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RAYMOND M. BERGNER, PH.D. |
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COURSES TAUGHT Psychopathology Practicum Theories and Techniques of Counseling Family Therapy
What is Descriptive Psychology?
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RESEARCH INTERESTS My overriding research interest is in the application of a conceptual framework known as “Descriptive Psychology” to numerous problems and issues in psychology. Some of the questions explored in this research have been the following (all references may be found in the vita on this web site): LOVE: What is love, and what are the foremost barriers to persons being able to love that we encounter clinically? (Bergner, 2000) SELF- ESTEEM: How do persons create and maintain low self-esteem in themselves, and how may we assist them therapeutically? (Bergner, 1995, 1998) SEXUAL ADDICTION: Why do some persons become addicted to sexuality, and how may they be helped? (Bergner, 2002) SELF-CONCEPT AND SELF-CONCEPT CHANGE: How may an individual’s self-concept, an entity that is notoriously resistant to change through disconfirming evidence, be modified in psychotherapy? (Bergner & Holmes, 2000) DESTRUCTIVE SELF-CRITICISM: How do persons create depression, low self-esteem, and many other problems for themselves by the way they criticize themselves? How can therapists assist such persons (Bergner, 1995)? PROBLEMS OF MEANINGLESSNESS: Why do some persons find life meaningless, and how may we assist them therapeutically? (Bergner, 1998) SIGNIFICANCE OF PORNOGRAPHY USE TO WOMEN: What does pornography use by their partners mean to women in committed relationships? (Bergner & Bridges, 2002, Bridges, Bergner, & Hesson-McInnis, 2003). PARANOIA: What is the meaning of paranoid delusions, and how ought one to approach them therapeutically? (Bergner, 1985) WHAT IS MENTAL DISORDER?: What is mental disorder (aka "mental illness," "psychopathology")? What is the most rigorous way to define this concept? (Bergner, 1997) STATUS DYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY: What is status dynamic psychotherapy, and what powerful avenue to change does it add to our existing approaches to therapy such as the cognitive-behavioral and family systems? (Bergner, 1999, 2007) THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP: What is the best and most powerful way to conduct the therapeutic relationship? (Bergner & Staggs, 1987, 1991) PSYCHOTHERAPY INTEGRATION: How may our various theories of psychopathology and psychotherapy be integrated in such a way that all of our explanations and interventions are rendered conceptually coherent and compatible in practice? (Bergner, 2004) REFRAMING FOR EMPOWERMENT: How may therapy clients who see themselves as powerless victims be realistically recast in therapy as empowered perpetrators? (Bergner, 1993) IS IT ALL REALLY BIOLOGICAL? Will biological explanations of human behavior one day replace psychological ones, thus spelling the death of the science of psychology? (Bergner, 2004) WHY CAN’T PSYCHOLOGY FIND ITS NEWTON (I.E., ITS UNIFIER)? Why is psychology so fragmented--so unable to achieve a unifying framework? What did Newton know that we have never learned about the nature of science? (Bergner, 2006; see "From Newton with love" on this web site) SHOULD WE BASE THERAPEUTIC PRACTICE ONLY ON EMPIRICAL RESEARCH FINDINGS? Is empirical validation via the conduct of empirical research the most secure source of psychotherapy knowledge that we possess? Are there additional highly secure sources? Are multiple secure sources absolutely essential to the practice of psychotherapy? (Bergner, 2006) ATHLETIC COACHING: How can athletic coaches be the best possible leaders, motivators, and teachers of their teams? (Bergner, 1998, 3 separate book chapters) |