Gender, Confidence & Conformity - What’s the Connection?
In their 2017 research about the intersection of gender, confidence, and conformity, Cross et al state that “confidence is implicated as a strong predictor of susceptibility to social influence, and wherever there is evidence for a sex difference in confidence, an indirect effect of sex on social influence via confidence is likely” (Cross et al, 2017).
Making Meaning with Logotherapy
Frankl wrote Man’s Search for Meaning in nine days following his release from a concentration camp in 1945. More importantly, he developed a therapeutic approach that continues to be used in clinical practice today.
Intolerance of Uncertainty & Faith -The Implications of Religiosity on Mental Health
The psychological concept of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is related to how religion impacts mental health.
The Neuroscience of Religious Extremism
Religious extremism results from a rigid worldview that can entrap the mind. The question is: How can we escape the happy prison of the brain?
Godly Sadness - Biological Correlates of Spirituality & Depression
What is the biological correlation between depression and spirituality? And what is the connection between post-traumatic growth and spirituality?
Thomas Szasz & Toxic Theology
The late American psychiatrist Thomas Szasz is a polarizing character. People either love his theories, or they place the entire blame for the current mental health crisis in America on his shoulders.
The Congruence of Carl R. Rogers
We can easily spot a genuine person. But, if a person is not genuine, it’s to precisely define the quality, let alone provide a framework to help the individual manifest it. This is where Carl Rogers comes in, the father of person-centered psychotherapy, and his theory of congruence.
Psychology & Philosophy - Differing Approaches in the Quest for Human Understanding
Both psychology and philosophy center on contemplative topics including the nature of human beings, how they think and act, and how they acquire knowledge and wisdom. Because of this topical overlap, the question arises: How are these two fields of study differentiated?
Deconstructing the Gender Binary – Implications from Taoist & Buddhist Philosophy
For those who do not have regular contact with non-binary individuals, the very idea of questioning or deconstructing gender identity is something that they may have never considered. This is, no doubt, particularly the case for Americans raised in fundamentalist religious communities based on the Abrahamic faiths
An Open Letter to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses
My words may sting like a locust strike (Revelation 9:5), but the fact that I have not held back from publishing the criticisms in A Voice from Inside is evidence of my continued belief in the potential of your human kindness and courage.
Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy - New Remedies for Treatment-Resistant Mental Illness
Psychiatry is broken. Diagnoses of mental illness are increasing as the number of new psychiatric interventions decrease. A new framework leverages the healing properties of psilocybin for individuals with treatment-resistant mental illness.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) - Does it really exist?
Skeptics call Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) a medical fad from the 80s. Recent YouTube drama has reignited criticism. However, clinical and neurobiological evidence points to its validity as an extreme response to trauma.
Meditation for Bipolar Disorder - Does It Work?
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MSBR) and meditation have gone mainstream in recent years. But can these practices be helpful in the treatment of a condition as complex as Bipolar Disorder II?
“Heavens Gate: Cult of Cults” - A Jehovah’s Witness Viewer Response
I used to avoid documentaries about cult-like groups. But as a newly awakening Physically-In-Mentally-Out (PIMO) JW, I gobbled up HBO’s 4-episode documentary in one blissfully bingeful Sunday afternoon.
“A Captive Organization” - The Life of a PIMO Jehovah’s Witness
Because of my upbringing and active membership as one of JWs, the dialogue between Mr. Stewart and Geoffrey Jackson (made available on YouTube) was my first exposure to this unique identifier of WTS. Stewart’s use of “captive organization” was fresh and arresting, bypassing the well-oiled psychological defenses and synaptic potentiation of my cultural theology.
Frankly, it set me back.
1914 & Betrayal — Understanding Religious Trauma Syndrome in Jehovah’s Witnesses
Anger, rage, and enormous betrayal are common experiences for a Jehovah's Witnesses suffering from Religious Trauma Syndrome
The Triple-Facetted Stigma of LGBTQ+ Jehovah’s Witnesses
The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book A Voice From Inside - Notes On Religious Trauma In a Captive Organization regarding the sexual repression of LGBTQ Jehovah's Witnesses.
What Makes Someone Religious? — An Analysis of Recent Research in Religiosity & Personality
Is there correlation between the Big Five personality traits and religiosity? The answer is not so simple.
How Analyzing ISIS’s Recruitment Tactics Helped Liberate Me from Psychological Captivity
As my cognition bifurcated away from the infantile spiritual fantasies of my religious upbringing, I saw more and more connections between the culture and theology of Jehovah’s Witnesses and that of my Muslim neighbors
The Bifurcation of Thought — Darwin, Csikszentmihalyi, & Lao Tzu
Bifurcation of thought as a reparative journey for the conditioned mind.