These words, written twenty years ago by renowned social constructionist Ken Gergen, are surely worth pondering today. "In important degree, identity politics is a descendent of Western, individualist ideology. It is not the single individual who commands our interest in this case; rather individual identity is conflated with group identity. Individual...
When I have an academic presentation to make or an article to write on social therapeutic methodology, it's usually an opportunity to play around with conceptions I've spoken and written about many times before. I like the challenge of creating new frames ("What do I want to say to this...
On Sunday, December 8th, I had the pleasure of speaking with 75 people from 17 states in the US. They called in to the monthly Politics for the People conversation hosted by Cathy Stewart, VP for National Development at indepependentvoting.org. It was a privilege to be Cathy's guest, to discuss...
You all know of the horrendous, racist mass murder in El Paso last weekend. What you may not know is that the East Side Institute’s development community is active in El Paso and its sister city Juárez and that we are continuing to use play, performance and social therapeutics...
Back: Mayari Perez Arroyo , Mike Pickering, Bashiru Lasisi, Guillermo Terisotto, Francisco Estefogo, Laura Sonnino, Martha McCoy, Eva Brenner. Front: Andre Liberali, Mieke Lippstreu, Oscar Lozoya, Drazen Horvatic, Annie Rose Stathes. This past Saturday (June 15, 2019) the happy group pictured above graduated as the 15th International Class of the East Side Institute (joining 130...
I'm super excited to be having a webinar conversation with one of my heroes—Sugata Mitra of The Hole in the Wall and TED Prize fame. At a time when the world’s knowledge is but a few clicks away, knowing is becoming obsolete. What, then, becomes of education? What are the possibilities...
I spent last week with 16 Japanese professors and graduate students who traveled to NYC for an immersion in social therapeutics, the psychology of becoming, and a first-hand experience with how these "tools-and-results" help people grow by performing our sociality and building community. We had a wonderful time together. By...
Here’s a recent article from The Washington Post that reports on an important and exciting trend in Alzheimer’s care: Changing the "Tragedy Narrative:" Why a Growing Camp Is Promoting a More Joyous Approach to Alzheimer’s. The article shines a spotlight on some of the many, many activists, advocates, caregivers and people living with dementia who are...
On Sunday, February 24, I’m hosting a live video interview—Can Conversation Cure? Developing the Practice of Talk Therapy. My guests are Tom Strong, a psychologist and counselor-educator at the University of Calgary, and Murray Dabby, an Atlanta-based social worker, therapist, trainer and relationshipcoach. It will take place 12 noon-1:30 p.m. Eastern U.S....
I've traveled to several cities recently, speaking with students and faculty at different universities and introducing performance and improv to them through workshops. It 's always provocative and eye-opening to challenge the knowing paradigm at a university (for obvious reasons). Inviting professional knowers and knowers-to-be to perform philosophy as a new...
