I’m ready to rant. I suppose that my participation in the 60th Anniversary celebrations and commencement at the Adler School of Professional Psychology has crystallized my feelings about the current state of our nation and world. This will definitely be a TL;DR (“too long, didn’t read”) entry if you’re the type of person put off… Continue Reading The Stupidity of Selfishness

Today’s keynote speaker at the Adler School of Professional Psychology’s conference on urban mental health was Professor Sir Michael Marmot, a researcher at University College London who specializes in studying health inequities around the world. He made a number of excellent points. One of his points was that disparities in income and wealth have been… Continue Reading Professor Sir Michael Marmot at Local Conference on Urban Mental Health

While we’re enjoying a few days of relaxation in our favorite place, Door County, Wisconsin, we paid a visit to Ellison Bay Pottery and had an enjoyable chat with John Dietrich, who has been making pottery in Door County since the ’70’s (and has been at his studio with his soulmate Diane McNeil since the… Continue Reading The Courage to Be Imperfect: A Potter’s Tale

Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and Rep. Mike Quigley held a public hearing this evening in Chicago, on the current state of the Domenici-Wellstone Mental Health Parity and Substance Abuse Equity Act, which President Obama signed into law over two years ago.

Toward the end of Alfred Adler’s life, he published a book titled Social Interest – A Challenge for Mankind. About thirty years later, his colleague Rudolf Dreikurs published Social Equality: The Challenge of Today. It seems that mankind needs to be reminded of the importance of these two closely related concepts.

These days, it’s becoming more and more difficult to sort out what your personal values should be. This challenge, which psychologist Erik Erikson described in his “Identity versus role confusion” task, typically takes place when we’re about 14 to 17 years old, and usually involves moving from an identity based on group membership (e.g., the… Continue Reading Values – Custom Made or Off-the-shelf?

I appeciated an article in the New York Times this week, written by two researchers – one from the Harvard Business School – that reviewed a number of pieces of research and survey results about employee engagement and happiness at work. They found that employees who are more engaged – happier, but also participating actively in… Continue Reading Engaged Employees

I don’t ordinarily like to bring my political views into this blog, but there are some examples (like the Florida law that makes it illegal for a doctor to ask if there are guns in a house with young children) that seem to cross from politics into ethical dilemmas. This blog post on Mother Jones’… Continue Reading Suicide shouldn’t be politicized, but…

Another law that tries to force an extreme agenda at the expense of common sense According to a story that appeared on Yahoo! News today, the Florida legislature is preparing to pass a law – being pushed by the National Rifle Association – which goes far beyond the issue of gun rights. It strays dangerously… Continue Reading Common Sense Takes Another Hit

Economic decisions can trump ethical ones Today’s New York Times has a guest column by two management experts who have studied ethical decision-making in business. Their findings suggest that the line of reasoning that fines and penalties should deter unethical behavior is not borne out by research. Instead, these measures seemed to encourage irresponsibility because they… Continue Reading Psychology and Ethical Behavior