I used to keep an active blog on Psychology Today. In the near future, I'm going to start a new blog here, focused on understanding psychological issues across the spectrum of human functioning, from abnormality to excellence. Thanks for your patience!!
Here are some of my old blog posts if you are interested:
Psychology Today Blog
What is the role of science in directing psychotherapy practice?
Is there a Mackenzie Phillips-sized family secret lurking in the heart of psychology?
In an inflammatory new opinion piece for Newsweek, Sharon Begley says, 'Hell yeah!' - "It's a good thing couches are too heavy to throw, because the fight brewing among therapists is getting ugly. For years, psychologists who conduct research have lamented what they see as an antiscience bias among clinicians, who treat patients. But now the gloves have come off."
I for one have begun pumping iron to improve my couch-hurling abilities in preparation for the upcoming sofa melee!
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Parenthood and the Intentional Life
With kids heading back to school, parents can be stretched thin. So it's time to get back to the basics with three strategies for better parenting.
True Wisdom, according to Socrates, comes from embracing the realization that there is much we don't know, and that we will always need to seek knowledge of the most important of these.
My kids show me this all the time
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Living Longer. And Better.
The famous mystery writer, Agatha Christie, once said something about later life that remains true today:
"I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming that comes when you finish the life of the emotions and of personal relations; and suddenly find - at the age of fifty, say - that a whole new life has opened before you, filled with things you can think about, study, or read about...It is as if a fresh sap of ideas and thoughts was rising in you."
Of course, Agatha Christie only lived to be 86, so what does she know?!?
Recent research suggests she may have been onto something.
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Meaningful WorkA well-known story relates the following encounter (adapted from Ryan, 1977):
Three men are found smashing boulders with iron hammers. When asked what they are doing, the first man says, "Breaking big rocks into little rocks." The second man says, "Feeding my family." The third man says, "Building a cathedral."
Today's column focuses on the third man, the one who saw each hammer blow as contributing to the construction of a cathedral, a home for human dreams and sacred aspirations. To many of us who study and consult in occupational and organizational contexts, we would call what this third man does meaningful work.
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