On the fourth of my trips to Adler’s Vancouver campus last fall, I came before the Canadian border officer, as I had each time before. I was ready for the questions about why I was coming to Canada, and gave the same explanation as previously – that I had been asked to teach a class… Continue Reading Let’s Try Saying “Americans” Instead of “America” – A Lesson from Canadians

McDonald’s has come under fire in recent weeks for a series of posts on an employee web portal (now deleted) which struck many people as insensitive at best and hypocritical at worst. The “tip sheets” included a health page from a university-based group of authors that cautioned readers to limit their consumption of fast foods. Other… Continue Reading Concern about Employees Means More than “Canned” Tips on a Website

I traveled to the Illinois State Capitol this week with a busload of faculty, staff, and students from Adler School of Professional Psychology, for a rally and march in support of SB 10, the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act, which passed the Illinois Senate earlier this year but did not pass in the Illinois… Continue Reading October 22, 2013 Rally for Illinois Marriage Equality

In the latest example of what are becoming all-too-frequent acts of unspeakable horror, homemade bombs killed three people and seriously wounded dozens more at the beloved Boston Marathon this week. The act itself seems to fit the definition of terrorism perfectly: an indiscriminate strike at ordinary, innocent people in a moment of national celebration, forever… Continue Reading A Tough Uncle: On “Being Losers”

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

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.

I have been talking this week to some individuals who are Facilitators and Advisors to SMART Recovery groups in Chicago, and have learned that more meetings are taking place than ever before. This is a positive development for people struggling with drug and alcohol dependence, and for the professionals who need self-help resources to provide… Continue Reading SMART Recovery expands Chicagoland meetings

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…

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