Saving Ourselves?: Why You Should Care About Saybrook University

EDIT: 9/22/2016: Still haven’t cleaned up the spelling and grammar flukes.

EDIT: 5/4/2016 6:25 PM PST; I endear myself sometimes. Grammar is not my high point as a scholar. I noticed quite a few proofreading errors that I’ll weed out over the next week when I have time. It will make your experience of this piece more enjoyable.

Let me begin by writing that I am not here to sell anything or coerce you to adhere to my views. You won’t find references at the end to support my words and you certainly will not find too much annoying jargon in academese. Consider this academic entertainment minus the APA-style (6th Edition) in-text citations.

Ever imagine yourself waltzing into a casino in Las Vegas one evening with approximately 10 USD worth of quarters and time to kill? Perhaps not, but I have. How my fantasy unfolds is something like this: I insert the 10 USD worth of quarters into a slot machine. On the very first try, against all odds, I am blessed with triple-7s materializing in front of me. Quarters magically spit out of a small compartment. 10 minutes later, I grow a bit unnerved because coins continue falling onto the carpet at my feet. Suddenly a crowd has amassed. Bystanders with glossy eyes gaped stare in awe, perplexed by how in the world a meager simpleton such as myself had such great fortune that day. Finally, an hour elapses and local news reporters from media outlets are intrigued. Security personnel employed by the casino have meanwhile been notified to watch the scene. I am now petrified at the prospect that a stranger with malicious intent will attempt physical violence and try to steal my loot that--let us face it--I just won fair and square. One gentleman kindly thinks to bring me a large bucket to use as a container for the coins. Once the third hour progresses, more buckets are needed to sustain my newfound financial gains. I could care less about the amount of the total winnings. More critical is how on Earth I am going to lug 100,000 USD worth of quarters to the customer service station to ideally swap the quarters for 100 USD bills or even a check written out in my name.

Studying the principles of existential-humanistic psychology for the past year and a half at Saybrook University has felt like that fictional slot machine story.

Many of you graciously reading this piece have probably never heard of Saybrook. This is understandable because it is known as what is called a specialty school. It specializes in, amongst a plethora of other subjects, humanistic psychology. What the Hell is humanistic psychology, though? My tiny definition of it is, “humanistic psychology is an branch of psychology studies that holds the premise and empirically and qualitatively explores the concept that human beings are naturally wired to love and desire connection with other humans. It furthermore analyzes the implications of findings that investigate situational and behavioral factors that inspire actions that cultivate a sense of emotional connection between humans. Finally, it takes interest in which practices of engagement might increase the likelihood of humanistically oriented behavior between humans.”

Of course, that was my loaded verbiage, obscured by my different biases. Out of curiosity, I recently logged on the Academic Search Premier academic database and did a Boolean search for the keywords “human love” and “innate”. Over 500 results materialized. It would take me an entire summer to pour through all of the peer reviewed journal articles that I uncovered. My point is that maybe, just maybe, Saybrook is onto something. Maybe the arena of humanistic psychology is onto something. Besides, the realm of abnormal psychology aided scholars in understanding what is wrong with the human condition. Why shouldn’t there be an area of study that zones in on what the human condition does right?

You may assume that I am and optimist; yet, that is far from the truth. I am starting to understand that every single human being who is diagnosed with depression, every instance of suicide, and just about every example of mental illness including neurosis and psychosis is attributed to one thing. That thing is called culture. Do not scoff or chaff at me for pointing my finger at culture (as someone who currently resides in the United States, Western cultures primarily come to mind at the moment, that is my bias deal with it). I am not romanticizing mental illness, poverty, or the tragic act of taking one’s life. I also inherently “get” that genetic predispositions — triggered by negative environmental influences — exist as well. They are, however exactly that: predispositions. Meaning, they do not always need to occur and may well not flare up in a nurturing environment wherein one is allowed to express his or her authenticity. No outcome is promised, just that we might see exponential decreases in negative aspects of the human condition if viable, safe conditions for humans were commonplace.

Do I place blame on my mother for ultimately choosing to commit suicide? Or if I examine closer, should I consider the environmental triggers that set her off? She had been discriminated by the Transportation Security Administration around the time that 9-11 occurred and airport security measures beefed up to serve the demands of a country shell-shocked by terror. Should I shame my mother for not attending college, for not earning a higher education? How was she to know how to get through life, or what was in her best interest—let alone my own best interest?

See, my culture is not set up to acclimate human children into adulthood. Correct me if I am off base here: there is an unspoken assumption that life is about progressing up a corporate ladder, collecting a hefty amount of money, copulating with a physically attractive partner, and finally churning out a couple of offspring so that one’s legacy as a bonafide Boss will happily linger into the depths of eternity. Nice try — but life does not pan out that way. Or am I generalizing too much?

If that trajectory is all that you’ve ever known, why would you pursue anything deviating from that? If your learning comes from a school system that runs like Walmart and is hyper focused on state and governmental funding to remain solvent, you should not believe that your best interests are being taken to heart by the big shots who decide the curriculum that you will learn. Why would you assume that? Or perhaps they do want to help meet the academic needs of youth but are approaching the task erroneously or with insufficient empirical evidence that their methodology is sound. When resources like money to fund schools are scarce, you have to make do however you can. There will sometimes be big student-teacher ratios.

Heh, well the United States defense budget is upwards of what--half of our monetary resources? Or am I entirely mixed up with that ratio and mistaken? Makes me wonder that if humans learned to coexist without need for militia and armed forces, than a lot of money could potentially be saved and utilized for worthwhile causes including education. I guess that newly minted Transformative Social Change program at Saybrook was implemented in a timely manner. Ah, now I “get” why the ideals surrounding transformative social change are so crucial for humanity right now.

Enter Saybrook, an institution of higher learning that is incredibly interested in exploring ways for us to create a culture together that is set up to not only figure out what education strategies can be fulfill the minds of the 21st Century, but a culture that all but extinguishes rampant mental illness. I do not need to remind anyone here how endemic that anti-depressant use is in the United States and other countries. Unless you are living under a rock or too young to speak about matrimony, you also already know this other statistic: half of marriages end in divorce. You are no doubt painfully aware that Facebook and Twitter are two examples of platforms that often full of communication but empty of palpable emotional connection. Yes, connection can and does happen on the Internet though the mammoth amount of content can make it challenging.

Given all that, you might understandably question whether humans are inherently good creatures. Thing is: most us want to have a good life. We want to see ourselves as good people. We indeed might be wired to love and cooperate because back before the Industrial and Information ages, we had no other choice as a species.

But what the Hell is a good life? If more of us read some of the philosopher Plato or existential psychologist Rollo May, I bet that some fruitful dialogue on that very question could begin. What good is money if you cannot enjoy life? How can you expect to be truly happy so long as billions of human beings who you will never meet live on less than a dollar a day? Do you ever wonder what happens after you die? Are you, as the psychologist and philosopher Ernest Becker inferred, denying your inevitable death, your mortality? I bet that at some point you’ve pondered on your death; yet, doing so is not very comforting as it might distract you from your daily life.

Hate to break it to you (actually no, I like breaking it to you) but any one of the current global crises would be bad enough alone. Compounded, they are a ginourmous monster that is all but impossible to tame. I’m talking ecocide, pollution, economic inequality, and similar ilk. We wonder how as a species we are supposed to come to a meaningful resolution to these complex issues. We forget that these problems are all human created and therefore require human-generated solutions. I sometimes wonder if the ecocide, the pandemic socio-economic instability, and the rampant continued influx of clinical depression are all symptoms of a larger issue pertaining to human psychology. In other words that our outside is representing our inside.

We seem to have forgotten how to care about one another. I by no means blame any in particular for this: why would I want to feel connected with the punk who just purchased my last bag of lentil chips at the grocery store (okay, Whole Paycheck)? Or that lady at the library who ambushed me as I was exiting an elevator and called me a ho. What rationale do I have to love the perpetrators who have swindled me, underestimated me, gaslighted me, and all but extinguished any kindling of yearning for intimacy or emotional connection with other humans? I am not a people-person. As one who was diagnosed early on with Autism, I sigh whenever the mere thought that many Western cultures remain prevalently ignorant and unaccommodating towards my way of being surfaces again.

I refuse to become victim of spiritual bypassing Neither will I fall for the mental trap that solutions to humanity’s mostly pressing predicaments today will be either swift or painless. Again, that solutions-based contemporary thinking is Saybrook’s forte. Only by cooperation and a desire to do good will anything truly good arise for humanity. Mother Nature does not need us. We need her. Trust me, she will be more than happy to kick us out as resolute as she is (I hate using gender pronouns to refer to nature). Shit has already hit the metaphorical fan and splattered violently in all directions, covering everything.

“Not in my lifetime” I could apathetically quip, and maybe not in my lifetime. Than again, maybe so. The lack of cooperation, the disparity that I see has admittedly made me immensely cynical. In fact, I am so cynical that I refuse to enter a romantic relationship. I refuse to enter of the social services professions; this is ironic because I am only as good as the doctors, dentists, chiropractors, nutritionists, psychotherapists and yes teachers who I have the wondrous honor and pleasure of working with. Many humans look to their families and close circle of friends for meaning in their lives. Not al humans of course, but I’d say that is a fair number. I am bereft of a biological family or inner commune of friends who I do activities with.

I am telling you that if you work in any of the social services or teaching professions that help people, you are doing well in my book. Many Saybrook students work as clinicians or psychotherapists either with a private practice or under supervision of a non-profit organization or for-profit agency. Basically I’m saying that my classmates genuinely appear to want to help other humans traverse the tumultuous waters called life (also called walking through Hell with their clients).

I do not consider myself to be very compassionate or loving. You might wonder why I hypocritically chose Saybrook as the place to complete my doctorate studies. Because I realize that no one is going to throw money at me if I do not fulfill a need for him or her. Because fundamentally, business is all about one thing: relationship. Profiting comes secondary. That is, it is about interconnectedness; not about monopoly or income inequality but cooperation and serving a need for consumers to make their lives better. In the future, that absolutely, unquestionably, must be the model that businesses will follow to be profitable.

I am a business too. My brand is that of a fledgling psychologist and long practicing philosopher; I get into humans’ heads. I have the luxury of understanding others sometimes better than they know themselves. I “get” the human condition. If the world wants to brainstorm solutions to pandemic problems such as those I mentioned above, folks like myself will need to be part of the equation alongside academics from other disciplines and professionals in varying sectors. Besides, the Platonic means of arriving at knowledge/truth/understanding or howsoever you prefer to call it was the art of dialectic. Saybrook is one of those places in academia that welcomes dialectic on seemingly insurmountable dilemmas affecting humanity.

I get it: if it is so dog eat dog out there, why should you give a rat’s tail about tackling global crises from a humanistic lens? Easy: you would not be alive today is someone at some point did not help you in some way, shape, or form. You do not need to love everyone or even respect everyone, contrary to what whispers on the street may tell you. You just need to at least know where you stand, what your values are. If you stand for nothing you could fall for anything. Humans could well be no-thing; that is, as James Bugental once posited, we could fundamentally be Being expressing itself in human form.

If we collectively convene to contemplate who and what we are, I bet you everything that I own or will own that the hope that some of you out there crave will spring up eventually. Source/The Universe/God or howsoever you call it will not stop to wait for you. No one else will either. Firmly grasping the human condition is the key to us breaking free of the before-mentioned crises befalling the world right now. Saybrook’s specialization program in Existential, Humanistic, and Transpersonal psychology program leverages rigorous academic inquiry towards the often times dark and dreary elements of existential-depth psychology. Embracing our metaphorical shadow is one of the quickest and powerful ways to drive us out of living in mediocrity. Once we transcend our mediocrity and embrace the examined life, what can arise from that but positive repercussions?

If your interest in Saybrook has piqued or peaked thanks to my note, consider doing Internet research on the university. Alternately if your generosity slants towards financial giving, you are welcome to be a part of the excitement and rapid-fire change by contributing a donation. Please click HERE or go to http://www.saybrook.edu/giving/ if you would like to do so.

Saybrook may not heal the planet. I doubt that any faculty or staff desires for it to be the sole venue addressing multi-disciplinary issues in existential depth psychology, public policy, clinical psychotherapeutic practice, and so on. If you are scratching your head wondering, “How in God’s name can humans get themselves out of the mess that they’ve created?” I am telling you point blank: The answer is in seeing humans as exactly that: humans. Not as disposables, not as robots or sheep in an overpopulated herd, and definitely not as dollar signs. Those reasons right there are amongst the greatest indicators for why humanity is where it is sitting at right now.

If you want change, it without hyperbole must flow outwards from the inside. As machines and technology morphs into increasingly intricate specimens of the wondrous potential for the human mind to create, how will you spend your free time? If robots steal your clerical job or your gig flipping burgers, what options are left for you. I will tell you: find a need and fill it. That is right. Your income will be directly proportionate to how well and how many humans whose lives you improve.

I am staunchly against any pollyanna attitude sprinkled with ponies and rainbows. I am not a hippie, a saint, or a light worker. I am the Princess of Darkness; and, you know that light needs me or it is no good. We cannot be all good all of the time. Often, the humanistic loving human and the insipid hurtful human are the same. In which case, I haven’t the faintest clue what to make of myself.

Hate to break it to you (again), but in the last century, we needed the bloodshed and the wars. Otherwise how the Hell would so many of us today be woken to our senses, realizing that we are sick and tired of it all? Would we truly understand that force and hate won’t cut it if we all want to survive if force and hate never existed to begin with? Has war actually been a long occurrence; seems to me as if it is fairly recent in human history? Also, finite resources to me appear to be a major contributor if not the most typical motivation for war, not something innate to the human condition. Correct me if I am wrong there, though. Lesson is over. we saw the aftermath. Institutions like Saybrook are available to you to explore options of how to digest that lesson and implement potential solutions to the messes that our species caused.

My views above were just that: views. I ask that you kindly take them for what they were and nothing else, please. In academia, we commonly showcase and respond to varying perspectives on every possible area of study under the Sun. Hopefully mine proved entertaining, provoking, or both.

Thank you.

Currently Playing: Sweating Bullets by Megadeth

Currently Reading: Being and Having by Gabriel Marcel

Follow Ashley on Twitter: @ashleywhitakerx

DISCLAIMER: No one asked me to write this piece. My views are my own and not affiliated with any individual or entity. I was not being paid to write it. References were not included to back up my words because this wasn’t a peer-reviewed journal article or academic paper but my personal musings. That said, I always welcome criticism and fact checking. Though I try to be free of dogma, we all carry out biases. I literally woke up yesterday morning in the midst of scrambling to make ends meet and felt like publishing something--that was my M.O. I do not own the rights to the Saybrook University logo and did not receive permission to use it here. I am a woeful student who as of this writing is currently completing her doctorate studies in Psychology with a concentration in Existential, Humanistic, and Transpersonal Psychology.