Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
May, 2018
A Sad But Amusing Situation
Fields of Specialization in psychology or medicine or anything need to struggle to gain recognition and status, but what happens when some of the more active aspirants are “upstarts” who challenge the “establishment”? I was one who, because of my persistence, obtained status from some people—but not in the eyes of everyone! I see this […]
Posted in Action Explorations, Autobiographical, Psychology, Whassup? | No Comments »
Change “Psychodrama” to “Action Explorations”
Now that I thought about it for a long time, I suggest that we change the name of what we do from psychodrama to action explorations. The reasons are these: 1. The word “psychodrama”—or, indeed, any word with “psycho” in it, brings up associations to psychotic, psychoneurotic, psychopathic, psychological, “psycho,” psychoanalytic, intrusive, and redolent […]
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"Other than That, He’s Perfectly Normal”
This line from a skit in the mid-1970s done by the British comedy troupe, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which was on public television at the time. The line would address the fallacy of normality —there are so many variables that no one could ever be “normal” —but rather everyone copes with the institutional requirements, and […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Foolin Around, Spirituality and Philosophy | No Comments »
Near-Normal
This is a category I just realized describes me. There was a funny skit on the old (mid-1970s) television show, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” with the punch line for an actor who freaked out if one said “mattress” in his presence. His supervisor explained: "Other than that, he’s perfectly normal." I have adopted this sentence […]
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Life is Very Multi-Complex
There are so many things to do, so many roles to play: Going to the toilet has many sub-roles, depending on whether you’re a man or a woman, depending on whether you’re constipated or have diarrhea, on the quality of the plumbing and the warmth of the toilet, on whether the toilet is in the […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Foolin Around, Mind-Spectrums, Psychological Literacy | No Comments »
Enhanced Simulations
I’ve been that rare breed of psychiatrist who did psychotherapy, but I’m growing away from that role. As I’ve done so, it recently became more clear to me that psychotherapy is really a lesser application of a broad field that I call "Enhanced Simulations"—although I may not put that phrase in the title of my […]
Posted in Action Explorations, Play and Spontaneity, Psychodrama | No Comments »
Psychological Literacy
Twenty years ago as part of my teaching at the Senior University Georgetown I gave lectures on “Psychological Literacy.” It seemed to me that it’s time to push for psychology to be taught in school as a primary topic. I looked over the names of the theories and theoreticians, and so much may be remembered […]
Posted in Psychological Literacy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments »