Political Psychology

Palin-Bachmann Syndrome™

Matt Osborne | Posted 11.12.2009 | Media


Matt Osborne

I have decided to coin a phrase: Palin-Bachmann Syndrome™, defined as the psychological imbalance produced by a toxic mix of right-wing identity politics and diva training.

Obama is Not God: the Projection Principle

Matt Osborne | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics


Matt Osborne

There is a limitless supply of videos chronicling the August teabaggery, but this is the one I found most interesting: a woman declaring that "Obama i...

The Normalizing of the Presidency

David D. Burstein | Posted 09.30.2009 | Politics


David D. Burstein

Barack Obama might be one of the most normal presidents we have had in years. His connectedness to the real world is one of the things that made him appealing as a candidate.

The Specter of the Counterculture II: The Cunning of Desire

James Block | Posted 08.15.2009 | Politics


James Block

In the decades since the 1960s counterculture, our hypocrisy has grown, not from some native evil, but from an unrelenting sense of confusion and entrapment.

Who Needs the Brothers Grimm When We Have Teen Screen?

Anne Dunev | Posted 04.19.2009 | Living


Anne Dunev

The test: TeenScreen. Its mission: to test all American school children. The treatment? Psychotropic drugs that carry the all too real risks of suicide, suicidal ideation, homicide and homicidal ideation.

Whatever it Takes

Diane Perlman | Posted 02.19.2009 | Politics


Diane Perlman

President Obama, please lead us in healing wounds, compensating losses, and using principles of restorative justice rather than punitive approaches. Time doesn't heal wounds, people do.

Bush: Perhaps the Most Toxic Leader of Our Time

Jean Lipman-Blumen | Posted 02.16.2009 | Politics


Jean Lipman-Blumen

As Bush exits the White House, the trail of destruction he leaves behind bears many earmarks of a toxic leader: incompetence, arrogance and stubbornness.

President-Elect Obama, Do You Know the Way to Neverland?

Mark Goulston, M.D. | Posted 01.30.2009 | Politics


Mark Goulston, M.D.

One key difference between lousy leaders and good ones is the ability to motivate or inspire people. But these days, that ability, rare as it is, simply isn't enough.

The Economically Bipolar Generation

Adam Blickstein | Posted 01.02.2009 | Business


Adam Blickstein

My generation has suffered from some pretty severe childhood financial trauma. We've been savaged in rapid succession with the one-two punch of decadent irrational exuberance and complete systematic economic collapse.

Barack Obama is Not My President

Sara Catania | Posted 12.08.2008 | Politics


Sara Catania

We do not choose the presidents who are truly ours, who shape our lives and our psyches. They are chosen for us when we are too young to vote.

State of Confusion: Tuesday's Two Wild Cards

Bryant Welch | Posted 12.01.2008 | Living


Bryant Welch

Samuel Johnson said, "Nothing so focuses a man's mind as the knowledge he is to hang at dawn." For the last six weeks the American voter's mind has been focused by and on the economy.

Reclaiming America's Leadership Role: Barack Obama and Democratic Culture

Dr. Robert Aziz | Posted 12.01.2008 | Living


Dr. Robert Aziz

Antithetical to the way of power inclusivity and process, which is to say, the equanimity to see and gather to oneself problems in their actuality and complexity, which Obama has embodied.

Projecting McCain

Aimee Liu | Posted 11.28.2008 | Politics


Aimee Liu

Virtually every attack McCain makes against Barack Obama is a projection of his own fear or loathing.

The Hatred Between Republicans and Democrats: The Conflict Within America's Psyche, Redux

Peter Wolson | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics


Peter Wolson

Psychotherapists are professional empathizers, who put themselves in the shoes of others every day. Yet so many have difficulty placing themselves in the shoes of nearly 50% of the American population.

Democracy Unbound: The Freeing of Democratic Process from the Tyranny of False Absolutes and False Certainties

Dr. Robert Aziz | Posted 11.20.2008 | Politics


Dr. Robert Aziz

The human need for certainty and the human need for meaning are not unrelated. It is unfortunately the case, however, that certainty, unlike genuine meaning, can be cheaply acquired.

Pressuring Iran: Self Fulfilling Paranoia and the Law of Opposites

Diane Perlman | Posted 10.26.2008 | Politics


Diane Perlman

In the "mirror image of the enemy" each side sees itself as noble, just and true, while the enemy is hostile, evil and aggressive.