Dr. James Husen, Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Attorney, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

                   I've wanted to read the Big Book for some time now. It is the Bible of recovery for thousands perhaps millions of men and women since it was first published in 1939. This is from the fourth edition published in 2001. It is also the official version of Alcoholic's Anonymous: Preface Forward to the First Edition Forward to the Second Edition Forward to the Third Edition Forward to the Fourth Edition The Doctor's Opinion 1. Bill's Story 2. There is a Solution 3. More about Alcoholism 4. We Agnostics 5. How it Works 6. Into Action 7. Working with Others 8. To Wives 9. The Family Afterward 10. To Employers 11. A vision for You Part 1: Pioneers of A.A. Doctor Bob's Nightmare 1. Alcoholic Anonymous Number Three 2. Gratitude in Action 3. Women Suffer Too 4. Our Southern Friend 5. The Vicious Cycle 6. Jim's Story 7. The Man Who Mastered Fear 8. He Sold Himself Short 9. The Keys to the Kingdom Part II: They Stopped in Time 1. Th...

I'm reading William James' Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature . The book was written in 1902. This version from Routledge was published as a Centenary (celebrating it's 100th anniversary) with an introduction from William James' grandson and to Prefatory commentaries by two James Scholars. As with my other readings, I'll read the text and from time to time comment thereon. Enjoy this fascinating, seminal, and mind-expanding book: 1.    Introduction 2.    Mickey James' Forward 3.     E. Taylor's Introduction to VRE 4.    J. Carrette's Introduction to VRE, Neuroscience's Amnesia 5.    William James' 1902 Preface to VRE 6.    Lecture I, Religion and Neurology 7.    Lecture II, Circumscription of the Topic 8.    Lecture III, The Reality of the Unseen 9.    Lectures IV and V, The Religion of the Healthy Minded 10.  Lectures VI and VII, The Sick Soul 11.  Lecture VI...

Ever wondered how life began? Was there a "primordial soup"? Here I read from a leading Biology Textbook, Brooker on Biology 4.1 in answer to that question. The origin of cellular life on earth .

 Dr. Husen reads:  Finkel, E. J. (2019). Complementing the sculpting metaphor: Reflections on how  relationship partners elicit the best or the worst in each other. Review of General  Psychology, 23 , 127–132 “To the extent that we adopt the “love is a collaborative work” of art metaphor rather than one of the conventional metaphors, we think about love in a fundamentally different way. For example, whereas the “love as a physical force” and the “love is madness” metaphors cast lovers in a passive role in which they are subject to physical or psychological forces beyond their control, the “love is a collaborative work of art” metaphor casts lovers in an active role in which they are part of a deliberate, shared effort to create a unique work of beauty. In doing so, the new metaphor does what all metaphors do—it highlights some features while obscuring others, influencing how we think, feel, and behave. A partner who is a good fit (and a potential marriage partner) fr...

Dr. Husen reads from Goffman's 1959 classic on the subject and the chapter on " performance " Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life . New York: Anchor  Books “When an individual plays a part, he implicitly requests his observers to take seriously the impression that is fostered before them. They are asked to believe that the character they see actually possesses the attributes he appears to possess, that the task he performs will have the consequences that are implicitly claimed for it, and that, in general, matters are what they appear to be. In line with this, there is the popular view that the individual offers his performance and puts on his show “for the benefit of other people.” (p. 17) “To the degree that a performance highlights the common official values of the society in which it occurs, we may look upon it … as a ceremony-- as an expressive rejuvenation and reaffirmation of the moral values of the community. Furthermore, insofar as the e...

 Dr. Husen reads and thinks his way through  Novikoff, A. B. (1945). The concept of integrative levels and biology.  Science ,  101 (2618), 209-215. This is a seminal article, written in 1945 at the end of WWII, about the concept of emergence and the importance of understanding the concept of integrative levels of analysis. He also clarifies why vitalism (the idea that there's a vital spirt in matter accounting for life), teleologisms, anthropomorphism, and organicism all fail completely because of a failure to understanding the distinction between different integrative levels of life particularly for the human. Why is it that in the 35 million years of data on insects there has been no innovation or change in their social structure / culture? Why, he says, when you compare out 6 to 8 thousand years of known history there has been enormous change. The key to understanding such phenomena is our culture--i.e. Humans unlike other animals pass on our knowledge and techno...

 Dr. Husen reads from  Fredrickson, B. L. (2016). Love: Positivity resonance as a fresh, evidence-based perspective on an age-old topic . In L. F. Barrett, M. Lewis, & J. M. Haviland-Jones (Eds.),  Handbook of emotions,  (4th ed., pp. 847-858). New York: The Guilford Press at p. 852 She wrote: Core elements of love-the-emotion include: 1. “ Shared positive emotion ”; 2. “ Mutual care ”; and, 3. “Biobehavioral synchrony.”