Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Golden Mean

This is what I have been thinking about lately. The golden mean is a concept from Aristotle where the most ethical decision is the most central one. If a group is trying to make a decision and they have opposing viewpoints, the golden mean is the central decision, or the compromise--the answer that will be best for everyone. Individuals can be ethical in one realm but if they go to an extreme in that realm, ignoring their other duties it becomes unethical.
The United States government was set up in conformity to the Golden Mean. Our Founding Fathers disagreed with one another about every point of government but they agreed on one thing: that conflict and compromise, however a lengthy process was the best way for a democracy to be run. The two-party system should work through conflict and compromise, and possibly slow progress to make decisions.
My only concern about the world today is that through the Internet and media, people can surround themselves with only others who agree with them, demonizing and definitely not listening to their opponents. Perhaps, I think, we actually need opposing viewpoints to maintain a civil society.
The concept of the Golden Mean also applies to personal realms, like marriages and relationships. Men and women are so very different from each other sometimes, that we can try to give the opposite sex what we think they need based on what we need, but it is not what they need. But yet, when we compromise, we are able to form a whole like yin and yang. My dad once told me (and I hope you don't mind my sharing this) that he and my mom have made their bed together every morning throughout their marriage. It represents to my dad how the tension of opposites, equally pulling, creates a good marriage.
The Golden Mean relates to a type of therapy I have been learning about in school called DBT, (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). Dialectics is the tension of opposites, and the ability to live with ambiguity. If someone has a hard time managing their emotions, like for instance, maybe they have a simultaneous desire to scream at everybody and hide under their beds. Neither option is a good idea, so DBT helps them to find the middle ground between two extremes.
Maybe this is why I have been thinking about this. Sometimes I have the urge to talk impulsively, and in order to not talk impulsively, I think I should not talk at all, but then I start to feel isolated and misunderstood, so I have to go back to talking impulsively. I am trying to learn how to share my thoughts non-impulsively, to wait before I say it, to think about it longer. It's hard to wait, but it is better because I can share my thoughts, but then I don't regret them.
The Golden Mean reminds me of the parachute game we did in elementary school gym. Everyone holds on to the parachute and then everyone lets go at once, and runs into the middle. The middle is the compromise--it is the Golden Mean.
"We dance around in a ring and suppose while the secret sits in the middle and knows." Robert Frost

Friday, February 26, 2010

The DSM IV

OK, I am really nerdy, but I was very excited to take my Diagnostic class and get my very own glossy DSM IV (The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). For the most part, I have heard of every psychological disorder in the book, and I have had a kind of database in the back of my head for the criteria for different mental disorders. It's been kind of like a hobby for me. I should have gone into counseling years ago, I guess.

I was telling my coworker about the DSM IV and he says it is like a spell book. I think it kind of is like that. You can know all of the psychological disorders but you have to have expertise to use it correctly and not cause damage. I am still like Harry Potter or the sorcerer's apprentice with the DSM, because I don't have the expertise to go around diagnosing personality disorders, pronouncing spells upon my enemies.

I think the DSM can be very powerful, especially with the changes between editions. For instance, in the DSM III, homosexuality was considered a mental illness and in the DSM IV, it is not. This shows that what our society considers normal vs abnormal changes, and what we decide is normal, can have vast implications for people.

It is debatable whether diagnosis helps or hinders. For instance, a diagnosis can be hurtful, labeling someone as "crazy" in ways that can impact that person's life. Maybe they will live up to the label. On the other hand, a diagnosis can be beneficial. If someone has been living with a problem for a long time, and has been blamed or called lazy or selfish or devious, when in reality it was a mental disorder, so diagnosis is a relief. A diagnosis can lead to proper treatment of distressing problems.

The Western model of mental health is medical. Psychological disorders are called "illnesses" using the same terminology as physical ailments. I tend to agree with the medical model of mental health which is probably why I am so excited about diagnosis.

I'm kind of bummed to see that the DSM V is coming out in 2012, the year I graduate, so I'll have to relearn everything, but it is interesting to see the changes they are coming out with. I, like the sorcerer's apprentice anticipate using the spell book with expertise, to help people without abusing its political and personal power.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Requiem W.A. Mozart

Ok, so its not technically a book, but I want to review it because it's so inspiring.



I have decided to try operant conditioning to make my life better. I buy myself things I want but have no reason to buy as a reward for overcoming one of my flaws for a specified period of time (like a month, or 10 days in a row, etc.) I wanted to stop getting parking tickets (and late fees) so I decided if I could go a month without getting a parking ticket (its actually hard where I work) I would buy myself a CD. For reaching my goal during the month of September I bought myself Mozart's Requiem. I sang it in a choir a few years ago and I loved it.



A requiem is a Catholic mass for the dead, that has become its genre in choral music. A requiem follows the Latin lyrics under these titles:Requium, Kyrie, Sequentia, Offertorium, Sanctus, Benidictus, Agnus Dei, Communion, etc.



I like the Seqentia part, where the painful feelings about life, sin and death reach a catharsis. The music leads you into the very jaws of Hell, "Confutatis malidictis flammis acribus addictis..." (when the accursed have been confounded and given over to the bitter flames)

but then you are led to safety in arms of God, "Voca me cum benidictis....Gere curam mei finis." (Call me with the blessed...safeguard my fate.)



I also like the Agnus Dei "Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem" (Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, grant them rest.)



But even if you don't understand the words at all, the music is powerful enough to convey the message. The music is so beautiful when you are listening to it that for a moment you find yourself reaching for perfection, and touching perfection lightly with your fingertips.



The story of a requiem is one of facing the reality of death and sin, pleading with God for mercy, feeling the fears and pains of the world, looking to God, remembering God's promises to us, praising God, attaining the mercy of the Savior, and rejoicing that God has rescued us from death, sin, and fear.



When I listen to a new piece of music, I get really into it and listen to it over and over until it seeps into me. Because of some of the choral music I've sung, sometimes phrases come to my mind in Latin. Agnus Dei..Dona eis requiem.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

A Change of Venue

I've decided that this blog will be more about my experiences in graduate school and less about book reviews. I will try to keep it interesting anyway.
I am attending the University of Phoenix Masters of Mental Health Counseling program.
The last class I took was the portfolio class that is how they do the admissions process. If you pass the class you get into the program. It think having a portfolio class was a good idea because now that I have passed the class I have a lot more confidence in my ability to be a graduate student, and it also helped me to get a feel for how it works.
Before each week of class we have to read about 300 pages from the textbook and journal articles. It is so great, I love it. The material is so interesting and I am finally in a situation where I can share my thoughts about what I read without people getting bored or telling me to go away.
The class I'm taking is about family and human development. This week we learned about genetics, childbirth, infancy and attachment.
Teen girls who get pregnant often get pregnant not because they are unaware of the risks but because they are confused about attachment. They don't have the feeling of attachment with parents or other adults, so they look for it in boys. They get sexual attachment confused with parental attachment and look for it in the wrong places.
Infant development is on a continuum and there is a bell curve of normalcy. The average age for infants to start walking is one year old, but that is within a range of normalcy. I commented in class (because it was the best example) that my sister started walking at 9 months (or maybe 10) and I started walking at 15 months but that we are both within a normal range. I said that it was because we had different temperaments as babies. But then people in the class commented that maybe the difference was in birth order (which is probably true because I'm the youngest and I didn't have to walk because my siblings carried me all the time)
My professor said maybe your sister had a bigger cerebellum
My sister and I were both born in February. Maybe it was because my sister learned to walk in salt lake city and she could play outside in November. I learned to walk in Wisconsin. Winter is really cold there. Maybe I didn't walk until 15 months because I was too cold and wanted to wait until spring.
That's whats so interesting about psychology. You can study a common trend but within that trend each individual is different for many reasons. There are so many factors that make up an individual: nurture, and nature. And about free will, intelligence, resiliency, interventions, even things like nutrition, outside environment, medications, choices of other people, or public policy?People are so very cool.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

in a different voice

by Carol Gilligan.

When I got this book I was very enthusiastic about it because it had been cited in several other media I was interested in. It was cited in Eve and the Choice Made in Eden, which I also wrote about in my blog. They also discussed in a different voice on one of the episodes of the college courses they have on channel 9, Ethics and Values.

In this book, Gilligan revisited some studies about moral reasoning and development in children at the age of 11 and then age 15. In the study the children were asked the question called Heinz's dilemma where there is a man whose wife is sick needs a particular medicine or she will die. The medicine costs $2000.00 but Heinz has only has $1000.00. Should he steal the drug? The boys in the study usually answered either yes, he should steal the drug, or no he shouldn't steal it. The girls usually went around the question and came up with different solutions such as having fund raisers or lobbying the government etc. The girls thought about the relationship between the man and his wife. If he steals the drug and she doesn't die then if he goes to prison he will not be able to take care of her.

When the study was interpreted, the boys were seen as having higher moral reasoning than the girls because the answered the question posed: yes or no, and here's why. The girls appeared not to know what they thought because they didn't answer the question directly but went outside of the perameters.

Gilligan's reinterpretation of the study was that the girls had a different moral reasoning style than the boys. The boys think in more black and white moral terms, while the girls think in terms of relationships, negotiating what brings the greatest good to the most people.

Another study that Gilligan conducted involved asking the children questions about themselves, how they reason, and how they see themselves in the world. The boys' language was more hierarchical and autonomous and the girls' language reflected connectedness and relationships.
In another study the participant is to look at a picture and write the story they think it portrays. The men described the pictures with a person alone or in competition as positive and the pictures with connected people as violent and threatening. The women described the pictures with the person alone or in competition as violent and threatening, and the pictures with connected people as positive.

She concluded through these studies that men relate to the world in a hierarchical manner, while women relate to the world in an interconnected web-like manner.
I think in general this is true, however, I wanted to see this study done in a more scientific manne. She used mostly case studies to illustrate her point and I would have liked to see a larger sample size.

I loved the first three and the last two chapters of the book but I didn't like the middle as much because I am pro-life and she did studies what led women to come to the decision to have an abortion. A less controversial issue would have been a better way to prove the point about how women make important decisions. However, it seemed to me that, like the studies above, the women made decisions based upon relationships. The ones that decided to go through with the abortion had no support from their parents, boyfriends, or counselors to discuss their options. They felt cornered because of the relationships that had failed them. So I think a pro-life activist would get better results from treating abortion as a social problem rather than a moral failing, and offering these young women more support for them and their babies.

I am glad I read this book because of its insights about the difference between the moral reasoning and values of men and women.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

I'm still here!

I have not written in my blog for a long time because I have been busy trying to get into graduate school. I want to attend the University of Phoenix Mental Health Counseling program. The admissions process involves taking a 6-week portfolio course and if you pass the class they let you into the graduate program. In two more weeks I will know.


I have read a few interesting books lately. I re-read The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger institute because it was what I chose for my ward's book club, and I was the reviewer. I had a different perspective on it the second time because I am responsible for more people now because I teach Sunday school children and I want to be a therapist.


I was very eager to find the book, in a different voice by Carol Gilligan. It wasn't in the library! Why? It is such an important book! Anyway I had received a gift card for Christmas so I bought it at Barnes and Noble. I rarely buy books so it is a big deal. But since I own the book, I still haven't finished it. It is a book that revisits studies on human development that had previously focused on men and excluded or downplayed development of women. It points out the difference between men and women in development, moral reasoning, and decision-making processes. I want to study this further in school some day--maybe expand the study.


What else have I read? Hmm... I don't know.


Anyway, not to get all sentimental, since I haven't officially gotten into the program, but I am glad I have made the decision to read a book every week after I graduated from college. Let's see--that was 6 years ago when I graduated--times 52 weeks, that's more than 300 books. I just want to say that I was definitely not ready to go to graduate school back then, I think I am now. I hope, anyway. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

The third Chapter: Passion Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After Fifty

By Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot.

I became interested in this book because the author was interviewed on the Diane Ream Show on NPR. A lot of people called in and talked about all of the great things they were doing during their 3rd chapter of life.
By writing this book Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, wanted to dispel some of the misconceptions about the generation currently in their 3rd chapter. Perhaps we are thinking that the years between retirement and death should be spent quietly, and protected from stress, on the golf course, remembering the past. But she gives examples of people who learn new things, and achieve their life-long dreams after retirement.
Some learn new skills, such as art, music or business-- things they had always longed to do but didn't have the opportunity or the patience until their later years. Others leave careers to become activists for causes they had always believed in, or perfect the abilities they were unable to improve before.
Unfortunately, only those lucky enough to have financial stability, support from others and spacecan achieve their life-long dreams in the 3rd chapter. Lawrence-Lightfoot emphasizes the need in society to offer more respect and admiration to those who are aging but not yet old. People in the 3rd have more time, expertise and wisdom, to bring great benefits to society, and satisfaction to themselves in a new season of learning and growth.