II. Blog Articles and Podcast Recordings |
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IV. Virtual Seminars on Saturday, March 6, 2021* |
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The Men's Group Seminar: The "Knowledge Illusion"
Do you know how a bicycle works? Many of us think we do. However, scientific evidence indicates that our knowledge of even the most simple of objects in our everyday lives is minimal and, remarkably, significantly lower than our subjective estimates of our knowledge. In short, we don't know what we don't know. This phenomenon has been demonstrated across a range of topical areas, from the mundane to the abstract (i.e., global warming). In their book The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, cognitive scientists Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach argue that human cognition -- especially the accumulation of knowledge, is largely communal-based, i.e., arising from our connection with others' expertise and the larger social and cultural landscape. Sloman explains that most people "know" the earth revolves around the sun, not vice versa, but he argues that this knowledge is more based on faith rather than some other form of observation or logical reasoning. "We are cognitive team players," Sloman explains in an interview, and in being so we naturally mesh, organize, and navigate ourselves within complex social systems (like crossing a busy urban intersection). Yet, the downside of our "knowledge conflation" is significant: assumptions dampen our critical thinking and, often, actual data and statistical evidence do not refute subjective opinion, the stuff of "confirmation bias" and other forms of faulty reasoning. In the next virtual meeting of the Men's Group Seminar on Saturday, March 6, 2021 (10:15 AM to 11:30 AM), we will explore the "knowledge illusion" with an eye toward overcoming the illusory nature of our cognitive tendencies.
To register for this upcoming virtual seminar, please see the directions below.
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The Relationship Group Seminar: The Splitting Defense Mechanism
Defense mechanisms refer to a group of psychological adaptations, often first utilized in childhood, to cope with stressful situations and relational disappointments. They are important because defense mechanisms are usually unconsciously maintained into and throughout adulthood, and often erroneously applied to dilemmas in our contemporary relationships. That is, the current circumstances or relationship challenges we face as adults are likely better addressed not with a defense mechanism from childhood, which merely avoids, distorts, or denies an issue, but instead with a more direct and efficacious problem-solving effort. Splitting is a good example of a basic, rudimentary defense that can really cause havoc when employed in adulthood.
A relatively common defense mechanism, splitting occurs in order to deal with relational disappointments, more specifically when the person we love and depend on does not provide what we need. When this occurs, the complex feelings that may arise in us (including frustration, anger, loss/abandonment, aggression, and/or shame) can be difficult to experience or even tolerate; consequently, the mind unconsciously seeks to turn away from self-reproach (judging oneself as "bad" for feeling these "awful" feelings in relation to the one we love) to other-reproach, i.e., seeing our partner as "good" or "bad," in essence splitting him or her into two distinct beings. Once splitting begins, it often progresses to the point where we do not view our partner as an integrated, whole person with strengths and limitations, but, ultimately, as merely "bad." When this distortion gains more and more momentum, evidence is stacked up against one's partner in a kind of cognitive/perceptual confirmatory bias caricaturizing: no matter what that person says or does, their behavior and motives are perceived critically. In many divorces, for example, splitting is the final pathway (for one or both partners) leading to the demise of the relationship.
In the next virtual meeting of the Relationship Group Seminar on Saturday, March 6, 2021 (11:45 AM to 1:00 PM), we will explore the role of splitting in relationships. Our discussion will address the psychological and emotional challenges in long-term intimate relationships that splitting and other defense mechanisms ultimately cannot resolve: seeing the goodness of, and maintaining our love for, a partner who also fails us.
To register for this upcoming virtual seminar, please see the directions below.
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The Dynamic Psychotherapy Process Group
This therapy group utilizes the emerging dynamics among group members, and between the group members and facilitator, as a basis from which to examine one's characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and relating to others. Our next virtual group session will be held on Saturday, March 6, 2021 (1:15 to 2:30 PM). The Dynamic Psychotherapy Process Group is a therapeutic experience and entry occurs only after a pre-group screening interview.
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* Registration Directions: If you would like to attend the virtual meeting of the Men's Group Seminar and/or the Relationship Group Seminar on March 6, 2021, please RSVP to me at 949-338-4388 or jt@jamestobinphd.com on or before Thursday, March 4, 2021. The fee is $25.00 (payable before entering the virtual meeting) and informed consent for participation in this telehealth event must be completed prior to the seminars. Please note that the Men's Group Seminar and the Relationship Group Seminar are psychoeducational in nature, not therapeutic, and do not constitute psychotherapy or counseling.
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