About us
A fun and somewhat serious exploration of the ins and outs of clinical psychology one article at a time. Open to lay people and practitioners. There are no dumb questions and you get a free jelly bean each time you change your mind.
Upcoming events
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Discussion Club: What Do We Owe The Mystics? By Awais Aftab
Menil park, 1423 Branard St, Houston, TX, USJoin Evan and Jeff in an discussion about an article exploring to what degree should a psychologist respect the beliefs of those in the midst of a psychotic episode. The article, What Do We Owe The Mystics?, by psychiatrist and professor Awais Aftab can be found on his blog Psychiatry at the Margins.
The discussion will be held at Menil park so bring something to sit on, something to drink, and a snack if you want.
An excerpt from the article, "Saville-Smith frames the clinical encounter as a kind of epistemological tribunal. The patient, in a seemingly acute psychotic or manic state but also amidst a profound religious experience, is asked to give a rational account of themselves. They are expected to articulate, coherently and in words, an experience that is overwhelming and beyond language. As the psychiatrist observes for the behavioral markers of pathology, the very act of trying to communicate the ineffable in a setting designed to assess rationality inevitably produces the appearance of irrationality."
3 attendeesDiscussion Club: What Makes A Psychological Theory Scientific?
Menil park, 1423 Branard St, Houston, TX, USJoin Evan and Jeff in a discussion of philosopher Karl Popper's critique of Freudian psychology. You can find it on the web as, Popper’s Account of Scientific Theories (published on Simon Fraser University's website).
The discussion will be held at Menil park so bring something to sit on, something to drink, and a snack if you want.
An excerpt from the article, "I found that those of my friends who were admirers of Marx, Freud, and Adler, were impressed by a number of points common to these theories, and especially by their apparent explanatory power. These theories appeared to be able to explain practically everything that happened within the fields to which they referred. The study of any of them seemed to have the effect of an intellectual conversion or revelation, opening your eyes to a new truth hidden from those not yet initiated. Once your eyes were thus opened you saw confirming instances everywhere: the world was full of verifications of the theory. Whatever happened always confirmed it. Thus its truth appeared manifest; and unbelievers were clearly people who did not want to see the manifest truth; who refused to see it, either because it was against their class interest, or because of their repressions which were still ‘un-analysed’ and crying aloud for treatment."
1 attendee
