-term needs.

“It’s similar to what we do in academic situations—get folks together for peer coaching and conversation,” Dr. Chess says. “Because the real purpose is executives talking to executives—like-minded people sharing solutions and opportunities to gnarly problems. When you build an atmosphere of safety, people feel comfortable teeing up really complex and hard issues.”

At Saybrook, Dr. Chess is also working to call attention to the voices of those she believes should be heard. Wanting to give a fellow faculty member, Jimmy Jia, the opportunity to share his expertise on sustainable energy management, she created the first pilot of an Energy Leadership immersion course. As leadership is a universal need for organizations across the globe, Dr. Chess uses the study of it to connect to other fields.

A true leader in practice and in theory, Dr. Chess states that a quality leader listens deeply, thinks about long-term consequences of actions, and most importantly, knows their limits. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and incorporating the lessons she learned professionally into the classroom through real-world examples and case studies. Her belief in the power of connection and collaboration in creating solutions has influenced the way she uses her network as well.

“My professional and academic work helps connect people with big ideas,” Dr. Chess says.

In the Saybrook community, Dr. Chess celebrates the opportunity to continue to build the next generation of leaders in her students.

“When I went to teach my class on values at Saybrook’s Residential Conference, I was amazed at the stories that poured forth from students about how they’ve stood in their values in the past,” Dr. Chess recalls. “I was so proud of being in the presence of leaders who are going to make a difference in the world. All of us felt a sense of community. There was such clarity and commitment in the room you could almost touch it.”

Dr. Ruthann Russo

21 March 2018

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Dr. Ruthann Russo
Ph.D. Mind-Body Medicine, 2015

“I’ve held a lot of different jobs but I never felt like I was in any of them. The exception to that would be my time at Saybrook. It was a defining period for me.”

Lifelong Learner

After exploring integrative health practices on her own, Dr. Russo put passion to practice by pursuing a degree in Mind-Body Medicine at Saybrook.

Ruthann Russo, Ph.D., DAc, M.P.H., J.D., is many things: a previous health care attorney, a CEO, a researcher, a health care professional, and most proudly a Saybrook trustee and alumna from the College of Mind-Body Medicine.

Her Saybrook journey started after a life-altering event. When her daughter Emmalea was diagnosed with epilepsy as a teenager, the family turned to integrative health practices—like yoga, meditation, guided imagery, and biofeedback—to do what conventional medicine was unable to. These practices worked; Emmalea was seizure-free for four and a half years.

The whole experience changed Dr. Russo’s career trajectory. Instead of working for healthcare, as an attorney and CEO, she started to work in it.

She first went to acupuncture school. After graduating, she started attending the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, where she met Dr. James Gordon, the founder of the Center and the dean of the College of Mind-Body Medicine at Saybrook. He told her she should look into the Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine that Saybrook offered because it was helping to legitimize this concept of integrative health practices.

Dr. Russo not only completed this degree in 2015; she has created and taught both “Health Informatics: The Science of Healthcare Information” and “Ethics in Healthcare” at the College of Mind-Body Medicine.

“This is a scientifically rigorous program,” Dr. Russo says. “We are always backing up what we are putting out there by going to the research; we’re not going to recommend interventions that are not backed by research.”

Dr. Russo is now a certified health coach, a yoga teacher, and a licensed acupuncturist. She has authored twelve books, including one on the raw food diet. She researches the effectiveness of different integrative health care practices and advocates for self-care to treat chronic conditions. She has eight degrees to her name and is currently starting the fourth company of her professional career. Dr. Russo even gave a TEDx talk on a re-envisioned health care system.

Despite all of this, Dr. Russo is surprisingly relatable. After speaking on her own life journey, she often finds herself surrounded by people sharing their own stories.

“There are always a few people who come up and say, ‘my daughter has epilepsy’ or ‘I have epilepsy,’” Dr. Russo recalls. “People are so thrilled that they have this opportunity to look into something they never realized was there to help them help themselves.”

Scholarship winner proves #ChangingLivesMatter

6 March 2018

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Lucinda Rost, the owner and sole proprietor of Unique Body Balance in Sierra Vista, Arizona, consistently passes on one piece of advice when she speaks at a commencement: “Once a student, always a teacher.” And this Saybrook student and winner of an American College of Nutrition scholarship wants to teach others to improve their mind-body medicine knowledge.

When the American College of Nutrition offered a scholarship contest for aspiring professionals interested in an aspect of nutrition science, a faculty member had Lucinda Rost in mind. Lucinda Rost—who earned a master’s in integrative oncology and is currently working on her Ph.D. from Saybrook in Mind Body Medicine—jumped at the chance to enter and found out she won in September. She was also a first-time attendee of ACN’s 58^thAnnual Conference from November 8-10 at The Westin Alexandria.

“The conference was reinforcement of the base knowledge that I have had through both experiential and academic learning,” Rost says. “I’ve been to many conferences, and I really have to say the ACN one was the best I’ve ever attended—extremely educated speakers and vendors, user friendly presentations, well-organized, and top-notch students. I’m kind of an ACN groupie now.”
As the recipient of the Community Outreach and Education Scholarship, Rost was required to create a demonstration showcasing her initiative, leadership, and organizational skills through a community outreach or educational event on the topic of nutrition within the past 12 months.

“I was very fortunate with this option because I had already been presenting different briefings to my community. My demonstration focused on the connection between nutrition and cancer. As a cancer thriver since 2012, nutrition was my very first step in the process of healing. I researched information about how nutrition affects and can better improve my body, and how I could achieve body balance.”

Rost has also done presentations on mind body medicine for communities and focus groups.

“I like to serve those who serve,” Rost says. “I highlight various organizations in the community. The Sierra Women’s Club was the organization I featured in one of my quarterly newsletters. For that newspaper, the topics are about women’s health and overall nutrition. Sierra Women’s Club has business and community leaders of diverse interests, talents, and backgrounds all united with a dedication to community improvement through volunteer service. I used my newsletter and community project with the Sierra Women’s Club for my ACN scholarship submission.”

Every month, the group members meet to discuss stress, energy, medicine, and balancing their busy lives through prepared presentations. They also spread the word about educational courses in the surrounding areas.

Rost’s company Unique Body Balance, an alternative and holistic health service organization, also brands her company’s motto by using the hashtag #ChangingLivesMatter.

“It’s all about helping individuals readjust patterns that are not working for them,” Rost says. “From nutritional wellness, they get to learn to eat better and make better choices. I’ve got a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner who also does energy work for my clients that can’t walk very well. By the time they’re done with her, they’re walking and happy. We’re changing lives. Not only do we see it in our clients, but I see it in my practitioners as well. It reaffirms the value of what they do.”

Although her clients are usually adults who may or may not be cancer survivors, she is also interested in working with other groups who are interested in mind-body medicine. Next up on her to-do list is sponsoring a Girl Scout troop.

“They get to learn about Nutrition 101,” Rost says. “I make it fun for these young girls who are also helping their community. I’m always looking for groups that are already serving those in their communities. If I can drop that little pebble in the pond and let it grow, I can reach out to groups that are already reaching out to their own communities. These efforts will then multiply and hopefully benefit across the world. We continue our hope in knowing that changing lives matter.”

My Journey Into Mindfulness

20 February 2018

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Over the last few years, the theory and practice of mindfulness has been catching on with individuals and has increasingly worked its way into greater consciousness across various sectors from telecommunications to technology and from healthcare to higher education.

My own journey into mindfulness as well as meditation began when I arrived at Saybrook University in 2014. Initially a skeptic (some would say due to my “Midwestern sensibilities”), I at first struggled to understand the benefits of mind-body practices that seemed grounded in more California/West Coast “woo.” However, I eventually found myself on a journey seeking greater exposure to the science of mindfulness, along with deeper immersion into its practice..

As a result, I have found a renewed way of being in the world that permeates my personal and professional life. The journey is far from complete but one that I have found has had tremendous benefits. Moreover, I have discovered what many alumni, students, and faculty alike attest: Saybrook has transformed them from the inside out.
Here is the story of my journey into mindfulness.

The journey begins: A transformative moment

My memory remains somewhat fuzzy about my early days at Saybrook. There was little time for reflection on what could only be described as both an exciting and chaotic time personally and professionally. We had just moved from our Front Street location in San Francisco to the Downtown Oakland City Center campus.

While I was getting up to speed on the institution, Saybrook had recently partnered with The Community Solution Education System. Our partnership necessitated the integration of various systems, in addition to numerous policy and procedural revisions. My calendar soon filled up with myriad other events, including several different residential conference experiences; an accreditor site visit; travels to our Seattle campus; and meetings with community members, faculty, staff, alumni, and students. All of this was exciting, and in general, par for the course for university presidents. Having served in such a position for four years previously, I felt prepared to handle the rigors of the job.

Still, there was a looming sense of unsettledness. My family was several thousand miles away. My kids had to leave their beloved schools. My wife was in the throes of a final professional theatre gig, faced with the prospect of restarting her acting career on the West Coast. Life was happening at a pace I had not quite anticipated.

Sometime in mid- to-late August, a seed was planted. I attended several sessions at the various Saybrook residential conferences. Making my way to the School of Mind-Body Medicine conference in Seattle, I attended a session in which Dr. Luann Fortune began with a moment of mindfulness. The sound emanating from her Tibetan singing bowl resonated throughout the room, calling each of us to focus our attention. From there, we went through a mindfulness exercise. I can’t remember precisely what the exercise entailed, but the intention was clear: try to be in the moment–this moment–be present.

The sound emanating from her Tibetan singing bowl resonated throughout the room, calling each of us to focus our attention.

Such a request was initially jarring yet immediately eye-opening. In just a few short weeks since starting the role, I found this one moment incredibly clarifying. Fidgeting, uncomfortable, I realized I had not been present at all. Instead my mind was jumping from one thing to the next, ignoring each request to be present with thoughts of my ever-growing to-do list.

Later during the conference, she and Dr. Rockefeller both mentioned the importance of ritual as a mechanism to establish even greater awareness, being more present in the here and now. Such rituals could serve as anchors. Again, for me this seemed all well and good. But life was happening, and work had to be done.

Despite what seemed like annoyed interest, I was intrigued enough, writing both of these ideas down in my journal chronicling events of those early days. Tucked away into my rolling backpack, these ideas would eventually resurface, offering the opportunity for personal and professional growth.

The path toward mindfulness: Personal rituals and mission

By the time the holidays rolled around in 2014, I realized I was emotionally and physically exhausted. Looking back on the previous 4.5 months, we were joyful about accomplishing so much personally and professionally. We had made the move across the country without losing each other or a single part of our dish collection. Our kids were enrolled in school, having made the transition without too much trouble and even making a few friends in short time. We had also wrapped up the initial phase of our strategic planning process with well over 100 hours of interviews and focus groups. The process was neither easy nor a slam dunk as far as processes go, but the university was positioning itself for a turnaround.

Concurrently, I was reading articles online about the importance of crafting a personal mission statement as a device to remaining centered.

Over the next two weeks, I unplugged from work with the hope of rebalancing in preparation for what I knew would be a difficult year ahead. In between time with the family, I began reflecting on my notes from the previous semester. I came across the two concepts of mindfulness and ritual. Concurrently, I was reading articles online about the importance of crafting a personal mission statement as a device to remaining centered. The mindfulness piece was a bit much, I thought. Still, in the interest of self-improvement, I decided to take some time to develop a personal mission and rituals, which ideally might ground me a bit more. I took to the task and found it immensely clarifying, even satisfying. These rituals and development of a personal mission provided me anchors, as Dr. Fortune had noted in her presentation. These anchors would be critical during a time of immense change.

The creation of rituals came first. Guiding questions informed my process: What did I need to do to center myself? What was needed for me to connect to my family given the pace of the job? How could I more effectively manage my daily workload? How could I ensure space in my day for the things that would help me grow intellectually, creatively, and professionally? In those early days, I created three rituals, which remain to this day though each has been modified over the last few years, conforming to my personal evolution.

How could I ensure space in my day for the things that would help me grow intellectually, creatively, and professionally?

My morning ritual consisted of working out, journal writing, reading while drinking coffee, and making connections with my wife and kids before the day began. This simple ritual was a crucial stabilizing force in my day. Working out, reflecting on the previous day, taking time to read the latest news, drinking my coffee out of my favorite mug, and making time to connect with the family were actions that helped me feel better about my world and the world around me.

The second daily ritual I created centered on professional, routine activities: daily emails, engaging on social media, and connecting with the Saybrook team. Email has become―for good or ill―the instrument of choice where communication is concerned. Given Saybrook’s largely virtual place in the world, I found myself becoming increasingly anxious looking at my inbox expand to three and four times the size of what I was used to managing. Thus, ritualizing the practice of email enabled me to address that anxiety head-on, ensuring that dedicated time was planned for this important communication. Creating space and time for social media and connection with the team also helped prioritize my time and the people critical to our success.

My last ritual of the day focused on personal enrichment and family time. Particularly, this ritual involved making dinner/spending time with family, reading, and engaging in creative endeavors (e.g. music and poetry). This ritual often was, and continues to be, the most difficult to achieve due to time demands from my position, my wife’s acting career, and our kids’ activities. Nevertheless, clearly stating the intention improved my attentiveness to making the time for myself and my family.

I agreed with the idea that if organizations require missions that guide their work, individuals should too.

The development of a personal mission came soon after. I agreed with the idea that if organizations require missions that guide their work, individuals should too. I commenced drafting my personal statement with the following questions in mind: What do I expect from myself? What personal attributes matter most to me? What do I aspire to become as a person, husband, father, and leader? Why? At last, I landed on the following, which has undergone some minor revisions over the years for clarity:

To achieve my fullest human potential, I will live my life each and every day with consistent, determined focus; boundless love, unyielding compassion, and deep sincerity; impeccable integrity, holding myself and others accountable to the highest personal and professional standards; dedication to balanced, healthy living that prioritizes self- and family care; and immersion in intellectual and creative pursuits that add more beauty, joy, and truth to this amazing, chaotic world.

A moment of clarity and the path toward sustained mindfulness meditation

After a few months of practicing these rituals and putting into practice my personal mission, I was talking with a colleague about how impactful these had been for me. Admittedly, I still felt un-centered at times, occasionally (or perhaps more often than not) allowing my calendar to overrun my rituals. I also remarked that while the whole mindfulness piece didn’t make sense to me, this approach did and it was making a difference albeit in fits and starts.

My colleague laughed, and then made the point that I was in fact engaging in a form of mindfulness practice through the implementation of these rituals. Mindfulness as a practice, I was reminded, is being present in the moment and making space for being present. Still, my colleague noted, there is the ability to go further, leveraging the benefits of mindfulness meditation in combination with my daily rituals as an opportunity for deeper emotional and physical growth.

I admit I felt a bit ridiculous at the obviousness of it all. But then, I was new to all of this and was thrust into being reminded that I didn’t know what I thought I knew. I then began reading and inquiring more about mindfulness meditation as a practice (my first book was by Dr. Ian Gawler and Paul Bedson titled “Meditation: An In-Depth Guide”). I started trying several techniques, downloaded several meditation apps, all-the-while learning from others about their own mindfulness journey. Over the span of a year and a half, I moved from sporadic mindfulness meditation to incorporating the practice as part of my daily morning ritual. I went in gently with no prescribed amount of time. Even if I spent five minutes, I found the time was incredibly valuable for its effects on my emotional well-being.

A brief view inside my approach

I have created an approach or practice that works for me. Each person’s approach to mindfulness meditation is unique, while certain techniques are fairly common. In addition to my own mantras, I use the aid of an iPhone app called Calm. Each day, the app updates with a “Daily Calm,” usually a 10-minute meditation that typically starts with about seven to eight minutes of breathing and then two minutes of observations from the narrator. Coming out of the practice, there are usually a few moments where I sit in silence, focusing on the breath with the goal of being as present as possible, allowing the flurry of thoughts to pass without judging those thoughts or engaging them. I merely observe them.

Specifically, the meditations emphasize two important aspects of being present: the breath and “calming” that flurry of thoughts that the mind produces (both intended and unintended). What I have learned in this process is that by recognizing and observing these thoughts, I am able to mentally create the conditions for quieting my mind more effectively, bringing my attention back to the present. The focal point or anchor for the “present” in most of my practice is the breath. Ultimately, the results are both powerful and ongoing.

Observed results and the next part of the journey

By actively being present, I have observed several noticeable results, including but not limited to slowing down my words and actions, being more deliberative in decision-making, letting go of past mistakes, focusing more intently on present interactions with family members and colleagues, and being more at peace with who I am.

There are moments when I find that my thoughts begin spinning, sometimes wildly, in directions I cannot explain

I have also been able to take this practice with me into my day. There are moments when I find that my thoughts begin spinning, sometimes wildly, in directions I cannot explain. Many people experience this as the brain produces mental images and thoughts that can be welcome but sometimes, like that iconic uncle who spouts off unwelcomed views about religion or politics at Thanksgiving, random thoughts enter uninvited.

When this happens, the work I have done thus far has enabled me to implement a technique called S.T.O.P. Various versions of this exist. My mnemonic is similar and stands for Stop (what I’m doing); Take a breath; Observe my thoughts (and then let them go); and Proceed with my day. This technique has enabled me to be less reactive to events―especially those out of my control or that just pop into my brain―and instead help me become more centered, more present, and allowing for increased ability to manage whatever is at hand.

The next part of my mindfulness-meditation journey is to expand these concepts more deeply into my leadership. As mentioned in the introduction, mindfulness (and meditation) practice is no longer a fringe technique. Incorporating mindfulness more authentically and deliberately into my work as president of Saybrook University has the potential for additional grounding in the humanistic values that make us who we are as an institution.

My hope is that my continuously evolving mindfulness practice coupled with a stronger connection to my personal mission will lead to further blossoming spirit of collaboration, innovation, and transparency in all that I do, while helping advance our fine institution forward to its next stage as a progressive institution of higher learning. The aforementioned are lofty aspirations, but in my view worthy ones for which to strive.

Transformation from the inside-out

Many of our students and faculty say that Saybrook University has transformed them from the inside-out. Indeed, like my fellow university travelers, Saybrook has had this effect on me. From that series of interactions in 2014 to today, I am a different―hopefully better―person, better father and husband, and better leader. I also know I have much to learn and even more personal-professional work to do in becoming the best version of myself. Indeed, the present-day results of my rituals and mindfulness meditation practice on who I am are not fixed or static. With each day, I discover more about me, about who I am and how I can become better with each practice, with each breath. And for me this is one key part of what being humanistic is all about: enabling each individual to achieve her or his greatest potential.

The journey has been and continues to be amazing.

Mindful Technology

16 February 2018

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This simple question can be a challenging one for young girls and grown women to answer: “How do you want your pretty?”

Julia Garcia, a Saybrook University student studying for a Ph.D. in Psychology: Existential, Humanistic, and Transpersonal Psychology Specialization, wants to make that a little easier with the creation of her mobile app KYA, where girls can describe their pretty with empowering words like “pretty powerful” and “pretty talented.”

“I interviewed thousands of girls before we started building the app,” Garcia says. “And the unanimous feedback I received was surprising. It literally made me emotional just to hear it. I was surprised and disappointed that I was surprised. They were saying they wanted to hear from strong women. When women share their stories, it resonated with them. It also reminds them of their mom or their sister or somebody who they wanted to build a better relationship with but maybe haven’t.”
Garcia has noticed a pattern of people wondering why she focuses on teen girls specifically.

“I’m told that teen girls are such a touchy demographic,” Garcia says. “And there are so many risks in talking about their feelings. I tell adults who ask me this: ‘What happens if we just keep taking that stance and we don’t intervene because it’s muddy, complicated, there’s puberty involved, and lower self-esteem is more likely? If we just continue to not address all of these things because it is complicated and it could be risky, they’re forced to figure it out in a digital world.”

For Garcia, this is personal. Her own struggles with depression, body image, and excessive partying almost made her lose her college athletic scholarship. She also admits that she wishes she had an outlet, in human and even technological form, that would’ve guided her in the right direction.

But the link from the digital world to the real world can be a complicated process. An increase in suicide rates among U.S. teens occurred at the same time social media use surged, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cyberbullying and the depiction of a perfect life are two reasons why social media is taking a hit on teens’ mental health.

But it’s not just teens who are being affected. According to Garcia, the jealousy and comparisons were going on long before social media came around and with an older audience.

“The comparison game is nothing new for young girls and women,” Julia Garcia says.

“The comparison game is nothing new for young girls and women,” Garcia says. “It’s just now channeled through a different device. We saw the comparison games in the ‘90s with magazines, right? And even before that TV ads. A collection of all of those, which we call Fake Highlight Reels, project a lot of the good times and maybe hide some of the other stuff for fear of not being like others. However, technology can also be a source of good. I wish there was more focusing on the positives it can have and how we can curate it to expand upon these.”

Finding mindfulness through technology

A casual browse through the Google Play Store will quickly prove Garcia’s point about the positive aspects of technology, in the form of apps such as Aura; Calm; Headspace; Moodnotes; Omvana; Stop, Breathe & Think, to name a few.

In a recent Huffington Post article, the writer declared: “The real problem behind our stress is not the fact that we are surrounded by technology, rather the way we make use of it.”

“I think people are starting—and different industries are trying—to optimize technology in their fields to help humanity in a sense,” Garcia says. “And I think that the more creative and clever we are, the more options we can provide as part of a solution.

“The mindfulness apps, the meditation apps, the breathing and anxiety apps, the blood pressure apps, and even the menstrual cycle apps are giving smartphone users the ability to be ‘in the moment.’ Technology is able to do is make us feel less alone. It won’t resolve all solutions for anxiety. However, the better prepared we are with facing adversity, challenges and trauma, and mental health issues, the better we are as a whole.”

Not losing the human element in technology

“There’s no reason social media’s face should be designed without a behavioral specialist,” Garcia says.

Although users of The KYA app will perform quite a bit of their work using the app, Garcia is adamant about how necessary the human element is.

“Our app is only given to people who have first had a face-to-face interaction with us,” Garcia says. “We onboard in person because I believe in creating a culture of a safe community. We are the first app to make sure there’s a face-to-face, human interaction before we send them into cyberspace. The top priority should not just be the advancement of education, health care, and all of the amazing things technology does, Let’s make sure it’s safe.

“I also believe that when these apps are created in these online communities that they prioritize and have expert psychologists and social health behavioral experts who are actually part of the design process so that we don’t leave out the human in our digital world. From a systematic approach, I think social and emotional health experts should be designing these systems we engage on with the developers and the designers. There’s no reason social media’s face should be designed without a behavioral specialist.”

In a world with the first robot lawyer, self-service library checkout machines, pharmacy machines, and self-driving cars, it may be more difficult to convince some that we still need that human element in order to interact in everyday life. For some, it’s a matter of not becoming totally socially awkward when around other human beings. For others, it’s the intensity of losing their jobs.

However, just as Garcia insists on the human element of her own apps, so far, soft skills are still something that will always be appreciated in a technical world. Social intelligence, social cognition, mentorships, collaborations, and conflict resolution are but a few factors that technology can’t master. It’s a human thing, they wouldn’t understand.

To learn more about Saybrook’s Ph.D. in Psychology: Existential, Humanistic, and Transpersonal Psychology Specialization, visit here.

Our Silenced Soldiers

16 February 2018

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Every morning, one U.S. Army drill sergeant would come into the women’s barracks and say it smelled like rotting sea bass. That same drill sergeant saw Monisha Rios (now a Saybrook student currently pursuing a degree in Transformative Social Change and a public speaker) instructing a male soldier on how to properly fill out his laundry slip and accused her of fraternization. The male soldier was ordered to do several push-ups, but she was ordered to lay in the middle of a breezeway with her legs spread wide open. And while she lay there, the drill sergeant told the soldier that her mother was a whore, that she must’ve come into the army to be a prostitute, and threatened any male soldier who tried to help her.

“I knew I was going to die if I stayed in there,” Rios says.

In another instance, Rios spoke out against a then-friend and Airman who was making derogatory comments about his conquests that she felt were “littered with rape fantasy.” After telling the friend that he was being inappropriate for a classroom setting, his response was to accuse her of “liking it rough” and biting her arm through her battle dress uniform (BDU) sleeves, leaving individual bruise marks from each tooth print on the back of her arms. When another female soldier noticed and gave her an ultimatum to report it, she did so. After pointing the Airman out to both his drill sergeant and hers, he accused Rios of ruining his career. She was put on lockdown, and he was removed from his base.

By the time she was transferred to a co-ed barrack at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, she realized these instances would just never stop. Extra rules were given to female soldiers so they could never walk freely and must use the “buddy system.” Accusations were hurled at them to keep their legs closed. One roommate was almost raped.

“I knew I was going to die if I stayed in there,” Rios said. “Although I had an eating disorder, I was accused of fraudulent enlistment if I tried to leave on a medical discharge.” Rios did get a discharge after what felt like the longest 10 months of her life in the army from 1997-98. “I’ve been fighting for 20 years now for service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder related to military sexual trauma,” Rios says. “And the whole reason I got started in doing this was to raise awareness as a survivor of it myself and going through secondary trauma at multiple VA hospitals where countless survivors have been re-perpetrated on, myself included, and there’s no response.”

Mixed messages with MST behavior

Dr. Theopia Jackson,
Saybrook’s Department Chair for the Clinical Psychology program, is no stranger to the effects of military sexual trauma even without being enlisted in the army. “I treat children who have been the victims of trauma, who also have parents who are survivors of sexual trauma in the military,” Dr. Jackson says. “And I have had students pursuing their careers who are also living with the residuals of MST. Because I understand the complexities of trauma, I’m able to coach them in how they’re getting through the course material, particularly when the course material can be so personal that it can raise issues related to their traumatic experiences.” “What’s happening in the military mirrors what’s happening in our general society and what’s happening in big business,” Dr. Theopia Jackson says. Compared to the ‘90s when Rios was serving in the army, Dr. Jackson says that people are speaking out against it more often now.

“What’s happening in the military mirrors what’s happening in our general society and what’s happening in big business,” Dr. Theopia Jackson says.

Flip through a news channel and stories of sexual misconduct are leading the pack: Senate candidate Roy Moore (R-Alabama) and former Senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota), NBC “Today” show anchor Matt Lauer, Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, actors Steven Seagal and Kevin Spacey, and comedians Louis C.K. and Bill Cosby, just to name a few. Then there’s the commander-in-chief Donald J. Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by 16 different women.

“We have a leader of our country describing assaulting women,” says Dr. Jennifer Preston, the department chair for the Department of Counseling. “We’ve heard him joke about it without any real consequences. The message that that still sends, particularly to young men, is that women are property. So you’ve got two sides of the coin. On one side, you’ve got people working in the field trying to help, trying to understand trauma. Then on the other, you have the leader of our country saying, ‘Hey, it’s OK. You do what you want. Women are there in service to men.’ And I feel that’s a very clear message from the government. Combatting that

just feels really overwhelming honestly.” While there has been a noticeable outpouring of support and encouragement to speak out, sexual assault and harassment are deeply personal issues that oftentimes people may not come forward to reveal. Out of every 1,000 rapes, 994 perpetrators will walk free, which is one of the reasons that people may never speak up. Also, because the FBI definition of “rape” concentrated only on women as potential victims, men who were the victims of sexual misconduct went under the radar for many years. The VA grants disability benefit claims for PTSD related to MST at a significantly lower rate than non-MST, PTSD-related treatment. So even if both groups were to report it, they could risk not receiving mental health care assistance by disclosing it. So how can people, specifically mental health professionals, play a role in turning the tide even when finances become tricky?

The plan to combat MST

“We have a leader of our country describing assaulting women,” Dr. Jennifer Preston says.

“I think we are getting better at training psychologists, counselors, and other professionals on issues of complex trauma and how much trauma can impact individual functioning 15, 20 years down the road,” Dr. Preston says. “So the awareness for students now is different. Counselors and psychologists more commonly understand the importance of trauma history in the way that the individual describes it. Many people may experience what I would consider to be a traumatic event but for them it’s within the rest of their context and their world. It’s not as traumatic or they may bring something in that I might not think is trauma but for them it has been.” “We also have to be curious enough to try to understand what may be some of the unspoken contributing factors,” Dr. Jackson adds. “Because not everyone, particularly not men, will walk into a therapist’s office and say, ‘I’m dealing with depression because I was raped a year ago.’ But they could come and say, ‘I’m dealing with depression.

I can’t sleep.’ By the time you unpack it all, it has something to do with that rape that happened a year ago. “We also have to be curious enough to try to understand what may be some of the unspoken contributing factors,” Dr. Jackson adds. “Because not everyone, particularly not men, will walk into a therapist’s office and say, ‘I’m dealing with depression because I was raped a year ago.’ But they could come and say, ‘I’m dealing with depression. I can’t sleep.’ By the time you unpack it all, it has something to do with that rape that happened a year ago. So clinicians must be ready to go beyond symptom reduction and really try to understand quality of life from what I call a biopsychosocialculturalspiritual (BPSS) model. “A lot of the military’s training is based on research that we do as behavioral specialists,” Dr. Jackson continues. “So we also have an ethical obligation that when we do our work that we consider social justice issues. We need to be prepared to ask and answer questions to help create an environment that fosters effective and healthy military personnel who still have an ethical moral compass.” For survivors, according to Rios, it may involve believing they have a right to heal, not allowing more sexual violence, advocating for relevant and appropriate healing opportunities, and being unafraid to get to know other survivors and hear stories about how they were able to survive and overcome. For clinicians and non-clinicians alike, it means prioritizing the voices and experiential wisdom of survivors in research and practice.

Spiritually Speaking

16 February 2018

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Something that in ecclesiastical law belongs to the church or to a cleric as such.
Clergy.
Sensitivity or attachment to religious values.
The quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters.

These are standard definitions for the word “spirituality.” But should “spiritual intelligence” be associated with these definitions in the same way?

“I personally define spiritual intelligence as a way to make meaning in life,” says Dr. Kirwan Rockefeller, faculty in Saybrook University’s Mind-Body Medicine program. “To live from a place of wisdom, compassion, self-compassion, and inner peace.”

And according to Dr. Donald Moss, dean of the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, spiritual intelligence is most likely to be utilized in significant key moments in a person’s life.

“I think spiritual intelligence consists of being open to finding something larger and more important than our own personal wants and needs in life,” Dr. Moss say.
“Beyond that, it’s an openness to things that are not just everydayness. Carl Jung—a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst—said that it’s a universal tendency of human cultures to create symbols and create mythologies. Human beings are driven to make sense of what’s going on around us. And I think the ability to be open to symbols and metaphors and stories is a strong part of spiritual intelligence.”

But for those who are more spiritual and less religious, could the term spiritual intelligence be off-putting?

Dr. Robert Schmitt, director of Saybrook’s Consciousness, Spirituality and Integrative Health Specialization, sees an upside and a downside to the word “spiritual.”

“When I was the dean of the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, I started a training program in spiritual direction,” says Dr. Schmitt, who was a Jesuit priest for 32 years. “And one of the people who took the program became a consultant to Fortune 500 companies. He said that when he worked with companies, he used a lot of the principles of spirituality but he never used the word ‘spirituality.’

But for those who are more spiritual and less religious, could the term spiritual intelligence be off-putting?

“Being spiritual gets tied into religion, and many people begin to reject that label because religion is based on dogma and what you have to believe. The word in itself is troublesome. But the reality is not troublesome. Ideally we’re trying to get ‘spirituality’ and spiritual intelligence to point to something far more than believing in a certain religion.”

Which is more important: Emotional, spiritual, or traditional intelligence?

There are moments when all three types of intelligences are best suited. Traditional intelligence may come in handy in a classroom or a work meeting (ex., solving a math problem or answering follow-up questions after a PowerPoint presentation). Emotional intelligence is useful for recognizing the root causes of other people’s emotions, along with keeping one’s own emotions under control or expressing them in a productive way. So where does spiritual intelligence fit in?

According to Dr. Schmitt, depending on the circumstances, one form of intelligence may be more reliable.

“Let’s use drug addiction as an example,” Dr. Schmitt says. “The body and emotions are screaming for the person to give them more of a type of drug. Their intellect is telling this inner voice that a decision like drug use is crazy, will risk one’s family, and could possibly be fatal. Ideally though, traditional intelligence would be their best friend in terms of talking them out of this decision. Obviously this is a case where other factors may need to come into play to help a person become more productive in their life decisions. But this still sheds light on how one form of intelligence may be more reliable in a specific situation.”

While Moss and Rockefeller were also hesitant to declare one form of intelligence as more important than the other, Dr. Devorah Curtis, department chair of Mind-Body Medicine programs in Saybrook’s College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, shared a different perspective. She identifies spiritual intelligence as a “crossover” or integration between traditional intelligence and emotional intelligence.

“When I need to figure out how to approach a conflicting situation or make a difficult decision, I pray about the circumstances before doing anything else,” says Dr. Curtis, who self-identifies as an “integrationist” and has a background in psychology and pastoral counseling.

“Discernment through prayer is what leads me to make decisions about how I am going to respond and determine a way forward. For me, listening for guidance while managing emotions is not easy and requires strength to act. I would call this a process of ‘spiritual discernment’ because the term is more familiar than ‘spiritual intelligence.’ Others may view the two as one and the same. However, I also believe that all of the intelligences are important.”

When spiritual intelligence gets challenged by believers and nonbelievers

“We tend to use the phrase ‘mind, body, spirit’ in our culture, but many times we leave out the ‘spirit’ part until a crisis happens, such as a health diagnosis, divorce, death of a loved one, accidents, terrorism, or other things like that,” Dr. Rockefeller says. “I believe we are a culture in deep longing for a sense of connection to transcendence, something bigger than ourselves to give us meaning and purpose, and an integration of psyche.”

Dr. Rockefeller also agrees with Dr. Curtis regarding the “crossover” effect. According to him, “Spirituality and spiritual intelligence are a bridge that connects the whole brain.”

But what happens when people start making irrational decisions to force a “bridge” to a spiritual connection?

“This becomes an important issue for human beings dealing with mental illness,” Dr. Moss says. “Many can have delusions about special meaning in their lives or some special communication from the divine. But even then, there are some psychologists who would say that we have to respect delusions because they may be the dawning for some emergent meaning for the person that they just haven’t found the correct perspective on yet. For example, the Swiss psychiatrist Medard Boss would try to guide his mentally disturbed patients to discover a more meaningful and useful perspective in their mental illness and delusions.

“And it’s really hard to judge because when we study religions, we see Moses finding God in a burning bush. We find many everyday human beings who walk through the forest or walk along the shore of the lake, and in that encounter with nature they have a spiritual renewal. Sometimes it’s our contact with other human beings that we care about or someone whose life we touch and change that we find a sense of meaning for ourselves.”

Whether that “meaning” in life is in a church, a classroom, or a social group, the bigger goal is to find a healthy way to utilize spiritual intelligence.

“Healthy spirituality recognizes we live in a world of mystery,” Dr. Schmitt says. “There’s a saying in the Christian tradition of Gregory: ‘Abraham knew he was following God because he didn’t know where he was going.’ Life is a journey and takes on so many different forms. Enjoy the wonder of it instead of trying to be in control and protecting every moment at all costs—the spiritual side, the psychological side, the intellectual side, and the whole person.”

According to Dr. Rockefeller, “Spirituality and spiritual intelligence are a bridge that connects the whole brain.”

“And it’s really hard to judge because when we study religions, we see Moses finding God in a burning bush. We find many everyday human beings who walk through the forest or walk along the shore of the lake, and in that encounter with nature they have a spiritual renewal. Sometimes it’s our contact with other human beings that we care about or someone whose life we touch and change that we find a sense of meaning for ourselves.”

Whether that “meaning” in life is in a church, a classroom, or a social group, the bigger goal is to find a healthy way to utilize spiritual intelligence.

“Healthy spirituality recognizes we live in a world of mystery,” Dr. Schmitt says. “There’s a saying in the Christian tradition of Gregory: ‘Abraham knew he was following God because he didn’t know where he was going.’ Life is a journey and takes on so many different forms. Enjoy the wonder of it instead of trying to be in control and protecting every moment at all costs—the spiritual side, the psychological side, the intellectual side, and the whole person.”

To learn more about Saybrook’s M.A. in Consciousness, Spirituality, and Integrative Health Specialization, visit here. For the Ph.D. program, visit here. For more information on Saybrook’s Mind-Body Medicine degree programs, visit here.

Justifiably Maladjusted

16 February 2018

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s influence and encouragement of “maladjustment” was essential in the field of psychology. And 50 years later, at the 2017 American Psychological Association (APA) Convention, Dr. Nathaniel Granger Jr. reminded participants why that is.

“Dr. King was very charismatic,” says Dr. Nathaniel Granger, who has been reenacting King’s speeches at various events for more than 20 years. “And back then the field of psychology was very white. I think by King using that phrase, it took the term to another level. When King used the term, he did so to explain why we must be maladjusted to bigotry, racism, discrimination, and injustices.”

In other words, we must not see these social ills as normal, par for the course, or acceptable.

“When I look at today’s political climate, it’s obviously maladjusted,” says Dr. Granger, who teaches in Saybrook University’s Existential, Humanistic, and Transpersonal Psychology Specialization. “However, it’s not the maladjusted that King was referring to. It’s a sick society. But we have to urge our clients and everyday people to be maladjusted to the maladjustment so we can change the ills of our systems.”

In MLK’s 1967 speech at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, he said he was “proud” to be psychologically “maladjusted,” never intending “to adjust myself to slavery and segregation,” never intended “to adjust myself to religious bigotry,” and never intended to “become adjusted to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.”

I must confess that I believe firmly that our world is in dire need of a new organization—the International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment.

At the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly on May 18, 1966, MLK even suggested a new name to encourage maladjustment: “I must confess that I believe firmly that our world is in dire need of a new organization—the International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment. Men and women as maladjusted as the prophet Amos, who in the midst of the injustices of his day, cried out in words that echo across the centuries—‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream’; or as maladjusted as Abraham Lincoln, who in the midst of his vacillations finally came to see that this nation could not survive half slave and half free; or as maladjusted as Thomas Jefferson, who in the midst of an age amazingly adjusted to slavery, could scratch across the pages of history, words lifted to cosmic proportions, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. And that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’”

Dendron, a newsletter funded with a startup grant from the Levinson Foundation, was born in 1986 by a group of mental health professionals and advocates. By August 2005, the project creators of Dendron changed its name to MindFreedom International. Mental health professionals and advocates in MindFreedom International used MLK’s words and the civil rights movement to expand on their mission of maladjustment.

Dr. Granger was one of several panelists featured in the recent documentary “Creative Maladjustment” detailing King’s accomplishments and connection to the field of psychology.

The influence of creative maladjustment in today’s society

While King’s speaking influence is certainly still prevalent, it’s reasonable to wonder what becomes of maladjustment in society. The answer: A rise in social justice organizations such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the 2017 Women’s March—three of several movements that continue to showcase how people from all walks of life refuse to accept the injustice of classism, sexism, and racism.

Dr. Granger has been able to plant his feet in both worlds. The U.S. Army veteran earned his Psy.D. in 2011 and has been working in executive coaching, teaching, and psychotherapy ever since. The Chicago native is also now part of the Pikes Peak Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights organization affiliated with the Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955. Grange is also a member of the Denver chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, an anti-violence group that is not always perceived that way.

It’s interesting to see how people are perceived even when trying to fight against anti-discrimination issues,” Dr. Granger says.

“It’s interesting to see how people are perceived even when trying to fight against anti-discrimination issues,” Dr. Granger says. “There’s this book by Beverly Daniel Tatum called ‘Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?’ that stands out to me. The book discusses how even in school, there are these microaggressions out there. But when white people come together, it’s OK. So then black people have a feeling, this overarching feeling that no, we can’t come together. If people see us together they’re going to think we’re a group or a gang or some type of clique, that we’re up to no good.”

These questions are what sparked his interest in writing his dissertation “Perceptions of Racial Microaggressions among African American Males in Higher Education: A Heuristic Inquiry.” In it, he asked and answered questions such as “How do these microaggressions impact me as a black male and other black males? How does this impact our ability to succeed in higher education?”

Dr. Granger confirms that “the research shows that academia is very microaggressive, particularly toward African-Americans and other marginalized groups. African-American ethos is centered around communalism. We like to congregate. However, academia is based on eurocentrism, which promotes individualism where you stand alone and you do your own work. That goes against our internal mechanism. We like to huddle together.

“Obviously this kind of apprehension didn’t stop me from joining organizations such as Black Lives Matter. But in academia when you see black people huddled together, particularly in a predominantly white school, it’s looked upon with suspicion.”

By people such as Granger joining organizations that may not be perceived fairly, this is another step in the right direction. It could make observers look at social justice organizations through new, less biased eyes.

“I would encourage today’s psychologists to really reach down and grab hold to the intestinal fortitude to stand firmly against bigotry and injustice and anything that comes against human dignity and human rights,” Granger says.

“I think psychologists are in a very important position to strategize. Majority of psychologists need to be more vocal when it comes to social ills. Cowardice should not be encouraged, and we cannot allow cowardice to become fashionable in dealing with social woes. We need to do something to ameliorate the symptomatology associated with the sensationalism that we see.”