My degree is in methods of educational research but almost all of my studies were statistical methods. This is more and more the era of 'big data' and for various reasons, it is expected that large data sets will assist many types of work in being faster, more accurate, and generally smarter. However, many teachers know that education is quite different for different individuals. I try to stay aware of any advances in ways of understanding individuals as opposed to members of an identified group or population.
Clinicians in psychology and psychiatry try to understand and assist individual people with problems in their lives. I am a fan of Dr. Mark Epstein and have read several of his books. He is one of a group of psychiatrists who make explicit use of Buddhist concepts and methods, adjusted and modified for today's Americans. I perked right up when I saw that Dan Harris found and conversed with Epstein as Harris was entering into meditation practices, at first to try having less stress and anxiety from job pressure. Harris' books "10% Happier" and "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics", written with Jeffrey Warren, have been well and enthusiastically received. They are good examples of straightforward writing about practices to better understand and live with oneself.
I have read several of Epstein's books and have been impressed by his sharp eye and ability to face current American life, making adjustments in language and ideas from Freud and Buddha and their previous ages and cultures.
I have similar ideas about Dr. Mary Pipher. She is a clinical psychologist and has written insightfully about problems facing our older citizens, young girls today in the US, boys growing up today and families that are overstressed.
Books, videos, workshops and live instruction are available to face problems, difficulties, puzzles and fears that pop up during our life. Tools and guidance are more available than ever, many of them free. Epstein's recent book "Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself" and Pipher's "Letters to a Young Therapist" help me see that worries that haunt a person are often widespread, not unique. In many cases, ways to lessen or even eliminate today's worries and stresses are known and applicable.
Epstein, Mark. "Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself" (p. 4). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Pipher, Mary. "Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World" (p. 1). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Clinicians in psychology and psychiatry try to understand and assist individual people with problems in their lives. I am a fan of Dr. Mark Epstein and have read several of his books. He is one of a group of psychiatrists who make explicit use of Buddhist concepts and methods, adjusted and modified for today's Americans. I perked right up when I saw that Dan Harris found and conversed with Epstein as Harris was entering into meditation practices, at first to try having less stress and anxiety from job pressure. Harris' books "10% Happier" and "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics", written with Jeffrey Warren, have been well and enthusiastically received. They are good examples of straightforward writing about practices to better understand and live with oneself.
I have read several of Epstein's books and have been impressed by his sharp eye and ability to face current American life, making adjustments in language and ideas from Freud and Buddha and their previous ages and cultures.
I have similar ideas about Dr. Mary Pipher. She is a clinical psychologist and has written insightfully about problems facing our older citizens, young girls today in the US, boys growing up today and families that are overstressed.
Books, videos, workshops and live instruction are available to face problems, difficulties, puzzles and fears that pop up during our life. Tools and guidance are more available than ever, many of them free. Epstein's recent book "Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself" and Pipher's "Letters to a Young Therapist" help me see that worries that haunt a person are often widespread, not unique. In many cases, ways to lessen or even eliminate today's worries and stresses are known and applicable.
People learn to make room for themselves, to be with uncomfortable emotional experiences, in a more accepting way.
Epstein, Mark. "Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself" (p. 4). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Let me be straight with you. I am not writing this book as an expert on inner peace. Nor am I offering sage advice from one who has been to the mountaintop. My authority does not come from being a relaxed and happy person, but rather from being a person who has sought calmness and happiness all of her life. I address you as a woman who has spent plenty of time talking herself and others down from emotional ledges.
Pipher, Mary. "Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World" (p. 1). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
