Geoffrey W. Sutton PhD, Psychology and Culture

Raphael, Eusebius of Cremona raising Three Men from the Dead  with Saint Jerome's Cloak (c 1502-3) SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN LEADS TO FEAR OR FUN Seven Scary Themes 1. Surprise!   That delightful toddler experience on being found or finding a hiding grandparent; The squeal of faux fright when a family member pops up unexpectedly; The ability to hide within a dinosaur costume or some scary character and get a reaction from play-along adults. I’m lost! This is a closely related childhood fear of distress when a child can’t find his or her parents. Especially for a child alone in a mall or who wandered off in a large store. Now this fright is available in a corn maze or the darkened halls of a haunted house. 2. I’m scared!   What fun to trot out the usual fear-inducing spiders and snakes, create faux thunderstorms, or move people into an enclosed space. Fun, unless you are one of the 27,000,000 Americans that have a specific phobia. 3. Yuk!   Blood and go...

SPIRITUALITY, PSYCHOTHERAPY,  AND HEALING FROM TRAUMA Trauma stories continually make headlines. African Americans were shot to death at a midweek service in Charleston, SC . An ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) terrorist murdered and maimed Britons on Holiday in Tunisia . Boko Haram slaughtered 150 Nigerian Muslims whilst praying during Ramadan. Two days ago, July 7, Londoners mourned the deaths of 52 bomb victims. Representatives from Christian , Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and other faith groups joined to show their support . The memorial service was held in a Christian church. The victims and their families were linked to many faith traditions. Many trauma survivors and their families draw on their religious or spiritual faith for support. People pray, consult clergy, and seek help from psychotherapists. In addition to basic survival needs following a tragic event, many survivors are plunged into a spiritual struggle as they wonder why God did no...

MAKING PEACE WITH FATHERS When the Faith of Fathers Interferes with Relationships How do you celebrate father’s day when your memories don’t allow you to say, “You’re the Best Dad ever?” Perhaps your casual glance at social media suggests so many people had better father’s than you did. Do you notice the silent posts —people who don’t comment on their fathers and how great they were? Perhaps you knew the fathers of friends and wish your father could be more like theirs? Perhaps your father wasn’t there for you and you wonder why he was not in your life? There are fathers who only merit the name in a biological sense. I’m not writing about those. Apparently some father’s walk on water—at least that’s the impression I get from reading posts by many young women. I’m not writing about those fathers either. There are ordinary fathers who have delightful and troublesome attributes—it’s those I write about. And in particular I am writing for this blog about Psycho...

DOES YOUR SPIRITUALITY MAKE SENSE? Religion & Spirituality | Meaning | Why? |  Psychology of Palm Sunday Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus of Nazareth went public as a king. It was the first Palm Sunday. The crowd of supporters cheered as he rode into Jerusalem.  They honored him as a king ought to be honored with palm fronds and clothes before him and sang part of an old psalm (118). And the Jewish people welcomed him with expectations of salvation from Roman oppression. But what they got a week later didn't match their expectations. It didn't make sense. Jesus never does. New religious movements pose threats to established religions. People identified as kings or leaders pose threats to national leaders. Then as now; people in power use their power to quash minority movements by attacking their leaders. Then as now; religious leaders join with political leaders in a combined effort to maintain their way of life. The words of Jesus were taken as a threat ...

HONORING BLACK LIVES:  LOVING NEIGHBORS Many in the U.S. will honor Black Lives Matter Sunday . This is an important opportunity to celebrate the love theme of advent by making it clear that the lives of Black citizens really do matter. Black leaders have called for a day of prayer and lifting up the significance of black lives and black communities. Christians are supposed to be people characterized by love for others. Obviously, many fall short. This weekend can be an opportunity for redemption. All Americans can show their respect for and love of Black Americans on Sunday, throughout the Christmas season, and in the years to come. Despite a Civil War in the 1800s and Civil Rights actions in the 1900s, racial prejudice and racial inequality persist in the 2000s. There's more work to do. Whites need to understand that racial inequality has not ended. This Sunday is an opportunity to realize the work begun in the Civil Rights era has not been comp...

UNBELIEVING  CLERGY The clergyproject.org People convert to faith and people lose faith. But what happens when clergy lose their faith? Last year (2014) I posted an article about conversions, deconversions, and transformations . In December, Philosopher Daniel Dennett and Clinical Social Worker, Linda LaScola reported the results of their qualitative study of 35 clergy and seminary students who lost their faith. The title of the book, Caught in the Pulpit , captures the dilemma. Who did they study? All of the participants were Caucasian Americans.  Most were clergy with pulpit ministries (27) but some were in seminary (5 students, 3 professors). There were Jewish Rabbis but the rest were Catholic or Protestant Christian clergy. There were men (30) and women (5) from theologically conservative and liberal denominations. The authors use the word literal to refer to fundamentalist groups. By literal they mean religious groups that view the Biblical text as in...

LOVE  &  ATTACHMENT    TO  GOD Nobody comforts a crying baby like mom or dad. Infants, toddlers, and small children desperately seek human comfort when any distress comes along. And parents naturally cradle and cuddle their little ones. Usually the child is soothed and able to venture forth—as long as mom or dad remains nearby. LOVING GOD Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (Mark 12:30: NIV) What does it mean to love God? Jesus summary of the law, often reduced to “love God and love your neighbor,” may seem trite. But the short quotation has been unpacked by many Christian clergy and teachers who offer suggestions focused on a deep commitment to God and all of humanity—especially when combined with examples from the life of Jesus. LOVING AND ATTACHING Psychologists have studied the loving and caring relationship between parents and childre...