Author Archives: richp45198

About richp45198

I am a clinical psychologist and have an abiding interest in matters spiritual.

Spiritual Mentor: August Wilson

I am not African-American. But I have found myself strongly responding to the plays of August Wilson. The playwright from Pittsburgh presented with his 10-play cycle a powerful picture of the lives and struggles of African Americans in each decade. … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

On Madness and the Streak

“Without a little madness, a man never cuts the rope and is truly free.” Towards the end of the great film “Zorba the Greek”, the character Zorba advises his young friend “A man needs a little madness or else he … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged , | 3 Comments

What It’s Like Inside My Head

Originally posted April 2018 I was watching a TV program recently in which one of the characters said “No one knows what it’s like inside my head!” Interesting. It occurs to me that, like a lot of other bloggers, this … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

On the God of My Understanding

The men who created the AA program and the 12 Step Step program realized two things: 1. If people were to truly recover from alcohol abuse, the solution would only work if it was spiritual in some manner; 2. Many … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged , | Leave a comment

On Being a Catholic Dissident

In reviewing those whom I have viewed as spiritual mentors, I realized that a majority of them would fit the definition of dissident:  “disagreeing especially with an established religious or political system, organization, or belief”. In general there have been … Continue reading

Posted in spirituality | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Spiritual Mentors: St. John XXIII

As part of this blog, I have written about spiritual mentors — persons whom I never met yet whose lives and writings impacted my life. Recently I have also become interested in the topic of protest within the Catholic Church … Continue reading

Posted in spirituality | 1 Comment

The Catholic Church and the Right Wing

Within our Catholic Church and largely unknown to Catholics is the emerging of an ultra-conservative right wing movement intent on returning us to pre-Vatican days. When Catholics hear of such things, we tend to dismiss such themes as a return … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

On Retirement

I recently closed my 40+ years practice of psychological counseling. As I approached that landmark, I found that I had to apply to myself advice I’d offered to many others over the years: “Don’t just think about what you are … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged | 6 Comments

Heroes: Henry Aaron

Baseball season is in full force and my Red Sox are struggling. But I continue to embrace baseball with the enthusiasm that I learned to nurture early in recovery. From my love of baseball, I have also acquired a number … Continue reading

Posted in spirituality | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Conspiracy Theories: A Spiritual Problem

Conspiracy theories are nothing new. People have long embraced conspiracy theories, most often in an effort to make sense of catastrophic events. Earlier in my lifetime, there were two prominent conspiracy theories, both of which are still around today. Those … Continue reading

Posted in psychology, spirituality | Tagged , | Leave a comment