A little about me 

I began my professional life as a minister then a teacher and a psychotherapist. First I left the ministry, twenty some years later I left teaching philosophy. I remain a psychotherapist which has always been very fulfilling, but miss the opportunity to discuss thoughts about spirituality, psychology and culture, so I decided to begin this blog.

As far as having been a minister, don’t make assumptions. No, I do not, have not for decades identify as a Christian. No, the transition away from any kind of organized religion was neither dramatic nor rebellious,  but more of a gradual moving down a path of discovery and humility. You’ll read more of this in some posts.

At this point, the organizing principle of my experience and thinking is the concept of emptiness. No, not just Buddhism’s sunyata, but emptiness found in rich forms in many traditions. So, among other projects I want to in a non linear way  explore a spirituality of emptiness, which is not nothing.

My style of therapy

Check out the section on Therapy from the home page for a more detailed explanation. Here I’ll just say that my approach is usually termed Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. This means that beyond talking about thinking and behavior-as in forms of Cognitive-Behavioral therapy- I work with the client to understand underlying causes and conditions that partially determine my thoughts and actions. This style is also called insight based therapy since insight into past and less than conscious causes and conditions allow us to find a way forward. With anxiety, for example, beyond understanding triggers and using strategies, looking at the origin of the specific anxiety and the role of self concept, relational experience and childhood experience allow for some ability to understand and therefore manage effectively the experience of anxious thoughts and feelings.

The blog

“Wide water without sound” is a phrase occurring more than once in the poetry of Wallace Stevens. I will not opine on Steven’s thought and writing about religion, poetry, nature and the imagination. ,Enough to say the phrase has always struck me as a way to talk about emptiness and our current condition.  We are here and moving, but not so much down a path, on a journey that has a preset meaning, but the expanse of water . We wake up with water all around us, no sound to guide, instead a profound silence.

I think a spirituality of emptiness has meaning beyond spiritual exploration. I look here in direct and indirect ways that this perspective might think about the world, about ourselves , psychotherapy and culture. I hope you find some things helpful or at least interesting. It is surprisingly  fulfilling to me to write it.