Articles by Julian I. Taber, Ph.D. 2008-05-16 During a meeting recently one of our most respected members announced that she had been awarded the status of a legal permanent resident of The United States. She would get what is called a “Green Card.” There was applause, cheers and congratulations..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Writing Contests 2008-04-04 In the beginning Publishers are swamped by submissions. Some publishers and literary agents get dozens of manuscripts and book proposals every day. Low level employees keep busy stuffing rejection slips into self-addressed return envelopes and shred..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Debt-life 2008-03-09 Money may be the root of all evil, but lack of it isn’t far behind, and massive debt can be a living hell for many people. In the beginning In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Lord Polonius says: Neither a borrower nor a lender be; Fo..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Elder Blues 2008-02-01 Fads in mental health diagnoses come and go. Something called Existential Neurosis was popular for a while, but seems to have lost some of its gloss in recent years. For a long time now, any high-energy, active child risked being diagnosed—often misd..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Sanctity of Life 2008-01-05 In the beginning Most of the silly ideas I write about did not begin in the United States of America. It’s just that this country is a hotbed in which dumb ideas can rage out of control and cause great social damage. A majority of Americans,..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Christmas 2007-12-08 In the beginning Carols and bells are incessant. Shoppers riot in stores for the latest gimmicks and toys. Credit card balances expand. Liquor and wine sales boom along with attempted suicides. The Post Office is swamped. The churches overfl..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Gang Phobia 2007-11-04 In the beginning America has a long history of gangsters, leaders of gangs that form in economically depressed urban areas. In human evolution, no behavior was more adaptive than a tendency to form close-knit work groups. The survival advantages of..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: External Identity 2007-10-05 In the beginning Most living creatures don’t worry much about, “Who am I?” Humans do, of course, and sometimes we let it show. We want to know who we are and we want others to recognize us as unique. Americans didn’t invent external identity...read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Atheists are Evil 2007-09-19 It’s time for me to come out of a dark closet. I am a proud non-believer, a better-than-thou, evangelical atheist, if you will. And that’s not a comfortable position to take in the United States today where one is expected to pay polite attention to ..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Christian Sunday school 2007-08-04 In the beginning: In the beginning, we are all children; we all start out as wide-eyed, gullible, trusting children to be molded by the grown-ups. And what they want is people like themselves, people speaking the same language with the same beliefs, ..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Prohibition 2007-07-06 Americans can’t claim any special ability in thinking up dumb stuff. However, we do have a talent for carrying a dumb idea to the extreme. In the beginning When something bothers, hurts, or scares us, prohibition immediately comes to mind. ..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Designer God 2007-05-28 The Bible tells us in the first verse of Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And then He did a whole bunch of other snuff until we get, "27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he hi..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Disneyism 2007-05-03 In the 1920s, Walt Disney started a uniquely American religious cult that I call Disneyism. It has never stopped growing. Faith is accepting something as fact when there is no evidence or logic to support the belief. This is what both relig..read on Great American Dumb Ideas: Teleligion 2007-04-06 Television religion is a hugely profitable American business. Organizations like Focus on the Family and the 700 Club beg and wheedle millions of dollars from Americans each year. They pay few taxes because Americans can't seem to realize th..read on Addictions Anonymous, 40: Problems in Learning Serenity 2007-03-13 During one evening therapy group, the topic of serenity came up for discussion. The comments of some of the group members started me thinking. Perhaps this serenity could be teased into its component parts and described in more detail. In oth..read on Addictions Anonymous, 39: Problems with Relationships and Sponsors 2007-03-06 Relationship Problems Unhappy relationships come up for discussion in many group therapy sessions. For some of us, all of life is controlled by relationships while, for others, relationships are few and relatively insignificant. Woe unto the relatio..read on Addictions Anonymous, 38: Problems with Emotional Pain and Service to Others 2007-02-26 Emotions Dealing with Emotional Pain There are clinics for treating physical pain all over the United States, but emotional distress, one of the chief obstacles in the path to a normal existence, is often neglected or treated inappropriatel..read on Addictions Anonymous, 37: Problems with Anger and Depression 2007-02-20 A person can be angry and never realize it, especially if he or she grew up surrounded by angry people and learned to feel resentment toward the adults in life. Anger can become an enduring personal quality and is a major feature in the profiles of m..read on Addictions Anonymous, 36: Problems with Anticipation 2007-02-12 While going through old notes from my therapy groups, I was reminded of many of our long and often difficult discussions of critical problems in abstinence and recovery. The next few chapters take up some of these problems, problems that can ..read on Addictions Anonymous 35: Harm Reduction 2007-02-05 Harm reduction is an ancient and natural plan for minimizing the unpleasant and harmful effects of dangerous behavior. Addictions certainly are dangerous behaviors, and some experts have championed the idea of a harm reduction strategy for addictive ..read on Addictions Anonymous 34: Therapists Of All Sorts 2007-01-30 In general, there are two kinds of therapist qualifications: (1) earned degrees and, (2) licenses and certifications. Some clinicians, of course, may have both. Earned degrees A high school diploma is nice, but not likely to be found on a ..read on Addictions Anonymous, 33: Pitfalls In Finding Treatment 2005-06-07 Problems confront addicts when they decide to seek mental health services. They can be serious problems, but they are not impossible. Here are a few of the big ones: Biased recommendations. If a fellow addict recommends a certain path to r..read on Addictions Anonymous, 32: When a Friend Needs Help 2005-06-07 In the days when I was working as a clinical psychologist in hospital programs where we treated addictive behavior, it was common to have members of Twelve Step groups bringing people in for help. They would turn up at the hospital at any time of the..read on Addictions Anonymous, 31: Does Prohibition Work? 2005-06-07 Vulnerable Groups Experience and research show that gamblers and other addicts entering treatment are not exactly like the general population on a number of important psychological dimensions. Rather, addicts appear to be drawn from one or another s..read on Addictions Anonymous 30: The Way to Be, Part Two 2005-06-07 (Continued from Chapter 29.) I remind the reader who may be studying these choices that I have not announced my own preference in terms of which of the choices, A or B, I think is most appropriate to a mature and normal way of thinking. You may gues..read on Addictions Anonymous 29: The Way to Be, Part One 2005-06-07 No one really teaches us the whole story on how to live in the world. We learn some of what works and some of what causes pain. We learn what people like and dislike about our behavior. Unfortunately, we don’t have teachers who teach us how to live c..read on Chapter 28: Normal As The Gold Standard—Part Two 2005-06-07 In this chapter I finish a brief discussion of each of my proposed dimensions of noble character that I claim are important qualities of thought and behavior. They are both learnable and teachable. 12. Necessary Obedience Agnostic n..read on Addictions Anonymous, 27: Normal As The Gold Standard—Part One 2005-06-07 If normal is to be the standard towards which we strive, exactly what qualities of personality will be important? What will we try to measure, learn, and teach to others? In this chapter and the next, I present a list of seventeen proposed character ..read on Addictions Anonymous, 26: Searching For Normal 2005-06-07 Beyond finding problems and flaws in the thinking of others, a philosopher might go the next step and offer some better path to what we hold as a valuable goal. As you know by now, I do not trust religion to produce that nebulous human condition it c..read on Addictions Anonymous, 25: Normophobia 2005-06-07 Normophobia: I made that word up myself. At least I’ve never seen it used anywhere, but I could be wrong. Being wrong once in a while is normal and the best reason to look for and listen to critical feedback. Normophobia means a disabling fe..read on Addictions Anonymous, 24: More On Religion In Recovery 2005-06-07 The Steps, Traditions, and Promises of Alcoholics Anonymous have become important to millions of people throughout the world. In early chapters of this book, I looked at the philosophy that underlies the steps and traditions, a philosophy that i..read on Addictions Anonymous, 23: Group Traditions And Management 2005-06-07 Not long after A.A. was founded in Ohio in the 1930s, meetings began to experience problems with personalities and procedures. Recovering alcoholics proved to be a tough group to lead without firm rules. They all knew they needed a group for suppo..read on Addictions Anonymous, 22: Continuing The Growth 2005-06-07 The last three steps in the recovery program deal with personal growth, a renewed growth that is possible after some amount of clean and sober time. By now, if the reader has been following previous articles, the ideas behind steps ten, eleven and..read on Addictions Anonymous, 21: Setting Things Right 2005-06-07 8. Made a list of all persons we harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Step 8 calls for some serious writing, bu..read on Addictions Anonymous, 20: Asking For Help 2005-06-07 7. Humbly asked the help of others in the removal of our short comings and be resolved to work to remove these faults ourselves. The first versions of this step talked about the removal of character defects, but often the removal service doesn't s..read on Addictions Anonymous, 19: Growth Through Practice 2005-06-07 6. Were entirely ready to practice the program in order to remove all these defects of character. The word practice in this step means to become good at something by repeating it, by doing or practicing it over and over as a part of life. In..read on Addictions Anonymous, 18: Confession, Honesty And The Open Life 2005-06-07 Step 5. Admit to our Group, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. If loneliness is your problem, confession may be a solution. There’s nothing like holding secrets to shut you off from others. Leading an open lif..read on Addictions Anonymous, 17: Self Knowledge 2005-06-07 Step Four: Made a searching and fearless inventory of our character for ourselves. The word inventory is a bit misleading, but this step comes down to the adage, “Know thyself.” In business, an inventory has important value. The store ow..read on Addictions Anonymous, 16: The Surrender Of Ego 2005-06-07 Step Three: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of this Program and to the loving care of this group. Hopefully, as you come to the third step, you have accepted one or more earthly higher powers. No spiritual or re..read on Addictions Anonymous, 14: The Art Of Being Powerless 2005-06-07 Step One: We admitted we were powerless over addiction—that our lives had become unmanageable. The mind of the active addict works in a hazardous environment surrounded by a swirling fog of mistaken ideas, a world that swings rapidly back and..read on Addictions Anonymous, 15: Living With Higher Authorities 2005-06-07 Step 2. Came to believe that The Program, as a power greater than ourselves, could help us toward normal living. The term higher authority, in the original context, referred the God of whatever nature the individual chose to believe in. In th..read on Addictions Anonymous, 13: A Universal Secular Twelve Steps 2005-06-07 There are two important thoughts to keep in mind when we consider what have been called the Twelve Steps of Recovery. First, each step is really an important idea that can be incorporated into every aspect of life. These ideas are intended to make..read on Addictions Anonymous, 12: The Stages of Addiction and Recovery 2005-06-07 While interviewing hundreds of addicted clients over the years it became obvious to me that addictions are what mental health experts call developmental disorders. That is, they develop over time as the result experience, genetics and growth..read on Addictions Anonymous, 10: Dark Feelings 2005-06-07 Euphoria is a good word that today has a negative meaning; it is often used to describe the artificial high or altered state of mind produced by an addictive trigger. It’s earlier meaning was joy, excitement, enthusiasm, and exhilaration. Euphoria ..read on Addictions Anonymous. 11: The Addiction Cycle 2005-06-07 We can summarize the conditions that create addictions this way: Risk Factor(s) + Attitude + Dark Feelings + A Trigger = Vulnerability to Addiction If someone is careful in taking an inventory of risk factors, attitudes, feelin..read on Addictions Anonymous, 9: How Attitudes, Beliefs And Values Create Vulnerability 2005-06-07 If you’re miserable you probably know it even if you think you can’t control it, and you can very likely tell exactly what is making you miserable. On the other hand, some people have been so miserable for so long that they actually don’t recog..read on Addictions Anonymous, 8: Risk Factors 2005-06-07 Just as I ask addicts to consider all the different addictions, I urge them to think in a very general way about potential risk factors, situations that may help set the stage for the development of an addiction. These risk factors, like triggers..read on Addictions Anonymous, 6: Triggers 2005-06-07 What addicts do involves either a substance such as alcohol or a behavior like gambling, but that’s just the surface. Addicts often describe themselves as crazy; non-addicts look on in horror and agree. Once again, however, let’s listen to what..read on Addictions Anonymous, 7: Common Elements In Addictions 2005-06-07 Earlier I mentioned dark feelings and this, I think, is a common factor running through all addictions of whatever sort. Knowing how to live with, control and even eliminate unpleasant emotions is a survivor skill that people have in differe..read on Addictions Anonymous, 5: They Sneak Up On Us 2005-06-07 Addictions usually develop over time, and that’s why I think addictions are problems of human development. Although they can and do happen quickly, it usually takes time for an addiction to develop fully. Addictions tend to begin at critical li..read on Addictions Anonymous, 4: A Bit Of History 2005-06-07 Historically, people made moral judgments about addictions without doing much about them. Calling addiction a sin, of course, is not very effective in bringing about a change in behavior. The early moralistic period is the First Level of our un..read on Addictions Anonymous, 3: An Incident on the Boardwalk 2005-06-07 I like to write about addictions and about how to live without them, but if you don’t happen to have an addiction, you may be reading this for the wrong reasons. If you’re reading it when someone close to you should be reading it, someone ..read on Addictions Anonymous, 2: Self-help, Professionals And The Role of Religion 2005-06-07 If mental health professionals find problems with my ideas, senior members of the various Twelve Step groups may well join them in the complaint department because I suggest, in the pages to follow, some re-wording of those basic Twelve Steps. ..read on Addictions Anonymous, 1: The Challenge Of Normal Living 2005-06-07 If you are addicted to something there are people out there who will offer to fix your problem in a hurry, with little effort on your part, and without having to change anything important about your life. These people lie. They wil..read on Addictions Anonymous: Introduction 2005-06-07 In this series of columns I describe a universal and secular self-help program for recovery from addiction. It is universal because it includes all addictive behaviors in a single program. It is secular because it avoids controversial references t..read on Boris Burns The Bible 2005-06-07 Why learn calculus? Boris asked himself again as he walked to his class at the local university where he was registered as a non-credit student. At forty years of age, he was comfortably married with three nice dogs and a home. His career as a ba..read on Designing America :- #4: Some Problems In Constitutional Wording 2005-06-07 There once was a man who fell in love with and bought a two hundred year old house. It had some problems although it was attractive, historically important and certainly worth preserving. But, he wanted to be able to live in it, so he added new..read on Designing America: #3: What Changed From 1776 to 2006? 2005-06-07 What would have happened in the year 2000 if the framers of The Constitution had included a sunset clause that cancelled their version in that year, a year more than two centuries in their future? I suppose we would have had to call a second const..read on Designing America, #2: The Constitutional Convention 2005-06-07 In eloquent language, our Declaration Of Independence of 1776 outlined the goals and ambitions, the lofty ideals of the nation’s founders. Many of these ideas were voiced earlier by English and French philosophers. The Declaration presented a lon..read on Designing America: Why Bother? 2005-06-07 Over Thanksgiving dinner a guest challenged a political opinion I’d offered. She said, “Why bother having opinions, you can’t change anything about this country?” “Do you vote,” I asked. “Of course not, it’s not worth the trouble.” This lady, a na..read on News by Julian I. Taber, Ph.D. | All writersIsrael Jayakaran Gregory Schnese Brie Stimson Saidul Khan Professor Curiously Melissa Gentile Haamid Ansari Terri Tanner Nava Thakuria Khalid Jehangir Chris Hartley Stacey Jenkins K Kirker Albertina Lloyd Kate Randall Chuck Scott Lou Lancelot Kirby N. 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Johnson, Ph.D. Liz Prescott kristiano Ang Eric Webb Diego C. Kimiko de Freytas Tanya Sturman Kevin Smith Dave Wilbanks Stacey Winch Jack Goodstein Deano James Anyon J. J. Strum Kevin Hancock Becky Garrison Martin Hanson Jay Gory Robin Sisson Zhanna Bilenko Gav Stone Vishwanath V Red Legion Lizzie Kunal Surati Lisa Knapp Rich Bowden(UNV) Leonie Richman Lauren Kaemmerer Kristiano Ang Walt Pretorius Matt Holt (UNV) Andr do Val (UNV) Tuaha Bin Suhail Saifi Jayashree Lakshminarayanan Sal Amato Brenda Coxe Owen Hollifield Sanjay Verma Rachel I. Dotson Trisha Priebe Gareth Evans Khadeja Kausar Harold M. Paxton Yeni Salma Barlinti Jonathan Rosillo Anonymous Gian Marco Di Pietro Anathema Harris Rob Harris Courtney Sunday Andy Martello Fazale Karim Stephen Irving Rob Favero Lauren Slemenda Aja Beasley Emma Dixon Cees Bakker Efefiong Akpan Penny Thrift Brandy Muniz Amy Herl Valeria (UNV) Valiente Jenny Stein Daniel Martin Bill Jones Syed Rizwan Muhammad Rizvi Andrea Lutz Stuart Burrell Alyona Lelyushkina Peter Wadri Oliver Vogel Bismi Steven Lochran Cathy Walter | Julian I. Taber, Ph.D. Writer Experience Variouis pulication in research journals and popular periodicals. Two books published. More information about the writer Julian I. Taber, Ph.D. is a retired clinical psychologist who specialized in the treatment of addictive behavior and is a recognized authority on problem gambling having published a number of research reports in professional journals over the years. He received two national awards for his early work with problem gamblers. His book, In The Shadow of Chance, was published by members of Gamblers Anonymous and is used in professional training workshops. Taber is currently at work on several nonfiction books related to psychology as well as satirical novellas, short stories and non-fiction articles. His articles, stories and essays have appeared in Ultralight Flying, USA Today, Editor and Publisher, The Las Vegas Review Journal, an anthology on September 11 by Sands Publishing, and in a Cup of Comfort Christmas Anthology offered by Adams Media. His essay on autobiography was published in Fulcrum Poetry 2005. Taber lives on Whidbey Island north of Seattle with a Siamese cat named Elsie. Articles by this author 1. Addictions Anonymous 34: Therapists Of All Sorts 2. Designing America, #2: The Constitutional Convention 3. Designing America: Why Bother? 4. Designing America :- #4: Some Problems In Constitutional Wording 5. Designing America: #3: What Changed From 1776 to 2006? 6. Boris Burns The Bible 7. Addictions Anonymous, 1: The Challenge Of Normal Living 8. Addictions Anonymous: Introduction 9. Addictions Anonymous, 2: Self-help, Professionals And The Role of Religion 10. Addictions Anonymous, 3: An Incident on the Boardwalk 11. Addictions Anonymous, 9: How Attitudes, Beliefs And Values Create Vulnerability 12. Addictions Anonymous, 4: A Bit Of History 13. Addictions Anonymous, 5: They Sneak Up On Us 14. Addictions Anonymous, 7: Common Elements In Addictions 15. Addictions Anonymous, 6: Triggers 16. Addictions Anonymous, 8: Risk Factors 17. Addictions Anonymous. 11: The Addiction Cycle 18. Addictions Anonymous, 12: The Stages of Addiction and Recovery 19. Addictions Anonymous, 10: Dark Feelings 20. Addictions Anonymous, 13: A Universal Secular Twelve Steps 21. Addictions Anonymous, 15: Living With Higher Authorities 22. Addictions Anonymous, 14: The Art Of Being Powerless 23. Addictions Anonymous, 16: The Surrender Of Ego 24. Addictions Anonymous, 17: Self Knowledge 25. Addictions Anonymous, 18: Confession, Honesty And The Open Life 26. Addictions Anonymous, 19: Growth Through Practice 27. Addictions Anonymous, 20: Asking For Help 28. Addictions Anonymous, 26: Searching For Normal 29. Addictions Anonymous, 21: Setting Things Right 30. Addictions Anonymous, 22: Continuing The Growth 31. Addictions Anonymous, 23: Group Traditions And Management 32. Addictions Anonymous, 24: More On Religion In Recovery 33. Addictions Anonymous, 25: Normophobia 34. Addictions Anonymous, 27: Normal As The Gold Standard—Part One 35. Chapter 28: Normal As The Gold Standard—Part Two 36. Addictions Anonymous 29: The Way to Be, Part One 37. Addictions Anonymous 30: The Way to Be, Part Two 38. Addictions Anonymous, 31: Does Prohibition Work? 39. Addictions Anonymous, 32: When a Friend Needs Help 40. Addictions Anonymous, 33: Pitfalls In Finding Treatment 41. Addictions Anonymous 35: Harm Reduction 42. Addictions Anonymous, 39: Problems with Relationships and Sponsors 43. Addictions Anonymous, 40: Problems in Learning Serenity 44. Addictions Anonymous, 36: Problems with Anticipation 45. Addictions Anonymous, 37: Problems with Anger and Depression 46. Addictions Anonymous, 38: Problems with Emotional Pain and Service to Others 47. Great American Dumb Ideas: Teleligion 48. Great American Dumb Ideas: Disneyism 49. Great American Dumb Ideas: Designer God 50. Great American Dumb Ideas: Prohibition 51. Great American Dumb Ideas: Christian Sunday school 52. Great American Dumb Ideas: Atheists are Evil 53. Great American Dumb Ideas: External Identity 54. Great American Dumb Ideas: Gang Phobia 55. Great American Dumb Ideas: Christmas 56. Great American Dumb Ideas: Sanctity of Life 57. Great American Dumb Ideas: Elder Blues 58. Great American Dumb Ideas: Debt-life 59. Great American Dumb Ideas: Writing Contests 60. Great American Dumb Ideas: Automatic Citizenship News by this author |
