Episodes
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Close your eyes, press your feet into the floor, notice your bottom in your seat, feel your lower back in the chair.Notice other sensations in the body and any tension in various places.Notice the movement of your chest.Starting at the top of the head and moving through each area of your body - paying attention to any sensations, energy, numbness, cold, hot, slowly moving your attention, noting the sensations.Notice and accept what is in your body.Bring attention back to the feeling of the body in your seat.Allow awareness to return to any sounds and the space around you.Open your eyes.
S1:E9 Responding to Trauma: Psychological Tools for Resilience and Recovery with Dr. Cynthia Eriksson. Here Dr. Eriksson guides you through a body scan to identify places of tension and discomfort in order to access and identify complicated emotions you might be experiencing.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Invite a time when you really wanted something - a job, a person to say, âyes,â or an acceptance letter.Imagine that you grabbed the handle of the red door and it was stuck. You kicked the door because it was stuck. You were prepared to go through it but couldnât,You shifted 180 degrees because it was stuck - and saw a yellow door, wide open.You crossed over to an opportunity that was open and good.On the other side there was someone who was more right for you, or you got into a better school program, or got a better job - better for you than you had wanted.When you think about the time of the stuck red door and the hairpin turn to the yellow door - was there anyone there who was your guide encouraging your turn?This is a trail angel who guided you to a hairpin turn.How are these moments formed, or are some of the most important parts of our lives guided in some way - who helps us discover our journey?Where in your road of life is God or your higher power? Are they in the open yellow door and in the stuck red door?Are they in the trail angel?What are the guiding moments and deep kind of knowing and perceiving that is our birthright?
Listen to the Full Episode - S1:E1 Loved, Held, Guided, and Never Alone: The Science of Spirituality with Dr. Lisa Miller. Here Dr. Miller guides you through a practice that will help you understand how to recognize doors that are open to you and doors that are closed, so helpful for finding a path forward when facing obstacles.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Find posture, check in with your body, and take several deep, calming breaths.Be intentional about your motivation and find a place in us to understand that practices to cultivate our own wellbeing can also help others.This is a radical act of generosityBring into your mind a situation that has been challenging in some way in the recent past - whether work, family, etc.. not too difficult, but something challenging. Identify what it is.Reflect on your own beliefs and expectations about that situation. What beliefs and expectations are we bringing to that situation?Envision how things might be different if we came to the situation with a different set of beliefs and expectations.Would it be different with the different beliefs and expectations?End practice by dedicating whatever insight we may have gleaned to the benefit of others.
Listen to the Full Episode - S1: E3 Cultivating a Healthy Mind: The Neuroscience of Awareness, Connection, Insight, & Purpose with Dr. Richie Davidson. Here Dr. Davidson guides you in a practice to gain insight into your life.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Close your eyes and take 5 deep breaths.In your minds eye - set a table before you.You may invite anyone living or deceased who truly has your best interest in mind.Ask them if they love you.Invite your higher self - true eternal higher self - ask you if you love you.Ask you higher power if they love you.With all at your table sitting there - what do they need to tell you now?This is your counsel - they are always there for you.
Listen to the full episode - S1:E1 Loved, Held, Guided, and Never Alone: The Science of Spirituality with Dr. Lisa Miller. Here Dr. Miller guides you in a practice where you use your imagination to call up the people in your life who have loved you.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Begin with breathing into the nose and out through the mouthNotice the space you are in - turning to the left and looking behind you, then turning to the right to see behind you. Feel the stretch.Take in the space. Notice where the wall meets the ceiling. Notice the dark and light and colors in the room. Name them to yourself.Take 3 deep breaths, noticing where the air moves in and out of the body.
Listen to the full episode - S1:E9 Responding to Trauma: Psychological Tools for Resilience and Recovery with Dr. Cynthia Eriksson. Here Dr. Eriksson guides you through a practice to ground you in your body in order to settle emotions.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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We reflect on our motivation for doing the practice.We attempt to frame the practice from the idea that practicing is altruistic - helping ourselves and others.Bring into your mind and heart someone you know and love.Consider their difficulties. As we breathe in, we practice removing their difficulties, and as we breathe out, we extend our love and our wishes for that person to be happy and free of suffering.Dedicate the practice - any insight or benefit to the wellbeing and welfare of others.Reflect on how a simple practice like this in our lives can be cultivated for the benefit of others.
Listen to the full episode. S1: E3 Cultivating a Healthy Mind: The Neuroscience of Awareness, Connection, Insight, & Purpose with Dr. Richie Davidson. Here Dr. Davidson guides you through an awareness practice.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Help inspire the future of With & For! Click here to take our short survey! Four respondents will get a special box of goodies from the Thrive Center!
Show Notes
Visit thethrivecenter.org for more resources on thriving and spiritual health!Why podcast about thriving and spiritual health?Pamâs deep desire for people to thrive and become who theyâre meant to be, with and for othersPractical and applicable insights for personal growth and well-being.Bringing in experts from different research methods, spiritual traditions, and cultural backgroundsRichie Davidson on declarative and procedural learningDan Siegel on integrationGrowing through the throes of difficultiesCultivating virtues and deepening relationshipsPamâs personal experience halfway through the season: caring for a child with a medical emergencyWhat helped Pam through the recent trauma?When under threat, we go to whatâs automatic5 x 7 breathingâHer crisis was exacerbated by the fact that her coping skill was not possible.ââMy holding her hand was very calming for her.âCynthia Eriksson on trauma and activating the parasympathetic nervous system forAlexis Abernethy on self-care, rest, and rhythmsâComing home to my body⊠listening to my body⊠aware of the natural rhythms of my body⊠trusting our bodies more.ââA nerd with lipgloss.âFeeling AlonePam Kingâs deeply relational theologyBecoming is linked to our belonging and connection with others?Shared and validated by anotherPam Kingâs co-authored book, The Reciprocating SelfDan Siegelâs approach to âintraconnectionâ and research about attunement and awareness of others.Alexia Salvatierra: âIf youâre community is not well, then you are not well.âRichie Davison on neuroplasticity: we have agency in our life changing and growingEngaging in psychological or spiritual practices to expand our attention, deepen compassion, gain more insight into our values, and identify our purpose.Find the Center for Healthy Minds Innovations App (FREE)Purpose and Life Review with Bill DamonBelle Liang on telling a story and finding your purpose through your own life narrative and âletting your life speakâSarah Schnitker and t he virtue of patience as a relevant and timely approach to life todayMiroslav Volf on joy and sorrow in the context of Christian faith and redemptionHope for Godâs presence amidst the sorrowPsychology of beliefTheology is not just the study of God, but the knowledge and love of God, and seeking the kingdomLife unencumbered and freeThe Black experience and longing for living and dreaming unencumberedThriving involves systems of access and justiceâTrue human thriving contributes to a flourishing world. And our world will not be flourishing until all people live unencumbered.âDwight Radcliff on hip-hop theology and an embodied responseâArt engages us at the sensory level.âSusan David on emotions as signpostsArt and beautyThree tips for thriving based on Season 1 of With & ForLean into love for yourselfâfinding compassion and grace for yourselfFind love in your relationships, co-creating meaning and purposeLean into love in the narrative of your life and your place and purpose in your community and the larger, bigger story of the worldâBeyond-the-selfâ purpose as a central podcast valueWhatâs coming next for With & ForThank you to our expert guests this season, our wonderful production team, and the administration and faculty of the Fuller School of Psychology and Marriage & Family Therapy at Fuller Theological SeminaryAbout the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Help inspire the future of With & For! Click here to take our short survey! Four respondents will get a special box of goodies from the Thrive Center!
âPeople who are patient are not less assertive, they are not passive, and if anything they actually achieve their goals more successfully. Anything worthwhile, you'll have to wait and you'll have to suffer. And so we need patience to be able to suffer well. Patience is not an eradication of emotions. It is the ability to feel those emotions, but to stay level headed to regulate through them. As a virtue, patience, I see as doing that for something beyond the self. So patience is really staying engaged continuing forward and pursuing the good.â (Sarah Schnitker)
We live in a high-speed, high-efficiency, get-it-done-yesterday society. Why would we talk about patience? But the old adage, âPatience is a virtueâ is true. A core ingredient to our spiritual health in our frenetic modern world is the ability to live fully in the moment, exercise control and stability through arduous or challenging (and even traumatic) circumstancesâdoing so with poise and style.
Research psychologist Dr. Sarah Schnitker of Baylor University has pioneered the scientific study of patience among the virtues, exploring the physical, emotional, spiritual, and philosophical dimensions of this timeless and timely virtue. She defines patience as the ability to remain calm in the face of adversity and sufferingâbeing able to wait well and not become inordinately overwhelmed by anxiety or sorrow.
Patience makes us ask not just âWhatâs worth waiting for?â, but âWhatâs worth suffering for?â Our English word for suffering comes from the Latin word for âenduring suffering.â And Sarah Schnitker brings theologically rich dimensions to her psychological study of patience.
In this conversation with Sarah Schnitker, we discuss:
The definition of patience as a virtueThe essential role patience can play in our pursuit of meaning and purposeThe connections between waiting and sufferingâand the theological and spiritual context for patienceHow patience is related to goal-setting and complementary to courageAnd Sarah offers guidance for how to cultivate patience in our own lives, using a research-backed strategy to identify, imagine, and think.Show Notes
Learn about Sarah Schnitkerâs research on virtue and character development on Science of Virtues Lab.Pam King introduces Sarah Schnitker (Baylor University)Biblical concept of patience as âlong-sufferingâDavid Bailey Harnedâeradicating problems and losing faith in patienceâAnything worthwhile youâll have to wait and youâll have to suffer.ââI think many people don't have that clarity about what it is in their life that they are willing to suffer for. So I think that search for meaning and purpose involves that.âPatience as a âbeyond the selfâ virtueDefinition: âthe ability to remain calm in the face of adversity, suffering, and waitingââIt's not that you don't get emotions. It is the ability to feel those emotions, but to stay level headed to regulate through them.âPatience and goal-settingPatience and self-control as different but working togetherâPatience is really part of that facilitation of adaptive goal pursuit, which is really cool to find and also to show that meaning really matters too. That meaning pushes you to be more patient.âTelos: âthe intersection of our goals, our roles, and our soulsâPatience and courageHabits to help us reappraise meaning and purpose in the worldâThis moment is not foreverâŠâKendall Bronk on patience in emerging adultsPatience as âthe ability to stay calm, but actively engaged in the face of frustration or suffering.âDepression, mental healthMark Labbertonâs story of allowing the rituals and habits of Christian sacraments and liturgy to calm and regulate and provide meaningAutopilot as the virtueGratitude and patience as a communal practiceâwhat is communal patience?What is your gratitude? What is your growth?Virtues help us as a fuel system and guidance systemPatience in Sarah Schnitkerâs personal lifeCyclic Vomiting SyndromeVirtue Ethics and Greek philosopher AristotleThe âGolden Meanâ of virtuesImpatience is too little of the virtue of patience (the vice of deficiency)Passivity (or the spiritual vice of âacediaâ) is too much of patience (the vice of excess)Weaponizing patience is not a virtue.How patience pairs well with courageWhen you have both patience and courage, thatâs when youâre pursuing your goals well and loving boldly, seeking justicePatience and loving your enemyPractical Steps: How can we become patient?Identify, Imagine, and SyncIdentify your emotions, notice what youâre feeling, developing a larger emotional lexiconImagine, think about things differently, think differently, reappraisal to bring down the emotion, perspective takingSync, moving forward with a goal based plan connected to meaning and purposeâPatience is a whole-life game.âPatience and the Muslim practice of RamadanMeasuring the impact of fasting during Ramadan on the cultivation of patienceUnderstanding the sacred practice of spiritual fasting and its connection to virtue developmentPatience increased significantly during RamadanPracticing patience as a spiritual communityHow practices connect us to our bodies, purposes, and beliefsSarah Schnitker on âWhat is thriving?âLoving God and loving others for the sake of justice in societyPam Kingâs key takeaways:Waiting is not easy, but in our fast-paced world, we need to slow down and cultivate the timeless virtue of patience.Patience helps us both to regulate and reappraise our emotional life, helping us deal with really difficult situations.We can learn and cultivate patience in a variety of contexts in the family, school, work, and its uptake is enhanced when supported by a spiritual community.When paired with courage, patience has the potential to make us truly resilient.Patience is transformative for our thriving and deeply connected to our pursuit of meaning and purpose.About Sarah Schnitker
Sarah Schnitker is Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. She holds a PhD and an MA in Personality and Social Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and a BA in Psychology from Grove City College. Schnitker studies virtue and character development in adolescents and emerging adults, with a focus on the role of spirituality and religion in virtue formation. She specializes in the study of patience, self-control, gratitude, generosity, and thrift. Schnitker has procured more than $3.5 million in funding as a principle investigator on multiple research grants, and she has published in a variety of scientific journals and edited volumes. Schnitker is a Member-at-Large for APA Division 36 â Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, is a Consulting Editor for the organizationâs flagship journal, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, and is the recipient of the Virginia Sexton American Psychological Associationâs Division 36 Mentoring Award. Follow her on Twitter @DrSchnitker.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Help inspire the future of With & For! Click here to take our short survey! Four respondents will get a special box of goodies from the Thrive Center!
"The life review is a way of going back in a systematic way into your past and looking for things that you never understoodâmysteries. And I had a big mystery in mine, which was: Who is my father?"
We hang on to so much from our past. Regret, remorse, guilt, shame, rumination, unforgiveness⊠How should we think about our past? Can we reframe and redeem it for the present?
Developmental Psychologist William Damon has spent his career studying the human lifespan and for almost 30 years at Stanford University's Center on Adolescence. Since the 1970s, he's been conducting research that has shaped our understanding of human growth and thriving.
Heâs the author of numerous research articles and several books, including The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life, having written widely on character virtues, the moral dimensions of work and vocation, and moral formation for children and adolescents, and more.
In the last 20 years, William has systematically studied purpose and how to operationalized it for human thriving. He defines purpose as âan enduring life goal that is both meaningful to oneself, but also makes a difference beyond the self.â
But more recently, he's building a new area of study around life review. His latest book is A Round of Golf with My Father: The New Psychology of Exploring Your Past to Make Peace with Your Present. in it, he articulates a process that he's developed for investigating and kind of interrogating your life and your past for clues about your direction and purpose.
William shares vulnerably about his own discoveries regarding mystery and his own upbringing that has shed new light on the latest chapter in his life.
In this conversation with William Damon, we discuss:
Positive youth development and the opportunities of childhood and adolescence.The practice of a life review, and how to look at our past in ways that lead to a healthy and fruitful future.The definition of purpose and how it plays a central role in human thriving.And he explains how charting a path to purpose took a very personal turn for him when he came to learn about the father he never knew, and how that impacted his life and his perspective on thriving at 60 years old.In that context, we discuss the emotional connections between courage and curiosity, particularly when it comes to pursuing self-understanding and exploring our sense of purpose and a life of thriving.Show Notes
Get your copy of William Damon's book, A Round of Golf with My Father: The New Psychology of Exploring Your Past to Make Peace with Your PresentRead about Bill Damonâs approach to Life Review at the Greater Good Science Center at UC BerkeleyStanford - Center on Adolescence âHow does where you've been contribute to where you're going? How does your story shape your sense of purpose?ââI had a big mystery to uncover.ââRegret, remorse, guilt, shame, rumination, unforgiveness. How should we regard our past?âLiving life on purposeDefinition of Purpose: âan enduring life goal that is both meaningful to oneself, but also makes a difference beyond the self.âPam King introduces William Damon and summarizes the episodeStudying purpose through lifespan psychologyYoung people and their potentialWhole person, not just cognitive development.John Gardener: âWhat we have before us is breathtaking opportunities disguised as problems.âPeter Benson: âEveryone young person has a spark.âPositive youth developmentYouth development: Focusing on strengths and assets rather than character flaws or troubleWilliam Damon on a scientific study of purposeEnduring and long termPersonal and meaningfulTranscendent and beyond the selfAgency and energyPurpose doesnât do it allâit doesnât bring ethics or happinessâPurpose is not a silver bullet.âPurpose is not a replacement for a moral code, or a guarantee of bliss or happiness.ââTelosââGreek for purpose or goalâPurpose is a lifespan developmental capacity.ââPurpose is never really complete.âLife Review and Robert ButlerWho weâve been, who we are, and who weâre becoming.Forward-looking doesnât mean you ignore the past.William Faulkner: âThe past is not dead. Itâs not even the past.âWilliam Damon reflects on growing up without a fatherâA Round of Golf with My FatherâWhat is a life review? A systematic way of looking into your past and history in order to understand who youâve been and what that means for your present and future.How to do a life reviewâMaking a case study of yourselfâRole of difficult emotions in dealing with your past and finding your purposeFrom blaming to claiming to gaming.Courage and FearHow to develop and cultivate courageAristotle on courageOvercoming challenges and the role of courage in leveraging your purpose to thriveSmall steps make a big difference.Moral exemplars and heroesâfaith, courage, and self-regard about managing risks, danger, and threatReligion and faith as an object or source of purposeâPurpose is not an elite endeavor.ââItâs not all about you.âPurpose, growth mindset and teaching undergraduates life review and purposeWilliam Damon reflects on âWhat is thriving?ââThriving is becoming the person you always dreamed youâd become.âErikson: âI am what succeeds me.âPam Kingâs Key TakeawaysAll of us show up in this world with a spark, and it's a gift we give to each other to help fan that spark into flame. So we might ask ourselves, how am I fanning that flame in others today?We don't ever have to stop learning about ourselves. And the procedure of a life review can facilitate this growth. And to learn more about the life review process, head to our website at thethrivecenter.org.It takes courage and curiosity to confront the difficult or traumatic aspects of our past. Cultivating this courage is an essential virtue of a thriving life.And finally, purpose extends beyond our personal motivations and self made goals to include a wide range of psychological, moral, relational, historical, and spiritual factorsAbout William Damon
William Damon is the Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, Professor of Education at Stanford University, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Damon's research explores how people develop purpose and integrity in their work, family, and civic life. Damon's current work focuses on vocational, civic, and entrepreneurial purpose among the young and on purpose in families and schools. He examines how young Americans can be educated to become devoted citizens and successful entrepreneurs. Damon's work has been used in professional training programs in fields such as journalism, law, teaching, and business, and in grades Kâ12 character education programs. Damonâs most recent books are A Round of Golf with My Father: The New Psychology of Exploring Your Past to Make Peace with Your Present; The Power of Ideals, and Failing Liberty 101. His other books include The Path to Purpose: How Young People Find Their Calling in Life, Taking Philanthropy Seriously, and Greater Expectations, winner of the Parentâs Choice Book Award. Damon was editor in chief of The Handbook of Child Psychology, fifth and sixth editions. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Education, and the American Educational Research Association. Damon has received awards and grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Andrew Mellon Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the Thrive Foundation for Youth, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Before coming to Stanford in 1997, Damon was University Professor and director of the Center on the Study of Human Development at Brown University. From 1973 to 1989, Damon served in several academic and administrative positions at Clark University. In 1988, he was Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and in 1994â95 he was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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"What does a healthy community look like? This beautiful image of being unafraid, of everybody having what they need, of everybody having the opportunity to reach their dreams, everybody being able to take care of themselves and not having it taken away from themâall of those are part of the vision of a good life. It's not just an individual good life, it's a communal good life. ConcertaciĂłn, if you were just literally translate it, means 'coming into harmony' and the way that it works in our communities is to hear somebody else with your heart. You hear them from the heart. And when you hear them from the heart, you spontaneously shift. You are automatically standing on common sacred ground and you just shift generously." (Alexia Salvatierra)
Wellbeing begins with we. âIf your community is not well, then you are not well.â Thriving is collective. But our atomic individualism and narrow focus on ourselves is constantly pulling us away from the mutual belonging, reciprocity, and vibrant flourishing that can only be found by seeking the good of the wider human communityâthe neighbor, the stranger, the migrant, the farm worker, and the poor.
Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is a scholar, organizer, activist, and pastor, and is Academic Dean of the Centro Latino as well as the Assistant Professor of Integral Mission and Global Transformation at Fuller Theological Seminary.
She offers a healing message for those who wrestle with the pain and suffering caused by structural and systemic injustice, calling for listening, empathy, and action. Alexiaâs faith is rooted in community and kinship. She affirms the wisdom of the body and cautions against over-intellectualization, offering instead a larger emotional vocabulary, emotional attunement, and the ability to hold and live with complex feelings.
The power of community is on display in our ability to celebrate and suffer together. And in Alexiaâs work as an activist, she shows how fractured communities can reconcile through the power of a shared dream.
In this conversation with Alexia Salvatierra, we discuss:
The unique wisdom that Latin- a/o culture brings to spiritual and theological conversations about thriving and spiritual healthThe complex, communal, and collective nature of thrivingHow her theology as a Lutheran pastor was formed by compassion and concern for the poorThe challenge of Western Christians to see beyond individualistic rationality and the atomic unit of the self when thinking about wellness and thrivingThe transformative potential of a common dream to unify and reconcileThe power of beautiful stories that are deeply connected to truth and goodnessSeeing relationships as not just an end goal of thriving, but a means to thriving.About Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is the Academic Dean of the Centro Latino at Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as the Assistant Professor of Integral Mission and Global Transformation. Her work is a beautiful mosaic of immigration reform, faith-rooted organizing, cross-cultural ministry, and building vital holistic Christian community. Throughout her career, sheâs played a central role in founding and convening communities for social justice, including the New Sanctuary Movement, the Guardian angels Project. Matteo 25 a bipartisan Christian network to protect and defend families facing deportation, the Evangelical Immigration Table, and the Ecumenical Collaboration for Asylum-Seekers. She is co-author of God's Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants and Buried Seeds: Learning from the Vibrant Resiliency of Marginalized Christian Communities.
Show Notes
Explore Alexiaâs work in God's Resistance: Mobilizing Faith to Defend Immigrants and Buried Seeds: Learning from the Vibrant Resiliency of Marginalized Christian Communities.âIf your community is not well, then you are not well.âPam King introduces Alexia SalvatierraMision Integral and Liberation TheologyAlexia Salvatierra answers, âWhat is thriving?âBien estarââwellbeingâIsaiah 65:17-25: âFor I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lordâand their descendants as well. Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpentâits food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.âThe sounds of healthy communityEqual valueWe all want to belongFrederick Buechner: âVocation is where the world's deep hunger and our own deep gladness meet.âTrauma and faith, agency to combat hopelessnessSpiritual gift of justiceDolorismo: ennobling suffering, suffering in silenceOrthopathos: when suffering can be useful to make a changeâThe Holy Spirit is your consolation, your consuelo.âSurfing the Spirit: Fluidity and dynamic balanceSerenity PrayerâI donât make the collective an idol.âThe importance of freedom, while critiquing âsuper-individualismâDiscern in the context of communityIndividual discernmentLiberation theology: âYou learn by doing.âMeditative Prayer Practice: The Serenity Prayer (In English and Spanish)Civil War in Guatemala and PanamaDr. Oscar Arias of Costa Ricaâinformal peace process behind the scenesThe Dream Exercise and ConcertaciĂłn (âcoming into harmonyâ)The difference between concertaciĂłn and negotiationâItâs about generosity.âGenerosity vs dividing up the checkDream ExerciseâAs poor people, we have trouble believing that our dreams can come true, period.âEli Finkelâs All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages WorkSocial capital and trustJesuits in AsiaEnculturation: Encountering the truth (and each other) at the intersections of cultureOrthopoesis and beautyKnowing God through beauty, not just truth or goodnessâDe Coloresââthe joy of all the colorsAdrienne Marie Brown and Community Social TransformationPeter Heltzel and ârevolutionary friendshipsââWeâre a very graceless society. A society at war is a graceless society.âReconciliation: Navajo on opponents instead of enemies, and South AfricaHoyt Axtonâs âLess Than The Songâ (1973)ââI cannot rest easy until all your dreams are real.âThe co-evolutionary relationshipâSeeing the wholeness of the otherâ in concertaciĂłnLoving the child in the other; calling the best forth in each other.Truth, Beauty, and GoodnessPam Kingâs key takeaways:If your community is not well, then you are not well. Thriving is collective.We all have a core psychological drive to belong and be received and contribute in our families and communities.Caring for our emotional brains and bodies is essential in seeking collective thriving.Thriving involves a necessary commitment to justice, and is beautifully captured by terms like shalom and concertaciĂłn.The Christian tradition of compassion and concern for the marginalized can pull us out of our heads, out of our tunnel vision, and move us toward the transformation of society.Communicating a common dream or shared vision can help us move from an atomic individualistic mentality to loving community and reconciliation.About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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Note: This episode contains content about trauma. Listener discretion is advised.
The path toward hope and healing is often charted through pain, suffering, loss, and grief.
Coming from two decades spent studying post-traumatic stress disorder, researcher and clinical psychologist Dr. Cynthia Eriksson Cynthia has worked with individuals and communities in the wake of major tragedy. Her psychological and spiritual perspectives emerge from first hand experience with Cambodian children exposed to the atrocities of war, Ugandan refugees, Haitian victims of earthquake catastrophe and infrastructure collapse, or at home in Pasadena tending to frontline workers who are often left burned out and traumatized from relief work.
Cynthia Eriksson discusses how to pursue resilience and recovery by reflecting on the role of faith and spirituality; habits and rhythms of life; and relationships and community.
How should we understand the difference between resilience and thriving?
Resilience focuses on the adaptive capacities that people need to bounce back from trauma, creating the capacity to bounce back, and the skills to increase oneâs ability and agility to recover. Whereas thriving refers to adaptive growth through adversity, trauma, challenges, and opportunities, all the while in pursuit of oneâs purpose.
Both resilience and thriving recognize the complexities of life, and both affirm and require the actualization of human agency.
In this conversation with Cynthia Eriksson, we discuss:
How leaders and helpers and caretakers can identify trauma in themselves, and come to recognize, accept, and respond.The importance of paying attention to our brains, bodies, and environment.The 5 Râs of resilience to trauma and recovery from trauma.Spiritual responses to suffering and painâwhich can often result in incredibly profound experiences with Godâand this includes expressing anger at God within a struggle.And practically, we talk about how to deal with avoidance, defensiveness, and blaming others or ourselvesâbasically, the potentially destructive nature of coping mechanisms.And we close with a beautiful grounding practice that connects us all to our bodies and emotions, to engage trauma, and stay on the path to thriving.Show Notes
Resource: "Thriving through Trauma: Five Râs for Resilience and Recovery" (via thethrivecenter.org)Resource: "Practice: The Five Râs of Resilience and Recovery" (via thethrivecenter.org)Resilience versus thrivingâwhatâs the difference?What is trauma? A threat to existence.Extending from trauma to suffering and helping other people build resilience and recoverCynthia Erikssonâs personal experience of trauma (and not realizing it)Problem solving and seeking control as a coping mechanism and defense against acknowledging and dealing with traumaDissociationExperiencing trauma is not the same thing as being traumatizedFight, flight, freeze, or fawn (âtend and befriendâ)The symptoms of trauma and areas of disruptionWhat happens in our bodiesWhat happens in our minds (thinking)What happens in our relationshipsWhat happens in our sense of meaning, justice, and making sense of the worldResilienceâWhat are some of the things that we can all do that help us to build some muscles when it comes to navigating life's suffering?Resilience as a skill everyone can cultivate through personal growth, rather than a static traitâNeurons that fire together wire together.âThe Five Râs of Resilience Regulation: bodies and emotions Reflection and Right Thinking: truth and factual acceptance Relationships: community, connection, friendship, and support Respite and Rest: disengagement and Sabbath healing Reason: meaning and transcendenceHow to deal with big, overwhelming feelings in the wake of trauma.Grounding and settling practices: feeling where you are. âIâm here now, and Iâm safe.âLament as a healthy spiritual response to traumaAnger at and with GodSpiritual practice of lamentAsking a hard question of God: âWhy arenât you here, God?âLament and anger at God as a practice to stay in relationship with GodâThereâs this tension of: âIf I show up for God, will God show up for me?âOrienting to the pain and suffering of others: âHow do I show up for the people that are around me who are in pain what does it mean for me to actually open myself up to the pain of others and stay present?ââDo justice, love mercy, and walk humbly.â (Micah 6:8)Coping mechanisms: substances, shopping, Netflix, avoidanceUnhealthy responses to trauma-based emotion: the dangers of replaying, ruminating, and regrettingRumination is not a constructive processing.What kind of grace can I show myself?Book: Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and BodiesBook: Lisa Najavits, Seeking Safety: A Treatment Manual for PTSD and Substance AbuseGuided meditative practice: GroundingExplaining the science behind Grounding PracticesPractical ways to get helpBook: Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Braim, Mind, and Body in the Healing of TraumaBook: Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violenceâfrom Domestic Abuse to Political TerrorBook: Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and BodiesNational Child Traumatic Stress Network (currently under website maintenance as of March 4, 2024; contact helpdesk at [email protected] or in an emergency, dial 911)National Center for PTSDCynthia Eriksson on What is thriving?Joy and FreedomPam Kingâs Key TakeawaysA life of thriving on purpose actually includes pain and sadness. A history of trauma is not a disqualification from thriving.Coping strategies are tricky. They tempt us towards avoidance, defensiveness, defensiveness, substance abuse, blaming, and self judgment. Our goal is not coping. Our goal must be thriving.Lots of R's here, but regulation, reflection, right thinking, relationships, respite, and rest, and reason are core components to developing resilience and enacting recovery.It's okay to be angry at God, and it helps to tell God that's actually the case.We can find emotional grounding and regulation through intentionally enhancing a deep connection between our bodies and minds.And the path to thriving is often one where our minds need to follow our bodies and all their glorious complexity.For more information about resilience recovery, org. In Cynthia Erickson's framework of five hours, visit our website at thethrivecenter.org.About Cynthia Eriksson
Cynthia Eriksson is Dean of the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy, and is a Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Department.
Her research is particularly focused on the needs of cross-cultural aid for mission workers, as well as the interaction of trauma and spirituality. This work has included trauma training, research, and consultation in Monrovia, Liberia; Kobe, Japan; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Barcelona, Spain; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Gulu, Uganda; and Amman, Jordan.
Eriksson also collaborated with colleagues in the US, Europe, and Africa on a longitudinal research project on stress in humanitarian aid workers funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. She also participates in the Headington Program in International Trauma at Fuller.
She has completed research on risk and resilience, exposure to stress, and spiritual development in urban youth workers funded by the Fuller Youth Institute.
Eriksson and her students are currently exploring the intersection of cultural humility and culturally-embedded resilience practices through collaborations with ministry agencies and Fuller colleague Alexia Salvatierra.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âOur relationships really shape how we feel, how we think, how we remember things, how we tell the story of who we are, the sense of self, where you focus your attention, what gives you a sense of purpose.
Relational integration in a family leads to the growth of neural integration inside the child's nervous system. Every time you say regulationâlike regulating emotion or your mood, regulating attention, thought behavior, self-understanding, moralityâit depends on integration in the brain. So the neural integration is the basis for optimal regulation, but it comes from relational integration.
We all can follow Picasso's suggestion, which I think is really beautiful: The meaning of life discovering our gift. The purpose of life is giving it away.â (Dan Siegel)
In developmental science, there are lots of debates between nature and nurture. And Dr. Dan Siegelâs groundbreaking work in interpersonal neurobiology demonstrates that we are naturally wired for nurtureâand furthermore, we cannot thrive without it.
Over the past five decades, he has sought to explain through attachment theory and a study of the brain, how relationships shape our feelings, thoughts, memories, stories and personal narratives, and how all these offer an opportunity for us to integrate all of our personal subjective with the world outside us.
Our relational tendencies and inner being are malleableâalways growing and changing. We are under construction our entire lives, and thatâs good news for those of us who feel the weight of loneliness, relational struggle, or the challenges of mental illness.
Dan Siegelâs work helps us become deeply present to othersâin friendships, romance, or parentingâby becoming deeply attuned to your inner life, including all of our emotions, plans, pain, and our ongoing and evolving stories.
His research shows that caring and attuned relationships provide a safe and secure environment in which we can experience integration and gain insight into what is most meaningful to us. He calls this concept âmindsightââhow we gain an inner sense of self is intertwined with how we relate to others.
And he offers how mindfulness and meditation are important to this process of becoming intraconnected. Life today is characterized by isolation and fragmentation, but Danâs wisdom and practices offer helpful guidelines on how we can grow wholeâand persons in deepening, reciprocating relationships.
Dr. Dan Siegel is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He has authored numerous research articles, books, and accessible materials that apply what we know about the brain to our most sacred and significant relationships. His many books include the groundbreaking introduction to interpersonal neurobiology, The Developing Mindâas well as Mindsight, Parenting from the Inside Out, The Whole Brain Child, and his most recent book, Intra-Connected.
In this conversation with Dan Siegel, we discuss:
The connection between the mind and the brain, and why that matters for our thrivingComing to terms with big, challenging emotionsâespecially fearHow psychological integration creates flow and harmony and helps us deal with chaos and rigidityThe scientific connection between focused attention, open awareness, and compassionate intentionHe walks us through a mindfulness exercise he calls âthe wheel of awarenessâThe neurobiology of interpersonal relationshipsAnd we discuss how that impacts not just our spirituality and relationships, but society as a whole.About Dan Siegel
Dr. Siegel is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. An award-winning educator, he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and recipient of several honorary fellowships. Dr. Siegel is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational organization, which offers online learning and in-person seminars that focus on how the development of mindsight in individuals, families and communities can be enhanced by examining the interface of human relationships and basic biological processes. His psychotherapy practice includes children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. He serves as the Medical Director of the LifeSpan Learning Institute and on the Advisory Board of the Blue School in New York City, which has built its curriculum around Dr. Siegelâs Mindsight approach.
He is author of many books, including, The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation, The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive, Parenting from the Inside Out: How A Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive, and his most recent, IntraConnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and Belonging.
Show Notes
Explore Dr. Dan Siegelâs Website ResourcesDan Siegelâs latest book: Intraconnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and BelongingPracticing the Wheel of Awareness (guided meditative exercises): https://drdansiegel.com/wheel-of-awareness/Emotional realities reverberating throughout our livesPicasso on meaning and purpose: âThe meaning of life discovering our gift. The purpose of life is giving it away.âHost Pam King introduces Dr. Dan SiegelLiving life on auto-pilotâFor those of us feeling isolated, lonely, or cut off. You are not a finished product. ⊠We are under construction our entire lives.ââWhat in the world is going on?âGrowing up with an undercurrent of fear; Dan Siegel shares about his adolescence and his family dynamicsUnderstanding internal, relational ecosystemsCommunicating and connecting with people in crisis; Dan Siegel on working for a suicide prevention serviceVivek Murthy and the epidemic of lonelinessJohn Lennonâs assassination and the mental illness of his murdererâWhat would a healthy mind be?âThe 1990s: The Decade of the BrainWhat is the relationship between the mind and the brain?âOur relationships really shape how we feel, how we think, how we remember things, how we tell the story of who we are, the sense of self. So, you know, whatever you call those things. Feelings thinking, narrative meaning making, where you focus your attention, um, what gives you a sense of purpose.âAttachment research and linking relationships to the mind and the brainThe difficulty of defining the mind for scientific studyHow could they all be correct?Energy transmission and connecting neurology to socialityEmergent Properties and âoptimal self-organization that creates harmonious flowâRelational integration and integration in the brainDifferentiation and linkageWhat does âintegrationâ mean?Environmental factors and the shaping of attachment stylesParenting from the inside outâFeeling feltâPresence, attunement, regulationCuriosity, openness, acceptanceWhat is thriving?Living as a verb and avoiding ânounificationâRashid: âHaving abandoned the flimsy fantasy of certainty, I decided to wander.ââWander with them through the journey of life.âUnderstand your own childhood experiences and then liberate themPatterns of developmental pathwaysLife is scary and full of uncertainty.âWe've identified three subcortical networks that involve agency, which is a drive for empowerment; bonding, a drive for connection; and certainty, a drive for safety.âAgency - feeling seenBonding - feeling soothedCertainty - feeling safeâWho we are is really energy flow.âFinding harmonious flow between the shores of chaos and rigidityVUCA life: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous.Minimize exposure to informationPicasso: âThe meaning of life is discovering our gift. The purpose of life is giving it away.âThe Wheel of Awarenessattention to be focused, awareness to be open, intention to be kindThe hub of the wheel: the source of knowingThe rim of the wheel: that which is knownCreating a loving state inside youâEmpty but full.ââConnected to everyone and everythingâFeeling an open sense of loveChristian contemplative tradition and centering prayerSilence and stillnessâleading to heightened awarenessThe illusion of certaintyMe + We = MWeWell-being and thrivingAdaptive developmental regulationLeaning into love: âthe manifestation of love is kindness and compassionâSpiritual health and being âintraconnectedâIntraconnected: MWe (Me + We) as the Integration of Self, Identity, and BelongingâFeeling into the truth of our intraconnected identityâHost Pam Kingâs Key Takeaways:We are embodied creatures with glorious brains that we're still only beginning to understand.Caring attuned relationships can create opportunities for us to be and become who we are, realizing our deep connection to others.There's a constant balancing act between chaos and rigidity, and the path of spiritual health is marked by a steady recovery of harmonious flow. A process called integration.When life is scary and uncertain, we need safe relationships to ground us, help us attune and regulate and navigate the most challenging circumstances.And finally We need a new paradigm for reciprocal relationships in society, seeing the ways we're intra connected Knit together with and for each other.About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âIt really has to do with this ability to, to dream and to live unencumbered.â â Dr. Dwight Radcliff
Seeing justice, equity, and social transformation through the lens of hip-hop culture and Christian faith, Rev. Dr. Dwight Radcliff offers a vision of freedom and unencumbered life for the future of the Black community to which we can all bear witness.
Raising challenging questions about the meaning of thriving in a culture dominated by fear, he speaks in a prophetic voice, interweaving the powerful, compounding effects of the language of the Gospel and the language of hip-hop.
As a cultural theologian, community leader, and pastor, one of Dwightâs many gifts is presenceâpresence to emotion, to the realty of injustice, and to the complexities of thriving in the context of race and gender.
He speaks about the power of purpose and calling in his life, pointing out the unique insight hip-hop, rap, and R&B music can offer the human experience. He calls us to be attuned to the whole reality of pain, suffering, trauma, and struggle when discussing psychological and spiritual health and thriving. And he bears witness to fear, anger, and griefâre-sensitizing us to our pain and vulnerabilityâspeaking truth for the sake of beauty and justice.
In this conversation, we discuss:
Thriving as the ability to dream and live unencumbered, and the ways the Black church embodies that thrivingThe grievous reality of Black double-consciousness that results from systemic racismAnd his personal experience as a Black man todayMental health in the Black communityThe power of sanctified purposeHow hip-hop culture and music help us understand thriving at embodied, emotional, and familial levels, beyond the horizon of rational understandingAnd how the prophetic vision of hip hop operates in the same tradition of justice spelled out by the Gospel that Jesus taught and lived.Show Notes
Check out Rev. Dr. Dwight Radcliffâs Hip Hop Playlist (Note: Explicit Content)What is it to live unencumbered?âHip-hop culture keeps me in check. It reminds me that the church of Jesus Christ is also supposed to be a prophetic and subversive voice.âHip-hop and the Black experienceIntroduction: Rev. Dr. Dwight A. RadcliffDwight Radcliff: What is thriving?âI think it really has to do with this ability to dream and to live unencumbered.âFear and the experience of Black menâThe American dream is not available to all equally.ââWhat is unencumbered life for Dwight?âW.E.B. Du Bois and Double ConsciousnessW.E.B. Du Boisâs book, The Souls of Black Folk (Project Gutenberg)Double consciousness is âfatal to self-confidence,â producing âa peculiar wrenching of the soul, a peculiar sense of doubt and bewilderment.ââI donât get to just be me.âDr. John M. PerkinsâWhere does our pain come from? Why are you hurting? And I give you your pain and I say that you are hurting; and you give me my pain and we say that we are hurting.âHonest, vulnerable conversationsTrauma and inherited traumaâWhy do we have to be Black?ââOne of the things that I'm lamenting right now in our society is our inability to have honest conversationsâour inability to say, âHey, this happened, this was horrible.â There are ramifications and ripple effects of that. How do we address it, talk about it, and begin to take corrective action so that all of our children can begin to dream and live unencumbered.âWhere are honest conversations happening?âI might not change the world, but I'll damn sure inspire the mind that does.â (paraphrase of Tupac Shakur)Socioepigenetics: the impact of genetic inheritance for emotional trauma, depression, anxiety, and the effects of social injusticeMental health in the Black church and broader Black community, and the mistrust of mental health providersBarbara Holmes on Black contemplative practices and spiritualityHip-hop culture and expression of pain and sufferingDwight Radcliffâs journey through hip-hopPentacostal Holiness church and seeing hip-hop as the devil.âYouâre more concerned with the curse words than the cursed worlds.ââI began to do a dangerous thing: I began to read the Bible.âJames Cone, The Spirituals & the BluesWest African spirituality and âholding all things togetherâGrandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, âThe MessageââDonât push me, cuz Iâm close to the edge / Iâm trying not to lose my headââItâs like a jungle sometimes / It makes me wonder how I keep from going underâ2Pac, âI Wonder If Heaven Got a GhettoâC. Dolores Tucker, a Black congresswoman and critic of 2PacHip-Hop as a way of life, unencumbered and wholly oneselfJ. Kameron Carter on poesis and creativityâPoesis⊠making a haven in a ghetto.ââI am hip-hop.âLament and Good NewsAbout Dwight Radcliff
Theologian and pastor Rev. Dr. Dwight A. Radcliff Jr. is Academic Dean and director of the William E. Pannell Center for Black Church Studies and is Assistant Professor of Mission, Theology, and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. Prior to coming to Fuller, Dr. Radcliff taught at Vanguard University, Azusa Pacific University, and the Southern California School of Ministry.
He has published in The Journal of Hip Hop Studies, and is a recipient of the Parish Pulpit Fellowship graduation prize and the Hooper/Keefe Preaching Award. He completed post-masterâs studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and the University of Oxford.
He currently serves as senior pastor of The Message Center in Gardena, California, where he leads with his wife, DeShun Jones-Radcliff, who serves as the churchâs director of administration. He and his wife have two daughters.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âLove of God, love of neighbors. Seek the kingdom, the good of the world. And in that good of the whole, your own good. And be attuned to what is around you in joy and also in sorrow.â (Miroslav Volf)
Weâre in a crisis of meaning. Itâs like our existential compasses are off kilter. Uprooted from faith, social, and civic communitiesâthe very institutions that once supplied narratives, a sense of identity, and belonging.
But meaning and purpose are central to our spiritual health and therefore thriving. And theology comes into play because psychologists are more concerned with how meaning is made descriptivelyâlooking at the cognitive and affective processes of our brains and behavior. Whereas theologians are concerned with prescriptive meaning, commenting normatively about how we should live.
This episode features renowned theologian Miroslav Volf (Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School / Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture) and author of the bestselling book, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most.
We need stories of love and hope to define our lives. And much of Miroslav's life's work has been devoted to understanding what constitutes a life worth living.
In our conversation, he shares about a God who is with us, who is loving, and who created us for love, calling us to an active role in the flourishing of this world.
In this conversation, we discuss:
How to discern what really matters and how to be intentional about a life worth livingThe need to challenge the hyper individualistic assumptions of our day, focusing on thriving life as a life of connections and convictionsSpiritual health as dependent on our relationships with one another, with God, and creationSpiritual practices that quiet, create space, and slow us downâallowing us to attune a broad and secure space for human becoming and unfoldingMiroslav speaks openly and vulnerably about his own experiences of faith, suffering, hope, and flourishingShow Notes
Learn more about the Yale Center for Faith and CultureCheck out Miroslavâs best-selling book, Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most (co-authored with Matt Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz)Reorienting theology around the concept of human flourishingHonor everyone, love God, love neighbor, seek the kingdom, stay attuned in joy and in sorrowCrisis of meaning and the need for deeper reflection on what matters mostâWe need stories of love and hope to define our lives.âInterdisciplinary research in psychology and theologyMiroslav reflects on his early life in 1970s Croatia (then Yugoslavia)Anthony Kronmanâs Educationâs End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of LifeMiroslavâs early faith: âJesus is alive.ââHis experience was that people who believe are idiots, that they can't know anything, that they are these parasites that want to undermine whatever the society's trying to do. And so that was my first initiation, so to speak, in the public living of my faith. ⊠but, it was also beautiful.âA way of life that is worth suffering forâholding a treasure.âAnother occasion where we were actually beaten and chased out of a village that was completely communist-dominated. And we kind of disrupted it by ⊠We spoke about Jesus ⊠and they chased us out of the city to beat us up ⊠and then we had this kind of sense of joy.âPractices vs ReflectionMoral practices and felt experienceâThere's always a kind of excess beyond what we can actually say, what we can describe, what we can explain. We stutter often when we try toâespecially describe experiences like joy or like suffering. They're beyond the words. That's the beauty of themâgiving oneself to them.âMiroslav Volf on thrivingThriving is framed around three elements of human experience: agency, circumstances, and emotionsâknit together through the lens of the kingdom of God and Christian imaginationAgency: Love God and Love neighbor.Circumstances: âThy kingdom comeâ vs âgive us this day our daily breadâEmotions: Attune to the world. âRejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.ââLove of God, love of neighbors. Seek the kingdom, the good of the world. And in that good of the whole, your own good. And be attuned to what is around you in joy and also in sorrow.âPrimordial goodness: Goodness is always prior to evil.Spacious public faith and Christ as the key to flourishing lifeChrist as a moral teacher and exemplarThe âalivenessâ and presence of ChristâI often don't experience God.âMartin Luther on faith: Christ as a gem, encased in our faithChurch fathers on the presence of Christ as âheated iron in fireââthe heat doesnât come from the iron but from the firedâsimilarly, God heats us from within.Exclusion & Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and ReconciliationPorous boundaries and our nature as relational beingsJĂŒrgen Moltmannâs autobiography A Broad PlaceâReligion really cramps our style⊠But in Miroslav's theology, personal wholeness in Christ is spacious and freeing.âExodus 3: God promising to lead Israel out of bondage and constraint and into freedom and a broad spaceLoveRelational image of God and relationalityGod as ultimate loverââGod loves us while we are still so far awayâLife Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters MostChristian faith and pluralismArticulating a coherent answer to what it means to live a life thatâs worthy of our humanityThe Recipe: âYou canât put all the ingredients together as you wish. They have to fit together.ââWe make truth claims.ââI think we go wrong when we don't honor people's own search for truth. The whole book is about having truth-seeking conversations about something that has a claim upon your life. And argue with others, but argue in such a way that honors everyone. And so for me, this is a kind of central Christian conviction that comes straight from the Bible, from 1 Peter. Short commandment: Honor everyone. That's what I need to do. Whatever they do, whatever they think, especially honor those who've spent so much time trying to think through some of these issues as many of the figures have that have, that are not necessarily Christian.ââHonor everyone.âNurturing the ascetic practices of self-reflection and disciplineSpiritual exercise by Pam King: Creating SpaceTeresa of Avila and the Interior CastleRelationality, reciprocity, and mutual flourishingRobin Wall Kimmerer in *Braiding Sweetgrass: â*All flourishing is mutual.ââHuman thriving isn't thriving when it's the expense of other people's thriving.ââAnd it's a kind of strange paradox. At our disposal, but it's all reference to me and to my experiences. ⊠We have a really narrow scope of concerns.âMaryâs Magnificat: âGod coming and taking the mighty down from their thrones and transforming the entire world.ââWhat I want is the expansion of the horizon of concerns. Our horizon of concern is the horizon of God's mission in the world. Godâs mission is our mission.âAbout Miroslav Volf
Miroslav Volf is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture.
He was educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, earning doctoral and post-doctoral degrees (with highest honors) from the University of TĂŒbingen, Germany. He has written or edited more than 20 books, over 100 scholarly articles, and his work has been featured in the Washington Post, Christianity Today, Christian Century, Sojourners, and several other outlets, including NPR, On Being with Krista Tippett, and Public Televisionâs Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
His books include Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most, Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation, Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace, Allah: A Christian Response, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity, A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good, The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World, Flourishing: Why We Need Religion in a Globalized World, For the Life of the World: Theology that Makes a Difference (with Matthew Croasmun), and The Home of God: A Brief Story of Everything (with Ryan McAnnally-Linz).
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âOur society doesn't want to hear about how interdependent we areâdoesn't want to hear that if we want to thrive, we have to put people first and we have to create community. And people need connection with others like they need oxygen. If you create a world where that connection isn't very available or it all happens on a screen, you are going to have huge problems. You are going to have huge problems with depression, anxiety, suicide, emptinessâpeople are going to make terrible choices.â (Sue Johnson)
We need each other. We are relational beings, and our thrivingâor languishingâoften hinges on relationships. In this episode, psychologists Sue Johnson and Jim Furrow not only explain why relationships are so important, they offer practical advice on how to pursue healing, emotional regulation, and lasting thriving in all kinds of relationships.
Sue Johnson is the creator of Emotionally Focused Therapy, the gold standard in tested, proven interventions of couples and author of many books including Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love. Jim Furrow is a marriage and family therapist and an internationally renowned trainer of Emotionally Focused Therapy.
This conversation goes from profound to practical, covering the biological and psychological science to explain why belonging gives way to becoming. We discuss the rampant emptiness and loneliness, fear, and depression people today experience and the connection between relationships and a sense of meaning in life. Sue and Jim also provide a framework for how to understand your attachment style and the way it impacts your relational health. And they discuss the practical ways we can grow and change so that we can engage in and sustain fulfilling and life giving relationships.
In this conversation with Sue Johnson & Jim Furrow, we discuss:
What it means to be fully alive, in all the existential fullness that being human meansHow to bring together the spectrum of emotional realities with our lived experienceThe crisis of loneliness we face today, and what we can do about itThe role of empathy and caring in the healing processAn introduction to attachment science, the role of attachment figures in thriving relationshipsAnd the therapeutic and relational practices that lead to security, a sense of worth, empowerment, and competence in life.About Sue Johnson & Jim Furrow
Sue Johnson is the creator of Emotionally Focused Therapy and author of many books including Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love. Jim Furrow is a marriage and family therapist and an internationally renowned trainer of Emotionally Focused Therapy.
Show Notes
Learn more about Emotionally Focused Therapy (including ways to find a therapist)Sue Johnsonâs book, Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of LoveWeâre made for relationships.âWe need to understand how crucial relationships are for us. They are oxygen. We need to help people value them and learn how to have them.ââIf we're not willing to risk and we're not willing to reach, we're not going to necessarily be found.ââYou can't be a self or by yourself. I think that says it all. That's the most basic human interaction. Do you share my reality? Is my reality valid? Do you see what I see? Can you make sense of it? Can you help me make sense of it? Is what I'm feeling making sense? Can you share it? Am I alone? I mean, this is the most basic human contact of all.âThe purpose of our being and our means to becoming.Episode SummaryPam King welcomes Sue Johnson and Jim Furrow.What is thriving meant to you?âFull existential living⊠fully alive.âCarl RogersâTrust yourself to go through life in an active way.ââFulsome being⊠not only who I am, but who Iâm with.âPurpose, meaning, and connectionTherapy is not only about reducing thriving to the treatment of symptoms.Coherence vs Binary Thinking: âHow does all of this cohere in a new way of making sense?âMother and Child: Explaining reality and needing other people to do soUnexpected, unknown, and fearAttachment figuresFullness vs. EmptinessThe relational isnât just a means to an end. Itâs our purpose.Sueâs relationship with her father: âHe was an amazing attachment figure.ââIâm an ardent feminist.âUnderstanding attachment through loss and griefSue Johnson on working with trauma survivorsJohn Bowlby: âYou do unto yourself as youâve been done to.ââJust to have some sort of sense of who you are, coherent sense of self, you need the recognition from another person. Yes, you matter. Yes, you're important. Yes, you have meaning. Yes, I see you. ⊠to not feel seen, to not feel like you matter to anybody is, it's excruciating for human beings.ââOne safe relationship with a loving other. seems to protect us and create resilience.âJimâs loss of his father: âI know he's going through a difficult time, but I believe in him and I know he will make it.âThe power of attachmentFully oneself, fully connected with anotherAttachment to God: foundation, protector, shield, transcendentSpirituality and experience of attachment through the beauty and transcendence of natureâMy life is part of this beauty.âAnimate, invigorate, create.âYour worth comes from your connection to others.ââBut no, we're not enough. But I think our society doesn't want to hear that. It doesn't want to hear about how interdependent we are. Doesn't want to hear that if we want to thrive, we have to put people first and we have to create community.âInterdependence and affective dependenceHow to forge relational bonds.AttentionâLove and bonding is about attention and if you don't give attention to the other person in your relationship, which means if you don't take the time, make it important enough and focus down and spend time, then whatever connection you have naturally erodes.âAREâAccessible, Responsive, and EngagedâItâs more than date night⊠itâs about engaging with the other person.ââLoneliness and depression are going to be the main problems for the next century.âRelationship-driven church communitiesâOne of the things that is a heartbeat in our work in emotionally focused therapy is calling individuals into opportunities to share vulnerably with one another.âJohn Cacioppo (loneliness researcher): we have changed deep relationships from an essential to an incidental.Vulnerability and lonelinessDepressed or heartbroken?The impact of smartphone technology on relationshipsEmpathy and caring in the healing processâWhen the vulnerability becomes specific and makes sense and is accepted, then people have words for it, they can tolerate it, and they start to be able to share it. And when they do that, they pull their partner towards them. They evoke empathy and caring. Thatâs the only solution to human emotional pain that there really existsâs the empathy and caring of another. That is true in religion too. It's the empathy and caring of a God figure. That's about bonding. It's about sharing vulnerability.ââNo one goes through vulnerability alone.âBelonging leads to becomingPam Kingâs key takeaways:Being fully alive means finding coherence and connection with others. finding meaning in human and spiritual relationships.Relational bonding is built in to our genetic code. We're built for connection and made for relationships and we have to work at it.Relationships are powerful. They are capable of bringing sorrow and joy. To the extent that they're able to break us down, they're even more able to build us back up and bring us to healing.Longing for relationships is natural and normal. While loneliness can be so frightening, it does not need to be stigmatized. But it does need to be worked through.Often healing comes through the very wounds we're hurting with. We heal when we open up in vulnerability, when we seek transcendence and connection with others, and ultimately with a loving and caring GodAbout the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âWe all have a story because we all have a future and a past. ⊠And story is really about making the influences in our life explicit to ourselves. Oftentimes, when we're not living intentionally, it's like we don't know what our story is. And we're not living in a way that is aligned at all with our purposeâso that you know what your story is, and so that you can be explicit in your intentional current behavior, feelings, and decisions.â (Dr. Belle Liang)
Do you know your purpose? How do you understand your own life story?
The science of purpose promises many positive outcomes: mental health, psychological wellbeing, physical health, even longevity, not to mention academic engagement, career fulfillment, and even nurturing relationships. Who doesnât want purpose?
But as much as it captivates us, can be an elusive, ephemeral object dangling in front of us. We want it. We can sense it. We should have it. But we canât quite attain it.
A deep sense of purpose and vocation are central to our spiritual health. Purpose is understood as an actionable and enduring goal that is meaningful to oneself and contributes to the world beyond oneself, is crucial to our spirituality bc it serves to integrate our beliefs, values, understanding of ultimacy, and love into action.
In this episode Dr. Belle Liang (Boston College, author of the bestselling book How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, and Beyond), offers research-backed practical guidance on how to identify and pursue your purpose, identifying essential elements of purpose: (1) character strengths, (2) skills and expertise, (3) deeply held values, and (4) a sense of contribution to the world.
During the interview she guides listeners through a real-time practical exercise for aligning with our purpose and explore how it can help us navigate the journey of life.
In this conversation with Belle Liang, we discuss:
How family history shapes us as individualsThe importance of differentiation and emerging from early family dependency into a healthy sense of oneself as an individualThe role of faith, spirituality, and community in our understanding of purposeA psychological definition of purpose as using strengths and skills and values to make a positive impact on the worldAnd the practical elements of finding and living your purpose as an individual, with Belle guiding us through a practice of reflecting on our past and finding our purposeAbout Belle Liang
Dr. Belle Liang is a professor of Counseling, Developmental, & Educational Psychology at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. As the founder and Principal Investigator of Purpose Lab, she is committed to advancing understanding of positive youth development, including mentoring and relational health, through her research. Her expertise in purpose interventions, including those that are technologically mediated, is reflected in her current work leading the development of True North, a curriculum and web-based application aimed at helping individuals and organizations cultivate purpose with data analytics.With over 100 publications, Dr. Liang is recognized as a knowledgeable speaker and collaborator in the field of positive youth development. She is grateful for the opportunities she has had to contribute to the field and to translate research into practical application, as demonstrated by her recent co-authorship of the bestselling How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, & Beyond, published by St. Martinâs Press.
Show Notes
Check out How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, and Beyond by Belle Liang and Timothy KleinâWhat is your life dream?â Learn more about Belle Liangâs Purpose LabsâPurpose is knowing more of yourself and living in ways that are aligned and consistent with those values, strengths, beliefs, and, desires.âPam King introduces Belle Liang and this episodeBelle Liangâs family of originGrowing up the daughter of Asian immigrant parents with very impoverished backgroundsUnderstanding sacrificeLearning how to listen to herself and identify her vocation and purposeHow Belle became a psychologistâIt was pretty tricky for me early on to make some decisions that had to do with my own interests, my own intrinsic motivations versus doing what seemed to be the most strategic pathway to success.âParker Palmer and âletting your life speakâListening to the inner voice that reveals purposeHow to define purpose in order to study it through psychological researchPurpose as âliving a life that is personally meaningful and intended to contribute to the world beyond oneself.âPositive outcomes of finding and living your purposeImproved mental health and well beingPhysical health and longevityBetter academic engagementIncreased career fulfillmentWhat are the elements of purpose?Character strengthsSkills that you're motivated to learn and masterValues that you're willing to stand for and sacrifice forNeeds of the world that you want to contribute toâPurpose is not like finding your one true love.âRomans 12âoffering our lives as âliving sacrifices, holy and pleasing to GodâPractical or Passion: theyâre not mutually exclusiveâPurpose is not like you have to sacrifice a paycheck, in order to do the thing that you love and the thing that is aligned with your purpose.âLiving life to the fullestPamâs purpose: âTo enable people to thrive and become who God created them to be.âBelleâs purpose: âTo be a blessing ⊠translating research and spiritual language into plain language. ⊠translating across the lines.âPractical resources and tools for finding your purposePurpose defined: âUsing your strengths and skills to make a positive impact in the world that's aligned with your core values.ââThere's a lot that we don't know about ourselves because we've never been given the space to reflect and given the scaffolding to ask those kinds of questions of ourselves.âRecommended practice: Journal for 3 to 5 minutesâHow do you want to be remembered?âLook for key words and think of them as strengths you want to be remembered for.âWhat's one thing you can do in one minute that's going to move you one step closer to your purpose?âExample: Cultivating courageCreating a âmoment that mattersââWe want to connect our envisioned future, whatever that, that aspiration is for growth and that strength or that skill with where it came from, which is reflecting on our past and what informed it with the action in the present, and to have people come alongside us as to journey with us, um, as we develop those skills and strengths.âPurpose Practice: âIn an ideal world, what does success look like for you.âPick out a few words that stand out, share them with trusted people.Envision the future based on these strengths and successes.Consider the past.What are certain experiences that you've had that are formative?What are certain relationships that were meaningful in your life that gave you that sense of the kind of success that you aspire to?What impact did this have on you?Did you learn a harsh truth about yourself or the world?Did it cause you to believe or to accept or trust something or someone?Did it cause you to commit to an action that altered the course of your life?Craft a story based on these reflections: (1) Set the stage, (2) Something happens, (3) Impact on you, (4) Success revealed.Purpose should be more like a verb than a nounâitâs a deeply relational endeavor.âWeâre purposing people.âLiving toward an envisioned future, informed by our past.âYou want to be able to tell your story. And itâs so helpful to have done the work of identifying what truly matters to you and putting it together in a story.âWeaving our stories into other storiesReclaiming our own life events and experiences and making meaning of thoseAt the end of ourselvesRelying on faith in God, prayer, and seeking God in seeking a life of purposeThe Sermon on the Mount: âBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.âIs purpose just for the privileged? NoSometimes purpose is associated with choice, but the research shows that those who have encountered adversity and trials and trauma are more deeply connected to their purpose.What is thriving to Belle Liang?âLiving in your joy.âIt's making the impact that you care about making in a way that's really aligned with your deepest core beliefs and values.âPurpose is not just about an individual mindset. It's about shifting culture.âPamâs key takeawaysWe are relational beings with deep dependencies on our families of origin, and we need to differentiate and individuate in order to thrive and find out who we are and enter into even more healthy relationships.To find our purpose, we can let our lives speak. And there is transformative power in personal storytelling when we do so mindfully and intentionally.Faith can be fertile ground for finding purpose, especially when practiced in communities of thriving and healthy spirituality.Spiritual health includes our own awareness of our evolving sense of purpose. and an application of that to our daily lives, w ork, vocation, and all the relationships we find there.Purpose is something you grow toward, and from it emerges all sorts of pro social benefits and positive personal outcomes for physical and mental health.Lastly, purpose is for everyone, not just a privileged few.About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âHumans are born to be kind. They're born to love. It is part of our nature. ⊠we're actually nurturing a capacity that is part of the nature of who we are as human beings to begin with.â â Dr. Richie Davidson
Dr. Richie Davidsonâs research has revolutionized the way we understand the brain and how plastic and malleable or changeable the brain is. Just like we train our physical bodies and go to the gym, he and his team at the Center for Healthy Minds have shown that we need to train our brains and work them out as well.
As a result, he is changing the way we understand well beingâto think of it as a skillâsomething we do and practice as active agents of our own well being.
His research can give us a whole new appreciation of Christian contemplative practices or disciplines. Although we can't control all that happens around us or to us, we do have some control on how we respond, merging helpful insight with concrete practices that make a difference for our minds, so that we can become more regulated, peaceful, receptive, open, and even more trusting. Not just so that our personal well being increases, but so that we become more engaged in thriving humans that contribute to a flourishing world.
In this bountiful conversation with Richie Davidson, we discuss:
Two kinds of learningâdeclarative and proceduralâthat need to be integrated in order to cultivate mental and spiritual healthThe four pillars of a healthy mind: awareness, connection, insight, and purposeHow to cultivate a mindset for healthy relational connectionHow to understand the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and how this impacts our well-being and spiritual healthThe over-emphasis (even approaching hype) on mindfulness that seems to be present in our cultureWhat a healthy approach to meditation might be in our spiritual livesThe science and spirituality of love and compassionAbout Richie Davidson
Dr. Richie Davidson is a pioneer in contemplative neuroscience, and does cutting edge research on the neuro-correlates of emotion and meditation. He's also the founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin Madison, where he's the William James Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry.
Show Notes
Check out the Healthy Minds App (free!)Learn more about the Center for Healthy MindsScience intersecting with spiritual experienceâI've always considered spiritual experience to be part of the human repertoire. I think that humans are born to touch into those qualities that we come to label spiritual because it is within our capacity to have experiences that in many ways we can say go beyond ourselves, connect us to something larger.âRichieâs experience with the Dalai LamaThe neuroscience of kindness and compassionThe development of the Center for Healthy Minds: âto cultivate wellbeing and relieve suffering through a scientific understanding of the mind.âLearning to approach thriving and well being as a skillTwo kinds of learning: declarative and proceduralBrain plasticity and well beingWell being requires practice!Declarative learning, e.g., learning the value of kindness or honesty. This wonât make you kinder or more honest, though.Procedural learningâ a skills-based roadmap, complementary to declarative learning.Mental hygieneThe four pillars of wellbeing: awareness, connection, insight, and purposeInsight: changing the narrative and changing the relationship to the narrativeSelf-esteemFinding your true north in lifeNurturing our capacity for compassion and kindnessâHumans are born to be kind. They're born to love. It is part of our nature. ⊠we're actually nurturing a capacity that is part of the nature of who we are as human beings to begin with.âThe power of appreciationCultivating a sentiment that others would be relieved of their sufferingLovingkindness meditation that moves from a person whoâs easy to love to others, including those who might be very hard to loveâAn elixer for the soulâ ⊠to âregain our humanityâMEDITATIVE PRACTICE for connection: Richie Davidson leads listeners through a meditative exercise to send love and wish for that personâs healing and relief of suffering.Comparing to Christian intercessory prayerExploring the pillars of awareness and insightThe default network or default modeResearch on depression and cognitive behavioral therapyâWhat does that mean: âI am sad.âââThe narrative we carry around acts as a filter.âDeveloping a healthy relationship with the narrative we have about ourselvesâA lot of people I think don't even recognize that they have a narrative. ⊠And that the narrative is actually powerfully guiding their behavior and experience in the world.âMary Helen Immordino Yang on meaning making and the default network.The default network is almost always about ourselves.The connectivity in our brains can change.MEDITATIVE PRACTICE for awareness and insight: Richie Davidson leads through an exercise to imagine a different approach to a challenging personal situation. âCan you imagine a different set of beliefs or expectations?âLetâs see if we can envision how things might be different.âUnderstanding purposeCultivating rituals that connect us to purposeWhat are the pitfalls that lurk near the practice of mindfulness or meditative practices for cultivating the skill of well being.Blaming the victim.âThe best form of meditation is the form of meditation that you actually do.âA gap in the scientific study of love and compassion.Vivek Murthy: âan epic struggle between the forces of love and the forces of fear.âWhat is thriving to you?âFrom my perspective, I would say thriving is nurturing all of the innate capacities that we've been given. And here, the four pillars of wellbeing in our framework are critical, awareness, connection, insight, and purpose. And I think when we are expressing these qualities to their maximum, we are thriving by definition. And I would say perhaps the most important manifestation of that is our capacity to both receive and to express love.âPamâs takeawaysâWe have a robust and glorious agency to cultivate our personal well being.ââTransformation comes from the integration of declarative and procedural learning.ââWe have the power to shift our relational experiences to more loving places that align with our deepest values.ââDiscerning and articulating your purpose will keep you grounded and directed in your journey towards spiritual health.ââPerfect love casts out fear.â (1 John 4:18)About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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âWe have so many demands before us, we feel that we cannot stop. There is too much to do, and we're not stopping. ⊠Know that if you follow the rhythm of this world, you'll likely be overworking and stressed out, if not traumatized, âso I actually get more done following the rhythm of my body and paying attention to it. Rhythms of deep work and deep rest. This is how I want to lead. For me to survive and then actually thrive in this kind of environment, I need to have a different rhythm.â â Alexis Abernethy, Fuller School of Psychology
Coming from decades of research, clinical work, and practice in the field, Dr. Alexis Abernethy cuts through theory and ideals, addressing the complex realities of life: loss, trauma, systemic racism, the grinding and wearing away from the stresses of everyday life, and the pressure to lead in the face of unsolvable suffering and need.
Alexis keeps spiritual health real and accessible, addressing research-backed principles on sleep, concentration, irritation, relationships, and burnout.
Absolutely essential to spiritual health and thriving in our chaotic and frenetic days, Alexis describes rhythms that we can internalize before we get to those soft symptoms or signs of stress.
This is a rich and robust conversation about self care at the deepest and most impactful levels in our physical, mental, and spiritual livesâtending to the complexity of our humanity and addressing the deep, pervasive practices that engage us and intertwine us with others and with the sacred, so that we can find and stay aligned with our purpose.
In this conversation, we discuss:
Her research and therapeutic work with traumatized pastors after Hurricane Katrina, emphasizing the necessity of self-care for the caregivers.How to identify the symptoms of burnout and how to respond.The Christian practice of Sabbath rest, worship, and singing, which Alexis personally experiences as a source of healing and restoration.Show Notes
âRhythms of deep work and deep rest. This is how I want to lead.âAlexis Abernethyâs research and expertiseHow leaders can heal and thrive, taking care of themselves and leading their communitities, even amidst traumatic circumstances and the threat of burnoutCaring for pastors and local leaders in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LouisianaâIt's just this complete devastation. That picture is seared in my mind, and then you go in other communities, and you don't see that same kind of devastation.ââFrankly, a deep anger just really was rising in me. righteous indignation at that injustice.ââThis is an interaction of an uncontrollable hurricane and man's decision making.âDealing with and holding all the anger that rises up as we develop a care and recovery process for healing after traumaHow to help the helpers? How to care for leaders who care for others?Surviving to Thriving, Resilience, and Cultivating RelationshipsPastorsâ Empowerment ProgramâWhat happens in the body?âTraumaâs effects: physically, psychologically, emotionally, interpersonallyââhow it affects how you engage in the world and how some people over-engageâEmotion regulationTheology of SabbathThe symptoms and root causes of burnoutThe Body Keeps the ScoreRestorative and restful sleepIrritabilityAttention and awareness: âWhose really in control here?ââFirst, know that if you follow the rhythm of this world, you'll likely be overworking and stressed out, if not traumatized, okay? But definitely overworking and stressed out, because that's the rhythm of our world.âTake a personal inventory for the purposes of making small adjustments that prioritize the balance of work and rest.How efficiency follows restHow to reorder the rhythms of lifeAlexisâs response to the murder of George Floyd in 2020âfeeling traumatizedâI actually needed the world to be much smaller around me. I had to retreat. I had to withdraw because I didn't have what it took to be my more typical empathic self.âPhil Allenâs film, Open WoundsIntellectualizing (as opposed to emotional presence) as a response to traumaThe pressure to have it all together and know what to doPermission as leaders and caregiversâin order to be present, we need to be absent.Microdoses of rhythm and restTheological insights and Sabbath principlesHow to implement Sabbath principlesâDeep work. Deep rest.ââHowâs that unboundaried life working for you?âExercise: What is your relationship to time?What is your theology of time?âGod is in charge of time.âThe image of GodComparing time and tithing: Godâs provision and principles of discipline and trustHow to deal with burnout in professional life and leadershipCompare and contrast where youâve been with where youâre goingEmotional exhaustionAttending to various domains: the physical, the emotional, the spiritual, the intellectual, the relationalâŠâThere are mindfulness that we can use words that are totally comfortable with anyone's tradition or background.âThe difficulty of sharing about burnout, and the shame or fear that prevents connection with others about what youâre experiencingLanguishing and depression sometimes requires an override in order to seek professional help and talk about difficult emotions that come from burnout.Prayer, scripture, and a brief emotional expression to God: âJesus!â âLord, have mercy!âThe healing practice of singing togetherâMusic was my first language.ââSometimes I feel like a motherless child ⊠a long way from homeââThe power of music transcends religious experiences.âPsychological research on corporate worship experiences.âYouâre seeking a common note ⊠It's communal not only that we're singing together, but we're singing toward a purpose ⊠glorifying God.ââBind us together, Lord, bind us together in love.âWhat does thriving mean to you?Thriving means walking toward discovering and experiencing the calling that God has for my life. It doesn't mean I'm always in it. It's walking toward it. The discovery is really rich. You know, you think of calling as a destination. It's not. It evolves. It evolves.ââI donât thrive by myself. Thereâs no way I can thrive by myself. I do it in community.âPamâs Key Takeaways
Catastrophes don't hit us all the same. We all weather life storms in different ways. It's when we find healing and restoration in community that we can integrate personal, relational, and political thriving.Limitations can be our friends. Irritation, lack of concentration, fatigue are all signposts to the need for self care.Burnout is complex, often involves a shift in our context, making our environment or job not a good fit for who we are.To quote Bessel van der Kolk, our bodies keep the score. Burnout and psychological stress are often manifested with psychosomatic symptoms.We need to be aware of our relationship to time and how our trust and faith come into play when it comes to rest.I need more microdoses of rest and perhaps macrodoses of sleep.We thrive when our vocation lines up with our work. but we need to address our culture's workaholism by talking more about strategies for rest that contribute to spiritual health.About Alexis Abernethy
Alexis Abernathy is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology in the Fuller School of Psychology, where for over 25 years she has served as Chaplain to the Faculty, Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and her current role as Chief Academic Officer at Fuller Theological Seminary. She graduated from Howard University with a BS in psychology. She received her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Her primary research interest is the intersection between spirituality and health and her Spirituality and Health Lab includes three research teams: Experience of Spirituality and Health-Related Outcomes; Spirituality, Cancer, and Health Disparities; and Spirituality, Culture, and Eating Disturbance. She is author of many journal articles in psychology of religion, as well as Worship That Changes Lives: Multidisciplinary and Congregational Perspectives on Spiritual Transformation (2008). For more information, visit her faculty profile.
About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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"Loved, held, guided, and never alone. We are wired to be able to perceive that. And when we do, everything in our world is reordered. And in fact, of all the dimensions of lived spiritual life, that which most strengthens the awakened brain is love of neighborâto one another. We are able to draw closer to God.â â Lisa Miller (Columbia University, author of The Awakened Brain)
What does science have to say about spirituality?
Dr. Lisa Miller, clinical psychologist and researcher, has made the case through years of research collaborations that spirituality is a birthright to the human species. In her best selling book, The Awakened Brain, she notes the glorious complexity of the human spiritual brain, revealing an innate capacity for transcendence. But she's not content to stop at these psychological capacities. She wants to help people with practical, tangible, evidence backed interventions that lead to their thriving and spiritual health. Lisa not only gives words, but explains scientifically why spirituality is so transformative. She challenges us to reimagine religion, faith, and spirituality as an experience of love from beyond us.
Her research suggests that spirituality has less to do with the dos and don'ts of religion, and rather offers a richer experience of how to encounter the love of God. Even if you don't believe in God, spirituality provides access to powerful transcendent emotions such as awe and joy that help our resilience and are necessary for thriving. These emotions broaden and build our capacities and help us develop narratives around love and goodness.
In this conversation with Lisa Miller, we discuss:
The neuroscience of spiritualityGuided meditative practices to fortify spiritual health and a sense of love, purpose, and possibilityHow paying attention to our inner mental and spiritual life builds awareness and resilienceResearch findings from the science of spirituality that we're wired for transcendenceHow transcendent love fortifies our brain in ways that buffer against depression and anxietyHow human connection and spiritual guides are vital for a healthy life and even a thriving democracyAnd we explore all of these experientially, working through the ideas with practical exercises to increase our awarenessAbout Lisa Miller
Dr. Lisa Miller is bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain, and researcher and professor in clinical psychology at the Teachers College of Columbia University. Learn more on her website.
About Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
Show Notes
"Loved, held, guided, and never alone. We are wired to be able to perceive that. And when we do, everything in our world is reordered. And in fact, of all the dimensions of live spiritual life, that which most strengthens the awakened brain is love of neighbor to one another. We are able to draw closer to God.âWhat does science have to say about spirituality?About Lisa Miller and The Awakened BrainAn experience of love from beyond usWith & Forâs approach to practical resources and exercisesThe power of asking a council of advocates in your mind: âDo you love me?âMeditative practice: The Hosting TableâWe can ask what's on our heart. The capacity to be in a deep transcendent relationship is our birthright.ââGod is working in us and through us.âDr. Gary Weaver on trauma and spiritual or moral injuryUrgency and hope, curiosity and opennessNeuro-docking station: âThereâs one spiritual brain and we all have it.âThe research that led to The Awakened BrainâEvery single one of us is born with natural spirituality. There's an innate Human capacity and every single, just as we have two eyes, two ears and a nose, we are born with a neuro-docking station, the capacity through which to experience a transcendent, living relationship.âLongitudinal research on twinsâThis capacity to perceive and feel and know a transcendent relationship is one-third innate. We are all born with the wiring hardwired, but two-thirds environmentally formed.âKen Kendler: What is the awakened brain?Neurological correlates while people told sacred stories of transcendent relationship. âThe same neural correlates ran in every single person.ââLoved, held, guided, and never alone.âSupporting religious people across faith traditionsLisa Millerâs personal struggle with infertility and the desire to have a childMeditative practice: The Trail Angel ExerciseâLess cogitative, and more excitingââAre we actually discoverers of our journey where we don't get what we want, we get something so much better?ââWhere in your road of life is God? Where is your higher power? What is the deep nature of life?âThe difficult balance between achievement and awakeningâaction and contemplationHead, heart, and handâWe are knowers in many forms.ââWe can use all forms of knowing together, and when we do, we can literally track on an MRI. That we have built highways, if you will, myelinated tracks between regions of the brain, multiple organic forms of knowing, different inborn epistemologies, and we have a far more rich engagement with life because we are engaging through all of our channels of knowing.âKnowledge, spirituality, and our connection to the worldNeuroplasticity and adaptation to the lived environmentResilience, depression, and hopeAs of September 2022â48 percent of Gen Z âreported moderate levels of a disease of despair. The rate of death by suicide rivals the rate of death by auto accident. All three of my Gen Z kids have talked someone back from suicide.ââThere is radical desanctification of life in the youth culture that is transmitted through the phone. So the phone is not the problem. It's not the phone. It, because the phone could have been a source for great spiritual connection. And in some cases is. But very often the phone is a place where a culture is transmitted that is effectively a public square minus a spiritual core. It is radically transactional, what can you do for me? It is radically material, what do you look like, what do you have, what are you going to vacation? It is It's basically a big golden calf delivered over the phone.âSpirituality and the spiritual muscle of the awakened brain is neuroprotective against depressionâBeyond-the-self loveââIt is relational spirituality beyond the self love and whether I am feeling that deep loved, I'm loved, felt guided by God or I show up as to be loving, holding and guiding of my family or my neighbor in need. I'm using the same neuro docking station and in fact, of all the dimensions of live spiritual life, that which most strengthens. The awakened brain is love of neighbor to one another. We are able to draw closer to God, which strengthened the awakened brain.âHaving a strong spirituality: 250 percent more likely to have gotten there through profound struggle and depression within the past 10 years.Long-term clinical study vs fMRI studies and giving of alpha-energyâIs love real? Is God real?ââWe have the equipment, but we have to use it. We have to develop it.âThe hard work of meaning-makingHow to help children move towards transcendent loveAuthentic inner spiritual awarenessReligion vs spiritualityReligion and faith tradition is 100% environmentally transmittedSpirituality is 1/3 innate, 2/3 environmentally transmittedLisaâs early childhood experience of her Jewish faith and the love her motherSpirituality and democracyHow spiritual pluralism and spiritual diversity can impact public lifeâWe hold these truths to be sacredâŠâFinding common ground through shared spiritual dignityâDemocracy is a verb.ââOur soul's code, our natural telos in relationship to fellow human beings and fellow living beings ⊠in relationship to others, we go together. And we go together whether or not we're Republicans or Democrats. And we go together whether or not we agree or disagree. We are souls on earth going together on a journey.âInvoking generosity on all sidesWhat is thriving to Lisa Miller?âLiving in alignment with Godâs will.âPam Kingâs takeaways from her conversation with Lisa Miller:Our brains are amazing.Our spiritual capacity is like a muscle we can exercise with daily practices of attention, meditation, imagination and prayer.And we hold the spiritual capacity for transcendence. In common with each other, it's knit into our relational essence as human beings.We can find a renewed sense of agency and power and resilience when we open up to what's inside: our feelings, our senses, our perceptions, and our core experience of God.Healthy spirituality allows us to know and experience that we are loved, held, guided, and never alone.About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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With & For is a new podcast exploring psychology, spirituality, and culture, with the aim of helping you grow wholly alive, with and for others, and a higher purpose. In this introductory episode, podcast host Dr. Pam King shares elements of her personal story and background, along with the goals of the podcast, and let's this season's guests share their personal take on what it means to thrive.
With & For is hosted by Dr. Pam Kingâthe Executive Director the Thrive Center and Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
Show Notes
Dr. Pam King introduces the show. Drawing on twenty years as a psychologist, pastor, and parent, her mission is to help people thrive.Our approach to spiritual health is informed by years of psychological research that provides empirical insight into how aspects of spirituality can be helpful for thriving.What is thriving?"Thriving is growing wholly alive with and for others and a higher purpose.""By pursuing spiritual health, we become equipped with the skills that we need for resilience in hard times, and also for pursuing purpose and meaning and connection throughout it all, given that we all thrive differently."Season 1 guests share their responses to one of Pam's favorite questions, "What is thriving to you?"Alexis Abernethy: Thriving means walking toward discovering and experiencing the calling that God has for my life. It doesn't mean I'm always in it. It's walking toward it. The discovery is really rich. You know, you think of calling as a destination. It's not. It evolves.Miroslav Volf: Love of God, love of neighbor. Seek the kingdom, the good of the world, and in that good of the whole, your own good, and be attuned to what is around you in joy and also in sorrow.Belle Liang: Thriving is living in your joy. It's making the impact that you care about making in a way that's really aligned with your deepest core beliefs and values.Dwight Radcliff: Thriving is not a one size fits all answer or solution from my embodied incarnated experience as an African American man in America. I think it really has to do with this ability to, to dream and to live.Sue Johnson: Thriving for me means full existential living, fully engaged in your experience. You basically trust yourself. to go through life in an active way and you can create a coherent reality for yourself that includes others, that includes a safe relationship with others.Sarah Schnitker: Thriving, to me, it's loving God and loving others and living in a society where we have love and justice.Jim Furrow: The word that comes to my mind is a fulsome sense of being and that that being is not only who I am, but who I am with and a part of and that life is full of engagement and vitality.Lisa Miller: Living in alignment with God's will.Dan Siegel: The mind wants certainty so it can guarantee survival. But in a way, the irony is, thriving happens when you let go of this flimsy fantasy of certainty and you allow yourself to wander as a verb through the journey of life.Alexia Salvatierra: The word bienestar means well being, but it's not just individual. Bienestar is the translation for shalom. So it always has a communal dimension because our cultures are much more communal. So there's really this sense that if your family's not well, you're not well. If your community is not well, you're not well.Bill Damon: Thriving to me is becoming the person that you've always dreamed that you want to become. As long as you're alive, you're continuing to make progress. And there's always that possibility of getting further along the road.Cynthia Eriksson: For me, thriving is to be able to be fully myself, to really know that I am loved by God.Richie Davidson: I would say thriving is nurturing all of the innate capacities that we've been given. And I would say perhaps the most important manifestation of that is our capacity to both receive and to express love.Living with and for othersSuffering, pain, and lossGrowing to become wholly alivePam King's spiritual background as a Christian and a Presbyterian minister"God wants us to be fully alive, to be fully the people he created us to be."Thriving across all of life's domains: physical, psychological, social, spiritual, moral, vocational, educational, relational, and morePractical insight, tools, and guidance for real-life transformation"It's imperative that we pursue relationships where we are known and truly loved.""This is an invitation to join me and the Thrive Center in a new podcast community that is going to explore the multifaceted nature of spiritual health and guide you along a path to your own thriving life."About the Thrive Center
Learn more at thethrivecenter.org.Follow us on Instagram @thrivecenterFollow us on X @thrivecenterFollow us on LinkedIn @thethrivecenterAbout Dr. Pam King
Dr. Pam King is Executive Director the Thrive Center and is Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy. Follow her @drpamking.
About With & For
Host: Pam KingSenior Director and Producer: Jill WestbrookOperations Manager: Lauren KimSocial Media Graphic Designer: Wren JuergensenConsulting Producer: Evan RosaSpecial thanks to the team at Fuller Studio and the Fuller School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy.
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