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The Story of Joseph and Pugil: A retelling of Hermann Hesse's Magister Ludi

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Around 300 CE in the deserts of Egypt there were spiritual healers living ascetic lives. I want to introduce you to Joseph an eremitic monk who lived alone in the desert where the “sun seared and parched him. He scraped his knees on rock and sand as he prayed. He waited, fasting, for the sun to set before he chewed a few dates” for dinner (Hesse, 1969, p. 301). He prayed and struggled with temptations and spiritual battles for years and in the “fervor” of Joseph’s life and devotion a “gift of listening” developed and blossomed “as his hair began to gray” (Hesse, 1969, p. 301). “Whenever a brother … came to Joseph and told him of his deeds, sufferings, temptations, and missteps” Joseph would listen and take the man’s suffering within his own bosom and dissipate it. Joseph was more than a decade younger than another famous eremitic monk who had also developed a gift of healing through years of discipline and devotion. The other healer’s name was Pugil and “[Pugil] was celebrated for bein
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Jack Reacher, Military Communication, and Human Development

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Jack Reacher, Military Communication, and Human Development Having been in the Navy for over 7 years beginning my 18 th birthday to age 25 I thoroughly enjoy Le Child and his fellow screen writers’ dialogue between the characters. The script captures the camaraderie, clear communication, commitment to the mission, loyalty, pride, and witty repartee characteristic of military service and relationships I both loved and hated at the same time in my early adulthood. In Reacher, Season 2, Episode 5, Burial , which came out yesterday (12/29/23) Jack Reacher (played by Alan Ritchson) and David O’Donnell (played by Shaun Sipos) are at O’Donnell’s home packing while O’Donnell’s wife, Lily O’Donnell (played by Andrea Grant) packs for herself and the kids. The idea is that O’Donnell’s family would go out of town as “tourist” in another state and stay out of harm’s way as Reacher and O’Donnell embark a dangerous mission pursuing dangerous people. Lily is notably cool under the pressure. Reach
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Family Code 6320 and Domestic Violence / Intimate Partner Violence Through Unique Means

  I’ve been participating in the Child Custody Evaluator Annual DV / IPV update with Dr. Love today: Family Code 6320 now has new categories of disturbing the peace / coercive control over various types but also Pet Abuse, Technology Facilitated Abuse and Reproductive Coercion—see the language at Family Code 6320 in the link below: Family Code 6320 Here’s a couple of new terms for you: Stealthing: “wen a partner secretly removes a condom during sex without the other person’s consent”; Fraping: “unauthorized alteration of information on a person's online social media profile by another person.”
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Attachment Trauma in Divorce

Childhood sexual abuse can in some cases particularly disorganize the growing child’s attachment system resulting in among other things for some, an ability to lie about other caregivers. In the link below I explore this observation in my practice as an attorney and now as a psychologist. In saying that, I do not mean to minimize in any way the harm caused to the child or the importance of protecting such children from further harm. The link below will take you to a paper I wrote about 9 years ago but still think it pretty good where I offer some ideas that I explored back in 2013 as an attorney working with families back then. Husen, J. (2013). Attachment trauma in divorce: Recommendations for judges, lawyers, and child custody evaluators. Paper researched and written for Bereavement Counseling with M. Woodruff Johnson, Psy.D.
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Self-Discrepancy Theory and Human Motivation

 I read Higgin's 1998 article entitled  Promotion and prevention: Regulatory focus as a motivational principle. The link to that reading is here . The link to the article itself is here .  Higgin's contributes to Motivational research by pointing out an important distinction accounting for the mixed results associated with the classic Motivational equation--i.e. that X Motivation = Expectancy of success x the Value of the goal to the person.  Worth the read as it will add your understanding of the pleasure vs. pain polarity underlying this key feature of human motivation--i.e. promotion of gain (seeking / approaching pleasure) and/or the prevention of loss (avoidance / pain / risk of harm reduction).  This line of research is consilient with attachment theory's emphasis on the regulatory features of different styles of attachment--i.e. secure flexible, anxiety underregulated, avoidant over regulated and disorganized as dysregulated. See for example  Calkins, S. D., & Le
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The Self and Psychopathology: Dr. James Husen reads from Kyrios et al.'s book

  I think the consensus among psychologists that the self is essential to regulation of emotion. Furthermore, regulation of emotion has emerged as a general factors in most of the psychological disorders detailed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2013). We are calling this the p factor. 1. Chapter 1, The Self in Psychological Disorders: An Introduction 2. Chapter 2, 
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Shame and Guilt in Neurosis: Dr. Husen reads H. B. Lewis' seminal article

  Generally speaking, guilt tends to be helpful and leads to personal growth and positive change. This is because "in guilt, the self is negatively evaluated in connection with something, but is not itself the focus of the experience." When it comes to shame; however, shame tends to be about one's identity. (Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. Psychoanalytic Review, 58(3), 419-438) I read the entire article for your edification at the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jtb0nzkz0l3kuph/Lewis%2C%201971%2C%20Shame%20and%20Guilt.mp4?dl=0 Lewis, H. B. (1971). Shame and guilt in neurosis. Psychoanalytic Review, 58(3), 419-438 For your read the article yourself click the following Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3xsgnccm0kkkprv/Helen%20Lewis_%20Shame%20and%20Guilt%20in%20Neurosis_.pdf?dl=0 I do notice that a lot of the research on Shame and Guilt took place in the late seventies and early eighties. I haven't been seeing much in the literature these days
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