We look upon nature—bees building and sustaining their hives, bats eating fruit and reseeding forests, worms aerating the earth, birds performing a colorful mating dance—and marvel at the beauty, power, and intelligence in the diversity of nature down to its smallest details. It is as if, in the words of poet William Butler Yeats, “every thing we look upon is blest.” The awe the natural … Read Full Entry
We express our natures and aliveness in myriad ways, yet they are often wrapped in culturally acceptable forms and limited by our capacities, degree of courage, and knowledge of ourselves. While these limits can be like the cement we walk upon fostering community and the easy flow of commerce, they can also take the form of unfulfilling jobs, beliefs that cramp and cripple us, or … Read Full Entry
An episode of the Dr. Phil show provided a good example of how mainstream psychology uses moralistic principles and cultural stereotypes to counsel a person about their sexuality. The show had two guests: a woman in her fifties, who had been married for many years until her husband passed away, and her son, who was in his mid-twenties. The woman had dated several men in … Read Full Entry
In mainstream culture, there are many assumptions about how men and women should behave in relationship with each other. These assumptions lead to patterns of behavior and create standards that encourage or discourage the expression of particular feelings. I call these patterns and standards “traditional gender roles.” Mainstream psychology tends to reinforce these assumptions, standards, and roles. Perhaps no one has articulated assumptions about traditional … Read Full Entry
Millions of people look in the mirror or step on the bathroom scale and decide they want to lose weight, especially if they are anticipating an event that might lead to public criticism of their body size, like the brides in an episode of the Dr. Phil show. And billions of dollars are spent, along with countless lives haunted, trying to answer the question of … Read Full Entry