Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Beyond Psychotherapy
As mentioned in the paper (also posted on this website) titled ‘Shrink’ or ‘Expander,’ the field of psychotherapy has emerged and gone through at least two phases: In the first phase, the model of dis-ease and healing involved opening to the powers of the unconscious mind. Such practitioners imagined themselves as expanding the options available to people […]
Posted in Psychotherapy and Psychiatry | No Comments
“Shrink” Or “Expander”: Re-Evaluating The Psychotherapist’s Role
This is the first of two related papers I’m posting on this website. I welcome your feedback. (With your feedback, I can always change my wording or insert your comments.) This paper notes how psychotherapists came to be called “shrinks;” how this term in some ways is a little bit true; and how in some […]
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The Power of Subjective Attitudes
Responding to a NY Times article about science and discovery in December, 2009, the article speaks about how our consciousness continues to grow as we discover new horizons in astronomy, sub-atomic physics, and so forth. This brings up an interesting epistemological issue! (Epistemology is that branch of philosophy that asks, “How do we know what […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Entitlements: An Invitation to “Get Real”
America is going through an interesting developmental phase, akin to the early teen years. The era of the cost of living being cheap and easy is drawing to a close, because (1) natural resources are less plentiful and cheap; (2) the expectations of the people have gone up significantly; (3) services (especially health) are more […]
Posted in Current Events, History | 1 Comment
Ambiguous Decisions
Sometimes I’m rather unsure as to which position to take. There are good arguments on both sides of so many things. (Indeed, on my webpage on ethics I list over 30 current policy issues that I haven’t come to any conclusion.) Someone suggested I join some of the social media, such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, […]
Posted in Psychological Literacy, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | 1 Comment
Reflections on Hating
Hating is a mixed bag. Sometimes it can even be experienced as fun, or mixed with humor. Usually, though, it vaguely hurts the heart. The illusion is that it may seem better to hate than to feel powerless, to feel as if one is a victim, or even vulnerable to being victimized (or that those […]
Posted in Psychological Literacy, Wisdom-ing | 3 Comments
Considering the “Imaginosphere”
I use this term to name the category not of ordinary thought, problem-solving, or linear communication, but rather of those types of thinking, intuition, imagination (including aspects of music and other senses) that transcend the kind of thinking that is required for most mundane tasks. This realm is far vaster, including myths, stories, poetry, nonsense, […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments
Why My Mother Threw Out My Comic Books (Part 1 of 3 Webages)
Re-Posted November 18, 2009 (This is based on a talk given on 6/12/09 to the summer session of the Senior University Georgetown.) This presentation will involve three parts: First, a brief history of comic books from their origins to the late 1940s. Part 2 will focus on the rise and fall of the EC comics, triggered in […]
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Re-Thinking “Philosophy”
My dear wife Allee said that everyone had a philosophy of life, either implicit or explicit. I disagreed, saying that the word was appropriate only when there was some effort to rationally coordinate the different elements (to draw a phrase from Whitehead near the end of his book, Modes of Thought). I’ve come to see […]
Posted in Psychological Literacy, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments