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My psychology and philosophy origin story. The pursuit of becoming a therapist and my mission of writing about psychology and philosophy
As you have seen I have been making posts both on philosophical and psychological content. Part of the reason is that I’m going into a career to become a therapist and want to share information that I think is helpful or interesting.
But there is a deeper “why” on the reason I am pursuing a career as a therapist as well and write philosophy.
So what is my mission statement?
First off my ultimate goal is I want to be a great future husband, father, and leader in the communities that I am a part of. And I recognize I have a long way to go and much to work on. I want to reach my potential in all things I do and pursue what truly calls me. What calls me the most is the healing and development of others and self. This is what reveals the most meaning to me and what I hold of utmost importance.
Currently I own a S&C business/ gym where I train baseball players and fighters alongside @cperk42 Charlie Perkins. We typically deal with young men from 15-25 years of age. Our motto is “We want you to level up more than just an athlete, but as a human.” This encapsulates that a human is much more than what is just physical. Training is also deeply emotional, intellectual and psychological. Often we see when our athletes emotional/psychological needs are tended to that their physical goals and performance also tends to increase/improve.
Leveling up the human is also about tending to and leveling up ones mental health and psychology. We tend to see these young athletes in need for more than just guidance and support in their sport, but a community where they can come into themselves and develop.
The mental health of young men is something that has been stigmatized in the past and written off. Since starting this gym we have seen the need for emotional and psychological support for these young men. My goal is to incorporate all that I have learned and am learning in psychology and philosophy to help these young men with the struggles they deal with in life. To offer them more than perspective, but possible roadmaps on how to better themselves and the people around them. The goal of the gym is to not only help them become robust and mature physically, but robust and mature emotionally as well.
Psychology to me is about applying information in a way to facilitate positive change and healing. And more selfishly what drives me in my pursuit of psychology is that the more competent I become in my psychological pursuits (acquiring information and being able to apply information to help others) the more I see myself heal as well.
My psych and philosophy origin story
My initial inspiration of psych was to gain a deeper awareness and understanding of human behavior. For me it all started with a breakup. I was left heartbroken and confused. I wondered where did I go wrong, and how can I better understand myself and the world around me so I don’t experience this pain again. I asked myself questions such as “What drives me to do the things that I do, and why do I feel certain emotions so strongly, and why do I value certain things so intensely over others, and so on.“
This lead me to engage in the field of psychology. I was already in college at the time, but as an exercise science major. Exercise science wasn’t really helping me solve these personal and existential questions I had or get over heartbreak so I ended up switching majors to psych a year later. Before I switched majors I decided to learn of my own volition. I did this through reading books in the field, watching online lectures, and even reading psychological studies.
What first grabbed my attention in psychology was personality theory. It provided me with an explanation of the unique and relatively stable patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior that define an individual and their distinctive way of experiencing and interacting with the world. It delved into both the genetic and environmental factors, and how they develop and evolve throughout an individual’s lifespan. This then lead to my love and curiosity of both social psychology and evolutionary psychology. Through engaging in my undergrad studies and continued self learning I was able to marry reasons of both nature and nurture and figure out some of the underlying reasons of “why I am the way I am, and why others are they way they are too.” The psychological sciences highlighted the value of both early formative experiences and genetic/biological factors in how they shape us.
This allowed me to get a better grip on the “why” we as humans generally behave the way we do. But still something was missing. I had a better understanding of the why, and of people in general, but what about us as the individual. How can we use this information and psychological understanding to better our individual circumstances?
How can we overcome both the constraints of our biology and social influences?
This is where I saw the importance of philosophy. Philosophical contemplation allows us to engage in ideas that encapsulate what we should or shouldn’t do and how to live a greater life. This gives us greater insight to who we are as a unique individual. Philosophical contemplation goes beyond the broad evolutionary and social reasons that define us. Philosophy was the greater pathway in uncovering the unique individuals that we are. Philosophy for myself was a route for deeper introspection, it is a more personal approach. Finding your philosophical orientation gives you greater insight into who you are and what makes you tick. Not only that, it’s a potential roadmap on how to live a life that is most aligned with your uniqueness and what is best for you and others. Philosophical contemplation helps you discover which life lived aligns most with the unique person that you are. It allows you to wonder how can you live a life both rooted in the highest good, and of personal authenticity. Philosophical contemplation is what helps you find the way to live life that is best for you as the individual. While psychology helps you understand why you/others may think and behave in the ways that you do. So it’s essential to in my opinion to engage in a deep understanding of both.
People often struggle with wondering if psychotherapy should attempt to deal with early experiences and inner dynamics or just neurology, cognition, and behavior. In my opinion it should absolutely be both. Psychological intervention through counseling in my opinion is bringing awareness that can facilitate change in a positive direction. Learning how you tick and how to rewire your brain is paramount. (Things such as exposure therapy and CBT techniques for example are good ways to create change). The focus on inner dynamics and early experiences helps you uncover the motivations of how and why you act. In this type of work you confront the aspects of yourself that you try to hide from yourself i.e shadow work. Then learn how to accept, overcome and integrate them into conscious awareness/self. In doing this type of work you learn how to confront yourself and develop a greater understanding of self leading to another pathway to overcome bad habits and create change.
At the end of the day I want to continue gaining the tools necessary to help individuals empower themselves with the ability to create positive change and healing in their own lives.
Please follow along in my journey as I continue to acquire competence and information that can help in your journey of healing and self development/mastery.
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