Description

The Psychology InterviewsAn interview series that Stefan Molyneux from Freedomain Radio is conducting on great current thinkers in the field of psychology. Mr Molyneux has recently interviewed Dr Richard Schwartz, Dr Alison Gopnik, Dr Nathaniel Branden, Dr Greg Siegle, Dr Gabor Mate, Dr Vincent Felliti, Dr Gabriel Dichter and Dr Stuart Shankar. 1.  Babies, Brains, Nature and Nurture — An Interview with Dr Stuart Shanker – Freedomain Radio Dr. Stuart Shanker is a Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at York University and currently serving as Director of the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative (MEHRI), an initiative whose goal is to build on new knowledge of the brains development, and help set children (including those with developmental disorders) on the path towards emotional and intellectual health.2.  The Benefits of Therapy – An Interview with Chris Boyce, University of Warwick – Freedomain RadioChris Boyce talks with Stefan Molyneux of Freedomain Radio about his statistical analysis indicating that psychological therapy is 32 times more effective at promoting happiness than increased income.Chris Boyce is currently an Early Career Research Fellow funded by the Institute of Advanced Study. Chris graduated from the University of Surrey with a First Class honours degree in Economics. He then moved to the University of Warwick to complete an MSc in Economics and a PhD in Psychology. His current research remains primarily within the field of economics but draws on ideas from psychology. Specifically he is concerned with understanding how economic circumstances influence an individual’s health and happiness.3.  The Freedomain Radio Interview with Dr Nathaniel Branden An interview with a great psychologist and former associate of Ayn Rand…4.  “The Philosophical Baby” – Dr Alison Gopnik Interviewed on Freedomain Radio Alison Gopnik is a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley. She received her BA from McGill University and her PhD. from Oxford University. Her honors include a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada University Research Fellowship, an Osher Visiting Scientist Fellowship at the Exploratorium, a Center for the Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences Fellowship, and a Moore Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. She is an internationally recognized leader in the study of childrens learning and development and was the first to argue that childrens minds could help us understand deep philosophical questions. She was one of the founders of the study of “theory of mind”, illuminating how children come to understand the minds of others, and she formulated the “theory theory”, the idea that children learn in the same way that scientists do.5.  Anxiety, Depression, Autism – Freedomain Radio interviews Dr Greg Siegle Dr Siegle discusses the latest breakthroughs in brain imaging and mental health treatments.6.  Mapping the Effects of Therapy on the Brain – Freedomain Radio interview with Dr Gabriel Dichter Dr Gabriel Dichter, the Director of UNC-CH Clinical Affective Neuroscience, describes his amazing work on brain imaging.7.  The Biology, Morality and Politics of Addiction – Dr Gabor Maté – The Freedomain Radio InterviewDr Gabor Maté reveals the biological basis of addiction, and the insanity of the statist war on drugs.http://www.drgabormate.comBorn in Budapest, Hungary in 1944, Gabor Maté emigrated to Canada with his family in 1957. After graduating with a B.A. from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and a few years as a high school English and literature teacher, he returned to school to pursue his childhood dream of being a doctor.Dr. Maté ran a private family practice in East Vancouver for over twenty years. He was also the Medical Co-ordinator of the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital for seven years.  Currently he is the staff physician at the Portland Hotel, a residence and resource centre for the people of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Many of his patients suffer from mental illness, drug addiction and HIV, or all three.Widely recognized for his unique perspective on Attention Deficit Disorder, and his firmly held belief in the connection between mind and body health, he is a sought-after speaker and seminar leader on these topics.He is the author of four books — When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress, and Scattered Minds: A New Look at the Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder. The third book, Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers, he co-authored with developmental psychologist Gordon Neufeld. Most recently published is In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction.8.  ‘PTSD Nation’ – Dr John Omaha Interviewed on Freedomain Radio Dr. Omaha, an innovator in the field of emotion regulation, created Affect Centered Therapy. He has trained hundreds of therapists in ACT and AMST throughout the United States, in Australia, and in Europe. Dr. Omaha conducts outcome research on ACT and AMST through the Institute for Affect Centered Therapy, a non-profit he established in Chico, in northern California.9.  ‘You Are Not Alone’ – Freedomain Radio Interviews Dr Richard Schwartz Richard Schwartz earned his Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Purdue University, after which he began a long association with the Institute for Juvenile Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and more recently at The Family Institute at Northwestern University, attaining the status of Associate Professor at both institutions. He is coauthor, with Michael Nichols, of Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, the most widely used family therapy text in the United States.Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems in response to clients descriptions of experiencing various parts—many extreme—within themselves. He noticed that when these parts felt safe and had their concerns addressed, they were less disruptive and would accede to the wise leadership of what Dr. Schwartz came to call the Self. In developing IFS, he recognized that, as in systemic family theory, parts take on characteristic roles that help define the inner world of the client. The coordinating Self, which embodies qualities of confidence, openness, and compassion, acts as a center around which the various parts constellate. Because IFS locates the source of healing within the client, the therapist is freed to focus on guiding the clients access to his or her true Self and supporting the client in harnessing its wisdom. This approach makes IFS a non-pathologizing, hopeful framework within which to practice psychotherapy. It provides an alternative understanding of psychic functioning and healing that allows for innovative techniques in relieving clients symptoms and suffering.10.  ‘The Art of Choosing’ – Freedomain Radio Interviews Dr Sheena IyengarThe pleasures and perils of choice… Dr Iyengar, the Inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business at the Columbia Business School, discusses her new book ‘The Art of Choosing.’ – http://www.fdrurl.com/iyengar11.  ‘Sane in an Insane World’ – Freedomain Radio Interviews Dr Dan EdmundsNoted psychotherapist Dr. Dan L. Edmunds, ED.D. offers alternatives to psychiatric drugs.With much compassion and understanding, Dr. Edmunds has an innate ability to connect with distressed persons, aid them through challenges and seek to understand their experience. His work with autistic persons and persons undergoing extreme states of mind is unique and amazing. Dr. Edmunds is controversial and often iconoclastic as he is a critical thinker. He believes that people’s experience needs to be compassionately heard rather than being readily prescribed psychiatric drugs and labeled. Dr. Edmunds has not been afraid to speak out and tackle irrationality, oppression, and injustice. From his youth, Dr. Edmunds has involved himself in struggle for human rights and the dignity of persons. He has never been one to back down when confronted with a challenge, and he does not accept things at face value, rather he has a brilliant and critical mind of reason.”Many children and families in distress are seeking alternatives to a broken system that often ignores their experience and only offers psychiatric drugs as a supposed solution. Many are looking for help where they feel they will be respected and treated with dignity and compassion. Many are looking for answers outside of a pill bottle. They do not want labels, they just want to be heard.Dr. Dan L. Edmunds’ is offering this alternative in Northeastern Pennsylvania.Dr. D.L. Edmunds’ private practice of psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and adults is located in Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. Dr. Edmunds is one of few offering a holistic, drug free, relationship based approach that encourages self determination, autonomy, and dignity. Dr. Edmunds’ work has focused on drug free approaches to attentional concerns (what is labeled Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), relational approaches for autism/developmental differences, resolving traumatic stress, assisting troubled children and teens, and helping individuals be able to understand and manage extreme states of mind (schizophrenia, bipolar). Dr. Edmunds has developed the Northeastern Pennsylvania Autism Acceptance Project that focuses on autonomy, understanding, tolerance, inclusion, self-determination and meaning. It is a dynamic and innovative program serving autistic and developmentally different persons in Northeastern Pennsylvania and offering support and consultation to special education departments, educators, parents, and others. In addition to his private practice of psychotherapy, Dr. Edmunds serves as a consultant to special education departments and as a psychological evaluator for various community based programs for children as well as a forensic consultant conducting assessments of individuals where psychiatric drugs caused involuntary intoxication and has led to adverse events, particularly violence and/or suicidality. He is also involved in conflict resolution and mediation. Dr. Edmunds devotes time to scholarly research of consciousness studies, Comparative Religion and the Sociology of Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology. A committed social activist, Dr. Edmunds works diligently to encourage an end to poverty and a society that is dedicated to compassion, ethics, human rights, equality, and dignity. He had been the youngest legislative aide and later registered professional lobbyist to serve in the State of Colorado. In 2006, Dr. Edmunds established the International Center for Humane Psychiatry to encourage ethics and compassion in the field of mental health and to address issues of psychiatric abuse and promote more humane and dignified approaches towards helping distressed persons. Since 2006, Dr. Edmunds has delivered workshops and lectures, conducted radio interviews, participated in rallies and protests, attended professional conferences and meetings focused on mental health, juvenile justice, and foster care reform and in promoting caring approaches for distressed individuals and meeting our children’s true needs.12.  ‘School Is A Prison!’ – Dr Peter Gray Interviewed on Freedomain RadioPeter Gray is a research professor of psychology at Boston College. He has conducted and published research in comparative, evolutionary, developmental, and educational psychology; published articles on innovative teaching methods and alternative approaches to education; and   13.  Parenting Without Punishment – Dr Elizabeth Gershoff InterviewedStefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, interviews Dr Elizabeth Gershoff about the latest science on physical punishment and spanking, how to parent without spanking– and why it is so important!