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Dr. Demetry Apostle

1 February 2016
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Dr. Demetry Apostle
Ph.D. Psychology, 2017, M.A. Psychology, 2013

“My experience and ongoing connections to Saybrook have been transformative in ways I could never have imagined.”

Pride

Chicago native Dr. Demetry Apostle is using the humanistic psychology principles he learned at Saybrook University to serve the LGBTQ community—with an increasing focus on counseling transgender children and their families.

As a gay teen coming of age in 1970s Chicago, Dr. Demetry Apostle lived through an era in LGBTQ history when the very idea of “gay pride” was as novel as a city-wide parade to celebrate it—an era where after decades of oppression and injustice, the road to LGBTQ equality was just being paved.

Being openly gay at that time meant being different; it meant pushing boundaries and forcing society outside of its comfort zone. That perspective on the world led Dr. Apostle to be more than a witness to the movement—inspiring a personal quest that ultimately landed him at Saybrook University.

“My experience and ongoing connections to Saybrook have been transformative in ways I could never have imagined,” says Dr. Apostle, who credits Saybrook’s “affirming, person-centered” training for helping him actualize his potential as an advocate for LGBTQ individuals and their families.

He came to Saybrook from law school, eager to change careers and start an M.A. program in psychology. From there, Saybrook faculty connections led Dr. Apostle and his partner to a life-changing opportunity to work in Melbourne, Australia while still completing his graduate studies.

In 2008, by the time he completed his master’s degree and started a Ph.D. program, Dr. Apostle was working as a staff therapist at the Victorian AIDS Council, providing therapy to LGBTQ individuals and couples. He and his partner also became the first same-sex couple to adopt a child in the region—a tremendous legal victory he says was possible by the support he received from the community he built through Saybrook.

Today, Dr. Apostle is back in the San Francisco area with his family. In addition to a staff position at United Behavioral Health-Optum and his work providing psychotherapy in a private practice setting, Dr. Apostle serves an emerging segment of the LGBTQ population that was virtually unseen 40 years ago—children and teenagers who identify as transgender.

While some of the children Dr. Apostle assesses and counsels have the love and full support of their parents, others do not—which causes the same atmosphere of stigma and oppression gay teens experienced a generation ago.

“I recently worked with a 7-year-old who has been gender expansive from birth and comes from a divorced family,” he says. “One parent is on board and supportive. The other parent is not and the result has been a lot of distress for the child. Together, we are working through the issues raised, so that he can feel comfortable in his own skin, and comfortable in the world around him.”

Dr. Apostle, who completed his Ph.D. in 2013, was recently asked to co-author a book chapter for an American Psychology Association publication about co-occurring disorders in gender non-conforming and transgender children and adolescents. He never imagined himself helping children work through their gender identity. But his work is the natural evolution of his journey as an advocate, and is as critical to the future of LGBTQ health and well-being as the gay rights movement was in the 1970s.

“It’s amazing to be a part of this point in history,” he adds. “Saybrook’s humanistic tradition has offered me a philosophical perspective that continues to enhance and enrich my life and work. It’s been truly remarkable.”

Bob Flax, Ph.D.

29 January 2016
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Bob Flax, Ph.D.
Transformative Social Change

“I’ve always sought to help people and respond to human suffering. That took me on a journey that began working with individuals, then large systems, and finally helping to create global solutions to global problems.”

Transformer

From counseling men on San Quentin’s death row to tackling social justice concerns on a global scale, Saybrook University Professor Bob Flax has always been guided by inquisitiveness and a desire to positively enhance the human experience.

The undeniable leitmotif of Saybrook University Professor Bob Flax’s personal and professional narrative is transformation.

“I’ve always sought to help people and respond to human suffering,” Bob Flax, Ph.D., says. “That took me on a journey that began working with individuals, then large systems, and finally helping to create global solutions to global problems.”

His research and experiences on this journey give Dr. Flax, who received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Saybrook in 1992, sought-after expertise in the field of transformative social change.

One formative chapter came during the 16 years Dr. Flax spent working in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. For two of those years, he got up every day to counsel men who were awaiting execution.

“I was the first psychologist in the state of California assigned to work on death row full time,” Dr. Flax says. “San Quentin State Prison had more than 500 prisoners on death row at the time. Many prisoners had undiagnosed mental disorders, which became exacerbated under the circumstances.”

While his assignments working in the prison system included managing inmate rehabilitation programs and working in an experimental “boot camp,” death row duty was tough. In addition to the fate the men faced, the conditions in the facility were grueling and primitive.

It was during this time that Dr. Flax booked a trip to Tanzania that would change his life in ways he never expected.

“I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, went scuba diving in the Indian Ocean, and joined a safari,” he says. “Along the way, I witnessed indescribable poverty, tribalism, and other social ills. When I returned, I began to see more clearly the injustice and human suffering the prison system was perpetuating—no matter what side of the bars you were on.”

Dr. Flax developed a passion for change on a large systems level—marking a profound shift in his journey. He began working for prison reform, as well as taking courses and networking with people about how systems work and what they need to be transformed.

From this chapter came another unexpected leap into what is now the third phase of Dr. Flax’s career. Through his work with large systems, Dr. Flax discovered and began working with the World Federalist Movement, an international effort that began after World War II to find peaceful, humane answers to the world’s problems. After years of involvement, Dr. Flax is now on the board of directors of three World Federalist organizations: The Democratic World Federalists in San Francisco; Citizens for Global Solutions in Washington, D.C.; and the World Federalist Movement—Institute for Global Policy in New York City.

“I’m very proud of the work we do to solve global problems,” Dr. Flax says. “For example, in 1998 the World Federalist Movement brought together 120 nations and nonprofit organizations to form the world’s first International Criminal Court, which holds individuals responsible for mass atrocities around the globe.”

In addition to teaching, Dr. Flax is the co-director of Saybrook’s Office of Research, and is also developing new curriculum for Saybrook’s Transformative Social Change program. He says Saybrook’s influence continues to shape the work he does to create impactful transformation in the world.

“My life’s journey has been about addressing human suffering,” he says. “As individuals, it’s easy to feel powerless. But one individual, with the passion to correct the injustices we all face, can have a huge impact in the world.”

Haley Lowe

27 January 2016
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Haley Lowe
M.A. Psychology, 2012

“With intervention, young people are able to stay engaged in their goals and remain in school, work, and other activities that give their lives meaning and purpose.”

Breaking Barriers

A fateful camping trip with a group of Saybrook University students pointed Haley Lowe, a one-time high school dropout, on a path to an impactful career in children’s mental health.

Growing up in a blue collar logging town in the Pacific Northwest, Haley Lowe was keenly aware of the connections between class and race, power and privilege. As the daughter of a hairdresser and a one-time high school dropout herself, her dreams for her future were limited. Growing up, work ethic was prioritized,  while education was never part of equation. She went on to see how access to education and health care created distinct disadvantages for some groups, and privileged other groups. She wanted to be part of the solution to address these disparities but didn’t quite know how.

A fishing trip on the Yakima River with a group of like-minded humanistic scholars from Saybrook University became her turning point, leading her on a journey of discovery, self-awareness, and transformation.

“They had a language—a way of talking about the world—and it made me want to be a part of whatever it was they were doing.”

Inspired by what she heard about the Saybrook experience, Lowe went on to become the first person in her family to go to college, graduating with an M.A. in Psychology from Saybrook in 2012. Today, working with the state of Washington’s Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery (DBHR), she is providing critical services to young people suffering from early psychosis.

“Without this intervention, the outcome for a young person experiencing psychosis was often a lifetime of disability, homelessness, substance abuse, and even suicide,” says Lowe, explaining that The First Episode Psychosis Project is part of the state’s ground-breaking efforts to increase early psychosis identification and intervention. “With intervention, young people are able to stay engaged in their goals and remain in school, work, and other activities that give their lives meaning and purpose.”

Now Lowe finds herself confidently speaking the same “language” she heard that night around the campfire—a language of light, mindfulness, and purpose being put into action with the young people in her charge.

“It sounds lofty and idealistic, and yet this approach has given me a career using my talents to truly impact positive change,” says Lowe, who also earned a specialization in Systems Counseling. “This awakening allowed me to see systems more clearly, develop genuine relationships, and bring my authentic self to all that I do.”

Lowe is now hard at work helping to launch her agency’s first-ever Early Psychosis Initiative (EPI). Aiming to improve the long-term trajectory of those experiencing schizophrenia, the EPI calls for an intervention plan and the creation of a system that provides appropriate levels of evidence-based delivery to patients.

“Large system work requires having the right people at the table,” she says. “This is where I feel my greatest strengths are—bringing the right people to the table to advance our efforts with maximum efficiency.”

Lowe has come a long way since that night on the Yakima River. She broke through the barriers of privilege by going to college. She shattered the myth of her blue collar culture by pursuing dreams once thought impossible. And she has done so with grace and courage.

“I left Saybrook a life-long learner with a commitment to contributing to the greater good,” Lowe says. “Saybook taught me how to respectfully challenge the status quo and engage in difficult conversations. The world is hungry for the type of engagement Saybrook encourages in its students every day.”

Saybrook announces long-term contract with new hotel for residential conferences

27 May 2015
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Robert Schley, Saybrook’s Conference Director, confirms that contracts have now been signed with the Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel and Spa in Monterey, California, for the residential conferences starting in January 2017 through August 2019. All of Saybrook’s residential conferences, along with the annual graduation ceremony, will then take place at the Hyatt. The conferences will continue to be held at the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters each year, in August and January, and will also include the Residential Orientations for new students. Seattle residential students will have their first RC each semester with the other students in Monterey and then continue the rest of the semester in Seattle.

The Hyatt Hotel is located on the historic Del Monte Golf Course run by the Pebble Beach Management Company. With 550 rooms, the hotel is large enough to accommodate all of Saybrook’s students, faculty and staff in one place, and with more than 43,000 square feet of meeting space, indoors and out, it should prove to be an ideal location for the residential conferences. It is spread out like a university campus in more than 20 small buildings only three stories tall. There are numerous lounge areas and informal meeting spaces available for faculty/student interaction, and several outdoor venues like fire pits and swimming pools for recreation and just hanging out. A conference center in the center of the complex contains most of the meeting rooms, but quite a few small hospitality suites and parlor suites can be found in the nearby residential buildings that will be perfect for small classrooms and breakout sessions. The hotel is only eight residential blocks from a beach on Monterey Bay, offering great opportunities for walks and fresh air breaks.

The hotel is very near the Monterey Regional Airport, which offers flights on regional jets to numerous cities in the West, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Phoenix. The Hyatt also participates in a regular shuttle service to the San Jose Mineta International Airport.

Monterey and its neighbor communities of Carmel, Pacific Grove and Seaside form a wonderful community with spectacular scenery along the Central Coast of California. Famed for the Pebble Beach Country Club and the 17-Mile Drive, along with Monterey’s Cannery Row of Steinbeck’s notoriety and the world-renowned Monterey Aquarium, this area is ripe for exploration and fun!

Following are all the confirmed dates for Saybrook’s Residential Conferences going forward:

2015-2016 Academic Year

Fall 2015

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – August 14-18, 2015, Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle Washington
  • College of the Social Sciences – August 22-26, 2015, Westin SFO Hotel, Millbrae, California
  • CSS Leadership and Management Program – August 22-25, 2015, Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle, Washington

Spring 2016

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – January 13-17, 2016, Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle, Washington
  • College of the Social Sciences – January 23-27, 2016, Westin SFO Hotel, Millbrae, California

2016-2017 Academic Year

Fall 2016

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – August 22-26, 2016, Cedarbrook Lodge, Seattle, Washington
  • College of the Social Sciences – August 20-25, 2016, Westin SFO Hotel, Millbrae, California

Spring 2017

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – January 21-25, 2017, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California
  • College of the Social Sciences – January 21-25, 2017, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

2017-2018 Academic Year

Fall 2017

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – August 26-30, 2017, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California
  • College of the Social Sciences – August 26-30, 2017, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

Spring 2018

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – January 20-24, 2018, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California
  • College of the Social Sciences – January 20-24, 2018, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

2018-2019 Academic Year

Fall 2018

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – August 25-29, 2018, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California
  • College of the Social Sciences – August 25-29, 2018, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

Spring 2019

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – January 19-23, 2019, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California
  • College of the Social Sciences – January 19-23, 2019, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

2019-2020 Academic Year

Fall 2019

  • College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences – August 24-28, 2019, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

  • College of the Social Sciences – August 24-28, 2019, Hyatt Regency, Monterey, California

Eastern versus Western psychology

20 April 2015
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“Life ceases to be problematic when it is understood that the ego is a social fiction.” — Alan Watts


Because the general orientation of Western psychology has been toward the observation, categorization, and alteration of observable behavior, this has led to a therapeutic attitude limited to the diagnosis and treatment of psychopathology. The general assumption seems to be that drug therapies and techniques that lead to behavioral change will also initiate change in mental processes and states. Until the advent of cognitive, existential, phenomenological, humanistic, and transpersonal perspectives, little effort was devoted to the rigorous study of inner mental states and processes and embodied cognition.

Most Eastern psychologies, in contrast, concentrate on the exploration of the function and operation of the mind as well as methods to free the individual from suffering. Since Eastern psychologies are inwardly focused, they may appear to be narcissistic or nihilistic. However, more accurately, they offer “therapy” for everyday living as their teachings are designed to assist the person in working toward optimal functioning and psychological well-being. Through inner development, the individual comes to see his or her place in the larger context as a part of the whole, which can lead to improved relationships with self, others, and the environment.


What is Western Psychology?

Western science has relied on methods for reducing processes to their most elemental level and investigating them in isolation as single variables.

Reductionism, while useful in certain applications, is not helpful in understanding the person. Humans are intersubjective beings interacting with other people and environmental factors in a constant state of flux. Clearly, human beings cannot be reduced to parts but must be understood within the context of the whole.

While Western psychology seems to reflect an attitude that the individual must be “helped” from without, by another person, Eastern attitudes are quite the opposite. Eastern, holistic perspectives recognize the interactive nature of reality, similar to the views of general systems theory. Life is a universal process in which every individual is an essential part. Eastern systems acknowledge that the individual has to decide first to seek change and help her or himself through inner exploration—restructuring and cultivating mental processes, although the guidance of others who have experienced the process may be sought.

History of Eastern Psychology

The approaches of Buddhism, Taoism, Vedanta, or yoga are not easily comparable to religious or philosophical systems as we understand them in the West.

For Western psychology, according to Alan Watts, “The psychotherapist has, for the most part, been interested in changing the consciousness of … disturbed individuals. The disciplines of Buddhism and Taoism are, however, concerned with changing the consciousness of normal, socially adjusted people.” In the five decades since these words were written, Western psychology has become increasingly interested in aiding “normal” individuals to reach their maximum psychological potential. In the Eastern view, we are all in need of “therapy” (normal or disturbed alike) since few of us are functioning free from the influence of delusions, projections, or uncurbed desires.

Eastern psychologies maintain that, as a result of social and self-conditioning, our ambitions, beliefs, desires, expectations, preconceptions, and views of the nature of reality are illusory. Since we think and act in accordance with these illusions, we invariably suffer (i.e., experience disappointment, frustration, and pain). However, through the process of meditation and mindfulness, we are able to examine the inner workings of our mind and come to understand the nature of illusion and how it arises. We then come to experience a profound change in attitude and perspective. We begin to see things as they truly are, unfettered by illusions, social mandates, or our own projections. Thus, we come to a more authentic and genuine view of reality.

Difference Between Eastern and Western Psychology

Eastern concepts of the ego differ from Western concepts.

In the West, the ego (regardless of the various ways in which theorists define it) is seen as central to identity and personality. From Eastern perspectives, however, the ego is a social fiction. This illusion becomes apparent during meditation when the practitioner recognizes that there is no “I” that can be identified. There is rather an awareness attaching itself to passing thoughts, judgments, and so on, erroneously assumed to represent the ego. Since these thoughts and judgments are ever-changing, there exists no permanent structure that can be called the ego.

Eastern traditions teach that everything is impermanent. Like the breath rises and falls or the seasons come and go, all things are seen as being in a constant process of arising, forming, and dissolving. For example, in Taoism, through wu wei (the attitude of noninterference with the nature of things) one learns to live and act in harmony and go with the flow of events and situations. They’re not passive observers; they are active participants in life, selecting actions in harmony with nature.

Terms such as nirvana, satori, realization, awakening, and enlightenment denote the highest state of spiritual and psychological development and transcendence. Our illusions and distortions, caused by our belief in a fictional ego bent on fortification and justification of a self, prevents us from recognizing the underlying harmony and unity that pervades all of life.
Updated: May 31, 2023

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Henry Murray’s personology

15 December 2014
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In Henry A. Murray’s “Explorations in Personality,” dedicated to Morton Prince, Sigmund Freud, Lawrence Henderson, Alfred N. Whitehead, and Carl G. Jung, he asked:

“What propels man? With what environmental objects and institutions does he interact and how? What occurrences in his body are most influentially involved? What mutually dependent processes participate in his differentiation and development? What courses of events determine his pleasures and displeasures? And, finally, by what means can he be intentionally transformed?”

Murray’s multivariate study of 51 men sought “experimental evidence for the validity of certain general intuitions about human nature, which operated in everyday existence.” His psychology of personality attempted to “get below the social derm of personalities… in the search for covert springs of fantasy and action.” He believed that “personalities constitute the subject matter of psychology, the life history of a single man [or woman] being a unit with which the discipline of psychology has to deal.”

While the prevailing custom in psychology is to study one aspect of an episode at a time (i.e., perception, emotion, intellection or behavior), Murray, instead, selected representative or existentially significant events within an individual’s life for analysis and interpretation. He spoke to the importance of historical narrative in psychological science, the mythic and visionary dimension of personality, and the study of the person at multiple levels of complexity.

Personology: Dynamic organismal theory of personality

Murray envisioned a study of the person or Personology as:

“The branch of psychology which concerns itself with the study of human lives and the factors that influence their course which investigates individual differences and types of personality… the science of men, taken as gross units… encompassing “psychoanalysis” (Freud), “analytical psychology” (Jung), “individual psychology” (Adler) and other terms that stand for methods of inquiry or doctrines rather than realms of knowledge.”

He proposed that the profession of psychology construct a scheme of concepts for portraying the entire course of individual development, providing a framework into which any single episode within a person’s life, natural or experimental, may be fitted. Personology was thus based on the organized collection of facts pertaining to the long course of complex events from human conception to death contained in case histories based on observations of behavior and the subject’s memories and introspections.

Murray’s proposal for a “dynamical organismal” theory of personality took into account all speculations that referred to impelling forces, passions, appetites, or instincts as a “rationalized elaboration of the perception that a human-being is a motile discriminating, valuating, assimilating, adapting, integrating, differentiating and reproducing temporal unity within a changing environmental matrix.”

Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny?

In Murray’s model, the passage of time was marked by the rhythms of assimilation, differentiation, and integration. There was learning, and there was maturation. Thus new and previously precluded combinations came into being. With the perishing of each moment, the organism was left a different creature, never to repeat itself exactly. No moment was typical of the whole. While there were orderly rhythms and progressions that were functions of the seasons, age, and sex, and established cultural practices, life was an irreversible sequence of non-identical events.

And, there was an “eternal return” (spiral evolution) in which the child was father to the man. Murray believed that these phenomena made the study of biography imperative. Repetitions and consistencies were due in part to the fact that impressions of situations left enduring “traces” (images) in the organism, which may be reactivated by the appearance of situations that resembled them; so that some of the past was always alive in the present.

Unconscious regnant processes

During a single moment, only some of the regnant processes had the attribute of consciousness, therefore, “looking at the matter from the viewpoint of introspective awareness,” Murray believed, “it was necessary to postulate unconscious regnant processes.” Regnant processes were those exercising power and authority; mutually dependent processes that constituted dominant configurations in the brain (a unitary temporal segment of brain processes; the totality of such processes occurring during a single moment).

Regnancies were the results of external press, freshly aroused emotional needs (id), conscious intentions (ego), accepted cultural standards (superego), and customary modes of behavior (habit system) in varying proportions. The relative strength of these influences determined what tendencies would be objectified. Regnant processes stood between one’s inner and outer world.

As Murray explained, a person was time-binding; he or she related to the past and the shadowy preconception of what lay ahead, making for continuity of purpose. Murray’s unconscious regnant processes provided a time-space frame for conscious events having unconscious influence in his multivariate study of the person and Thematic Apperception Test.

The study of experience, needs, and drives

For Murray, desire and drive were two aspects of the same thing, thus he professed that psychologists use introspection to reveal the possible internal relations of drives. Given that every need was associated with traces representing movement, agencies, pathways, and goal-objects, taken together, they constituted a dynamic whole and a need to integrate—exhibiting itself as a fantasy that depicted a possible and expected course of events. The term “need,” a momentary direction of regnant processes in the brain region, and “drive,” the direction of activity, did not denote an observable fact. Murray was much more interested in drives as field forces within the brain and conflicts between rival tendencies in the inhibition of emotion. Emotion, as a hypothetical concept, stood for an excitatory process in the brain (interbrain; thalamic region that manifested itself subjectively or objectively, or both).

An emotion occurred without the subject’s being aware of it (unconscious). The subjective manifestation being that quality of the experience, which was generally designated as emotional (excited). The objective manifestation was a compound of autonomic disturbances and the intensification of disorganization of effective behavior (motor and verbal). While a drive was a force in the brain that excited a flow of images or objects once perceived in conjunction with the activities of that drive, Murray argued:

“Experience seems to show that a certain desire may sometimes give rise to a dream or fantasy and at other times promote overt activity. Without the concept of an underlying drive one could not adequately represent the obvious relationship between fantasy and behavior.”

For more information on Henry Murray, click here.

Viewing addiction through an existential lens

2 October 2014
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Increasingly, we are reminded that addiction is a serious problem that threatens the physical, mental, and emotional lives of all those involved—the person addicted, friends, family and loved ones of those addicted, and society at large.

We watch news of famous and talented people, such as Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams. Both acknowledged their lifelong battles with addiction and ended up “losing.”

We ponder the causes of addiction, wonder what could have been done, and grieve the loss—of the individual and the potential of what that life might have been.

When young people are addicted, we hope they will be able to recover before it is “too late.” We see the addictive struggles of young stars played out as “dramas” in the media in our “star-obsessed” society. We yearn for a “recovery” or a “comeback” story. We hope they will “return” before it is too late and they “burn out.”

When the young person addicted is a family member, our feelings are even more intense and personal. Unfortunately, my husband and I speak from experience. Our granddaughter, age 20, has had ongoing struggles with alcoholism and has twice been in rehab.

This past summer, we were encouraged, hopeful, and proud when she achieved a professional accomplishment that would qualify her for the profession she had chosen. And then, what happens all too frequently, she relapsed and had yet another alcohol-related crisis that threatened her achievement and endangered her life.

Recommended read: “How 12 Steps and yoga helped Anjali Talcherkar fight addiction”

Because I consider myself a humanist and an existentialist, it makes sense I would turn to these philosophies to see what they might say about the challenges of addiction and how they might help me understand and cope with a tragic situation.

First, I can understand why adolescents would want to try drugs—friends do it, it is fun, and it is an adventure. I can appreciate the desire to be elevated to a mystical state (although that is probably not the way adolescents would describe it). I remember listening to Huston Smith, the authority on world religions, a number of years ago at a Saybrook residential conference. He talked about a book he had written called “Cleansing the Doors of Perception.”

His book explored mind-altering substances that are spiritual catalysts and produce mystical experience. I remember Smith saying how as a young man he yearned for “the infinite.” Who, young or old, doesn’t yearn for the infinite? The use of mind-altering substances to provide mystical adventures is nothing new—William James discussed in the early 1900s the use of alcohol throughout history to produce mystical states; Timothy Leary and Ram Dass experimented with substances to access other realms in the 1960s.

The problem occurs when substances used to create desired states becomes addictive rather than a periodic adventure. One journal article referred to adolescents’ experimentation with alcohol and drugs as a “rite of passage.” The article suggested many young people are able to use drugs on occasion without becoming addicted. Others are not. Adolescents who are more likely to become addicted are those who experience problems in school, have difficult family lives, have low self-esteem, and are dealing with other mental health challenges.

While there is evidence that family history may predispose one to addiction, when you are young, it is natural to think it will not happen to you. While I know some individuals who decided not to drink alcohol because they had a parent who was an alcoholic, many people do not take this precaution. Who knows why one child is able to use drugs or alcohol on occasion while another becomes addicted? While these questions remain unanswered, they help me to be compassionate and philosophical—even when I feel frustrated, angry, and sad because of the heartache addiction causes.

In our Western culture, addiction is generally considered to be a “disease.” There has been debate regarding whether the disease model is an accurate description of addiction. Suffice it to say that Western cultures generally have agreed to consider addiction a disease. The positive aspects of considering addiction a disease are practical—it means addiction will be treated as a healthcare problem rather than as a “sin” or “moral failing.” Those with alcohol and drug problems are able to receive treatment, services are covered by health insurance, health care groups join forces to address the problem, and biomedical research relating to addiction is funded. Regardless of how addiction is defined, I am thankful my granddaughter has access to healthcare services.

A drawback of the “disease” theory of addiction is that it may make addicts “victims” and release them from the responsibility to make good decisions, create meaningful lives, and be authentic. This is counter to the tenets of existential philosophy. Disease implies they have no freedom in the face of addiction. Humanistic approaches to addiction would build on the individual’s inherent potential to maintain healthy, meaningful relationships and to make choices that are in the best interests of oneself and others.

An existential approach to substance abuse suggests that people become addicted to substances when they use them to numb the disease that is part of the human condition and to dull existential pain. Victor Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, explored the meaning of suffering and the importance of creating meaning for life as a primary motivation for living in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Suffering can be both a cause of addiction and a motivation for recovery. An individual may become addicted to ease the pain of physical and emotional suffering. However, as addiction progresses, the condition produces its own suffering. Some addicts have to suffer the pain of “hitting bottom” to be motivated to reassess their lives, surrender to helplessness, and seek the help they need.

Some recovery programs have a spiritual component. The 12-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) presents recovery as a spiritual journey—the steps are a means to achieve spiritual growth. A relative of our granddaughter, a minister, stated she was experiencing a “spiritual crisis.” While I may not share his definition of “spiritual,” I believe any suffering and life journey contains a spiritual component. This is not inconsistent with the beliefs of humanistic and existential philosophers that present a range of religious and spiritual beliefs, particularly when one includes “wisdom,” “self-transcendence,” “achieving meaning,” “developing inner resources,” and “concern for others” in a definition.

A fundamental belief of existentialism is individuals are free to make choices—individuals create who they are by values they hold, the decisions they make, and their actions. Ultimately, every decision made is a “life” or “death” decision—the decision either supports the life we want and who we want to be, our “essence,” or it does not. Making decisions that are life-affirming is a huge responsibility for an individual of any age; making good decisions may be particularly challenging for adolescents whose brains are still developing, are more prone to risk taking, and are more vulnerable to peer pressure than adults.

For those addicted, making the decision to refrain from substance abuse and stay sober must be very challenging, especially when one considers cravings caused by physical and emotional dependency. For those who love people with addictions, there is a point when we realize we have no control over their decisions and their recoveries. All we can do is continue to love them, provide resources to support their recovery, and decide how we will manage our sadness so it does not destroy our own lives.

If we define people with addictions simply in terms of their disease, we are depriving them of their human potential. We are fixing them at a particular stage in their emotional, physical, and spiritual development, and forgetting they have the possibility to make life-affirming decisions—the very core of human existence. For people struggling with addiction, the decision not to abuse substances is a fundamental choice and a life or death decision—one that may have to be made every day, over and over again. It is a decision that requires enormous courage in the midst of great anxiety—the courage to “let go” of destructive behavior in order to “grasp” new possibilities for one’s life and the courage to “grasp” in order to “let go.” I hope those faced with this decision will choose life—the possibilities are endless.

References:

Frankl, V. (1984). Man’s search for meaning. New York, NY: Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1946).

James, W. (1997). The varieties of religious experience. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. (Original work published 1902).

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The importance of gender equity

14 August 2014
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In my last blog “Strengthening our Social Fabric,” I mentioned Sweden’s emphasis on gender equity as a way to create a good society. Here I will further consider the systemic implications of gender equity in hopes that we consider its importance to all societies.

The Global Gender Gap report in 2013 rates 136 countries on their ability to close the gender gap thus attaining equity in four key areas: economic participation and opportunity, health and survival, educational attainment, and political empowerment. I wonder how many people in the U.S. would be surprised that we do not show up in the top 20 countries with greater gender equity. The U.S. rated 23rd on the list, down one from 2012. Sweden ranked number four on the list, following their Scandinavian neighbors, Norway (three) and Finland (two). Iceland claimed the number one spot.

Yet, even though Sweden is relatively high in their ranking on the global scale, they see gender equity as so important to their social fabric that the government believes they still have work to do.

The aim of Sweden’s gender equity policy is to ensure that:

  • Women and men enjoy the same opportunities, rights and obligations in all areas of life.
  • Everyone, regardless of gender, has the right to work and support themselves.
  • They can all balance their careers and family life.
  • They can live without the fear of abuse or violence.

Gender equality implies not only equal distribution between men and women in all domains of society. It is also about the qualitative aspects, ensuring that the knowledge and experience of both men and women are used to promote progress in all aspects of society.

What strikes me in the commitment statement is the holistic nature of it. It recognizes the importance of equal opportunity across gender, adding the critical aspect of women supporting themselves while balancing family and career. And it recognizes the importance of having women’s voices and perspectives present to promote healthy progress in all aspects of society.

At 64 years old, I have seen many changes in our society in the U.S., but not really much progression in the status of women as full contributors to our society. Women professors in higher education are far fewer than male professors. That is likely the result of the financial and time commitment to attain a doctoral degree and build a career in academia. We continue to have only a few women at the top of major corporations and positions who would likely state that they have to sacrifice the other aspects of their lives to succeed in their position. Look around the chambers of the U.S. government. Granted there are a few more women there today than when I studied government in high school in the late 1960s. But considering that was nearly 50 years ago, we can’t be proud of our progress.

I wonder how the U.S. might be different if our government were to establish a clear commitment to gender equity and policies that backed it up. What would the impact be on children and families? On our schools? What if there were more women at the top of organizations or in positions of influence in the government? I believe we need to create a pathway of equal opportunity for women to move into these positions at the same pace as men.

I think the problem here in the U.S. is that there is very little overall commitment to gender equity. Most people don’t see how important it is to create a healthy society. We need to change the conversation from women needing equal pay, which is just one of many important factors, to how we can create the institutional, economic, cultural, and other conditions so that women can equally contribute their knowledge, skills, and experience to creating a better society. If we can reach a point of common understanding where we truly believe that women have just as important a role to play in the development of our nation as do men, we will find the resources and put in place the policies that will support women in assuming their proper place as leaders of change.

Myers-Briggs® and Leadership: What Personality Types Support Good Leadership?

11 August 2014
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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI) is often used to improve overall performance in organizations. This tool can help workers gain self-awareness, improve emotional intelligence, and better understand how they—as well as those around them—operate in the workplace.

Which MBTI Type Makes the Best Leader?

Of the 16 possible personality types identified by the MBTI instrument, no single one is better than any other, although there are studies that suggest some types are better suited for certain jobs than others.

Many of my executive coaching clients tend to be ENTJs (Extraversion, Intuition, Thinking, Judging), a personality type that is quite common among leaders.

ENTJs make good leaders because of their innate ability to direct groups of people, according to Isabel Briggs Myers and Peter B. Myers, authors of “Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type.” They tend to be self-driven, motivated, energetic, assertive, confident, and competitive. ENTJs are unusually influential and organized, yet they may judge others by their own tough standards.

Famous ENTJs include Aristotle, Napoleon, Julius Caesar, Margaret Thatcher, Jack Welch, and Bill Gates. ENTJs are also the most rare of the 16 MBTI types representing just 2% to 5% of males and 1% to 3% of females in the U.S.

A study called “Personality Type in Leadership” by the Center of Creative Leadership found that although the extraversion/introversion and sensing/intuition preference pairs were equally represented, preferences for thinking and judging were more predominant in leaders. This does not necessarily mean that feeling and perceiving are not valuable traits in leaders. However, the structure and values of most organizations today tend to favor logical and decisive behaviors.

ENTJs are primarily concerned with making things happen and may not fully appreciate that other people may take a little longer to understand or may not be as forthcoming or direct and assume that silence means agreement.

ENTJ leaders don’t generally understand emotions, preferring to deal with issues as problems or concepts. Therefore, trying to appeal to the ENTJs’ emotional side may not be the best way to resolve issues.

Feeling

There are important differences between the categories of thinking and feeling, and ENTJs would do well to keep these in mind to improve relationships with those who are more aligned with feeling.  For example, those who prefer feeling versus thinking tend to be:

  • Sympathetic, instead of focused  on logic
  • More interested in people than things
  • More people-oriented, responding more easily to people’s values
  • Able to recognize and acknowledge their own as well as others’ emotions and know that this is a strength, not a weakness

ENTJs are more likely to analyze and apply logic with interpersonal issues, which can annoy and puzzle those with a preference for feeling. No matter what the problem, ENTJs need to factor in the human element in decision-making. It’s important to seek opinions from those with other personality types before making a decision. And they should take note of their own needs and feelings.

While all this may slow down the decisiveness of an ENTJ, it will serve them well in the long term.

Perceiving

Although those who prefer judging may view perceiving as aimless, they need to understand that perceiving simply means someone wants more information before making a decision. In addition:

  • Judgment occurs out loud,  while perceiving happens within
  • Perceiving can lead to decision-making, but the focus is on gathering information to keep options open
  • Perceiving includes seeing structure as more limiting than enabling
  • Perceiving is more tolerant of other people’s differences and supports adapting to whatever the situation requires

ENTJs must develop their perceptive ability and suspend judgment just long enough to give perception a chance. They must continue to use judging on themselves but not on other people. If ENTJs let preferences for thinking and judging dominate every aspect of their lives, their feelings will be too suppressed to be of any use.

If an unexpected explosion of temper shows up, there’s a good possibility that the ENTJ needs to allow space for feeling now and again. This will provide a constructive outlet before reaching the boiling point.

Although ENTJ leaders are quite common, they can increase their effectiveness by recognizing  the importance of feeling and perceiving both in themselves and others in the workplace. A preference should be only that, and finding a balance within oneself will help ENTJs leaders grow even stronger. Appreciating the preferences of others for feeling and perceiving will also help them find value in those who possess these gifts.

If you’re interested in learning more about leadership psychology, Saybrook offers an M.A. in Psychology program that specializes in creativity, innovation, and leadership. If you’re interested in becoming a leader yourself, the Saybrook Leadership and Management online Ph.D. in Managing Organizational Systems is a great option.

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Embodied racism

3 April 2014
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I first heard this stated when I was struggling with the realization that someone very important to me was having a difficult time accepting that I was engaged to a black woman. As I was talking about how painful it was for me that this person, who I knew was a good person with strong character, could not seem to get past their prejudice, it was gently pointed out to me that, “Racism is located in your body. If it was just in one’s mind, it would be easy to overcome and change. But it is not easy because racism is in our body.”

I was trying to change my friend’s mind through logical arguments, along with some attempts to motivate the change by pointing out that he was hurting the woman I loved through his prejudices. My approach was not effective. Although my fiancée (now my wife) also advised, “Just let him get to know me. Once he gets to know me, he’ll get over it,” it was not until this insight that racism is in the body set in that I began to accept that I could not change my friend through logical argument. As I let this go and trusted the relational process (primarily the relationship between him and my fiancée), he was able to gradually work through most of his prejudices.

Racists are not necessarily bad people

We often want to categorize racists as bad people. However, there are several problems with this. For one, to label people “good” or “bad” is an oversimplification. No one is all good or all bad. Second, I would affirm the common assertion that everyone has prejudices, and we all are racists to some degree. But these are more philosophical suppositions that could take us away from the point I would like to make.

Many intelligent people with strong character, good intentions, and solid morals struggle with racism and other forms of prejudice. If racism were simple enough that we could rationally disprove it, and through this process, end racism, the destructiveness of racism would be much more contained. If all good people, and all people who would like to have no racism, could easily overcome it, there would be much less racism in the world. The problem lies deeper; it is in our bodies.

Recommended read: “Marginalization: The pendulum swings both ways”

How does racism get in the body? One way that racism gets in our body is through experience. This can be role modeling as well as direct experience.

For instance, children are often exposed to racism. Regardless of whether this is through word or action, it can begin to become internalized through this modeling. Second, it can occur through a bad experience with individuals or small groups from different cultures, which then gets generalized to all people from the culture.

Many would argue that the roots of racism are encoded in our genes. It is not that there is a racist gene in our DNA, but rather a tendency to identify with one’s own group for safety reasons while being distrustful or suspicious of those identified as other.

Terror Management Theory, which is an existential social psychology based upon the work of Ernest Becker, maintains that particularly when we are reminded of our mortality we tend to identify more closely with our own group and often against other groups.

Empathy for racists

I consider myself to be a highly empathetic person. Yet, it is difficult for me to be empathetic with racists, in part because I generally don’t want to be empathetic with them. However, especially for those who would like to overcome their racism, empathy is a powerful tool for change. Empathy takes us beyond the surface level. One of the reasons that empathy is effective in bringing about change is precisely because it takes us beyond the rational; it takes us to the embodiment of the struggle.

Empathy is also effective at disarming defenses. When someone voices, “I know I am prejudiced toward black people, but I don’t want to be,” and are met with empathy, this allows them to explore this and begin a healing process. When they are met with condemnation and judgment, or pushing them to quickly overcome these struggles, they often put defenses up to emotionally protect themselves from the perceived attack. In protecting themselves, they also protect their racism, even if inadvertently so.

I am not suggesting that there is not a place for the rational or impassioned arguments in the struggle to overcome racism. Nor am I suggesting that we should be soft on people who do hurtful things—intentionally or unintentionally—because of their prejudices. Quite the contrary; I believe it is necessary at times to be confrontational and speak from our righteous indignation. Yet, while the confrontation may help someone recognize the need to change, rarely is it successful in helping implement the change. Confrontation must be followed by empathy, and it is the empathy that generally empowers the change. For advocates and activists, the shift from confrontation to empathy is difficult, but an important part of the art of promoting social change.

Conclusion

Racism is complex. This is a primary reason why racism continues to thrive even though it is no longer considered socially acceptable.

Because racism is complex, any attempt to counter or overcome racism requires something more than simple or superficial solutions; it even requires something more than sophisticated logical arguments. Like most forms of deeper change, overcoming racism requires relationships. The relationships required to overcome racism are, in many ways, risky relationships. It is hard to open oneself up to someone who demonstrates racism. Yet, without compassion, concern, and empathy for racists, we will never succeed in the goal of eradicating racism.

Are you a Saybrook University alumna or faculty member who is interested in submitting a blog post for potential publication on UNBOUND? You may do so by submitting your finished piece or pitch on the right-hand side panel of UNBOUND pages.