Contemplating Joseph and the temptation to “happily ever after” other people’s suffering

Have been reading the story of Joseph to the kids before bed and this jumped out at me: the lingering pain he felt long after he was number 2 in command in Egypt. Notice the difference between the Sunday School version and the actual biblical story:

Me time? Why are men inclined to distrust their women?

These thoughts came to me while listening to a song on radio on the way from class last night. Bear with me, it takes a bit for me to get to the point. Oh, and don’t miss my little swipe at Maslow at the very bottom.
Last night I was teaching on sex dysfunctions and therapy. [...]

Science Monday: Treatment for body image problems?

One of the key hallmarks of those suffering with eating disorders is their tendency to define their self-worth primarily by body shape/weight or should I say by their perception of their body shape/weight as this group tends to overestimate their size and shape.
What treatments help a person to regain a realistic sense of body shape [...]

Caffeine isn’t addictive?

Millions of individuals consume multiple cups of caffeine each and every day. Thank you Starbucks and it 6,000 stores worldwide. Despite the fact that most of us drink more than we should (to get the kick we used to get from less) and suffer from withdrawal headaches and irritability when we stop, some researchers believe [...]

If you’re reading this…you might be addicted to the Internet

How much time are you spending on-line these days? Do you try to cut down? Feel guilty because you neglect your real responsibilities at work or home? Do you feel the need to follow that link on the page you have in front of you? While not defined in an official way yet, some are suggesting the [...]

Ponder the effects of hidden sin

Consider Zophar’s description of how a secret sin turns sour in the stomach. While Zophar’s speech making and judgement against Job was completely out of place and later rebuked by God [note: a warning to us counselors that we can be completely right about something and yet deliver the wrong message to the wrong person. Scary!], his description [...]

What is your pattern of addiction?

Everyone, everywhere has had struggles with being enslaved to something (a thing, idea, habit, etc.). One of the first steps to doing violence to such a problem is to understand the pattern in your life. When we first become aware that something has us, grips us, we often are not fully aware of how we [...]

Science Monday: is the APA afraid of internet porn?

This week my students are exploring the world of addiction. In prep for class, I did a little search on PsychARTICLES regarding Internet over-usage/addiction and pornography usage. PsychARTICLES contains a full-text database of 60 APA peer-reviewed journals from the 1870s to the present. As of February 2007, it contained 121,000 articles. Here’s what I found. NOTHING. [...]

Black History Fact 2

Here’s a fact I found on www.blackamericaweb.com. We’ve come a long way in the last 41 years. And yet not nearly far enough. Why do I say not far enough? Notice the overreaching of Tucker Carlsonto try to disparage Obama’s church connection. He attacks Obama’s church for its racially exclusive theology (which is clear they [...]

Ponder this view of what changes people

“It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting.”
Attributed to Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity by this site.
Isn’t this true when we consider how we do violence to anxious, depressed and angry ruts in our lives?