Question: I’ve suffered from clinical depression since I was a teenager. Recently, someone told about an article by an LDS writer arguing that since Satan can’t tempt many of us into making really wrong choices, he inflicts depression on us instead, using it as a way to lie to us about our worth and ability …
Tag: psychology
Principles for Polyamory
By Natasha Helfer Question: My husband and I have been transitioning away from Mormonism for the past five years. It has been incredibly painful, but also liberating—allowing us to figure out how we want to live and interact with the world. We both regret that, like many Mormons, we didn’t get to explore our sexuality …
Which Came First? The Testimony or the Testifier?
In my previous post, we discussed how people who favor intuition over analytic reasoning are more likely to engage in conspiracy thinking, and how Mormon culture similarly favors intuition as the fundamental method of discerning truth—with analytic reason playing a supporting role. In this post, we will examine the availability heuristic. The more frequently and/or …
The LDS Proselytizing Mission as Hazing
By S. Richard Bellrock S. Richard Bellrock has been teaching and working in areas related to philosophy and psychology since 2000. Or, click here to download the audio file: The LDS Proselytizing Mission as Hazing Presumably, you have heard the notion that one of the primary purposes (if not the primary purpose) of the …
Thinking About the Handbook Update Using the Four Quadrants
By Russ Osmond Russ Osmond has a Ph.D. from Syracuse University and is the founder of Change Strategies International in Atlanta. He is a retired USAF chaplain and an internationally published authority on conflict resolution communication. In the fall of 1963, I was wearing my ROTC uniform as I helped burn a sculpture …
Supporting Your LGBTQ Loved One in Today’s Church
By Natasha Helfer Parker Natasha Helfer Parker is a licensed clinical marriage & family therapist and certified sex therapist with almost 20 years experience working primarily with Latter-day Saints. She can be contacted at natashaparker.org. QUESTION: Our teenager recently came out to us as being gay, and, wanting to respond in a supportive way, …
The Church as a Wounded Parent: How the Handbook Update Passes on the Pain
By Michael Farnworth Michael Farnworth, Ed.D., retired from Ricks College after 31 years of teaching family psychology. He is married to Cindi Halliday, and father to Brad, Camie, and Jeff. He is grandpa to Joel, Alex, Owen, and Imogen. Or, right-click here to download the audio file: The Church as a Wounded Parent: …
How Does Our Polygamous History Affect Our Marriages?
By Natasha Helfer Parker Natasha Helfer Parker is a licensed clinical marriage & family therapist and certified sex therapist with almost 20 years experience working primarily with Latter-day Saints. She can be contacted at natashaparker.org. Question: Mormons believe that if we are sealed together as husband and wife—and if we honor our covenants—we will …
Understanding the Shadow
By Michael Farnworth IN HER BOOK Kitchen Table Wisdom Rachel Naomi Remen tells about a time her family was assembling a large jigsaw puzzle. Being only three or four at the time, she couldn’t really help, but she watched plenty. As she did, the darker puzzle pieces began to remind her of spiders and …
Passive-aggression among the Latter-day Saints
By Michael J. Stevens I HAVE BEEN teaching higher education courses in organizational behavior, leadership, and group psychology for nearly 20 years, and the topic of conflict resolution has been a common theme in most classes I teach. As a way of introducing the topic, I often use a self-assessment exercise called the “Behavior Description …