Faculty Position - Institute for Psychological Sciences

The Institute for the Psychological Sciences in Arlington, VA:

Invites applications for a Full-time faculty position beginning Fall 2008. The Institute for the Psychological Sciences is a free-standing professional school offering the M.S. and Psy.D. degrees in clinical psychology. The Institute is committed to the fruitful integration of sound science and effective practice in psychology with a Catholic perspective on the nature of the person, marriage, family, and the moral life. Successful applicants will be committed to this mission and willing to teach in accordance with such views. We are seeking a doctoral-level psychologist who is dedicated to the training and formation of future generations of psychologists through their teaching and research. Applicants should demonstrate interests and competencies in teaching in the areas of psychotherapy and psychological assessment. Other duties would include academic & dissertation advising and some administrative responsibilities. Applicants should be license eligible in the state of Virginia. Rank of appointment and salary will be commensurate with qualifications.

Applications are currently being reviewed and will be accepted until the position is filled. Send letter of interest and curriculum vita to: Chair, Committee on Faculty Recruitment, IPS, 2001 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 511, Arlington, VA 22202. IPS is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Mourning for my Alma Mater

My alma mater, Northern Illinois University, is mourning today, following a shooting in one of its classrooms. News reports say that a gunman whose identity is not presently known shot and killed four students -- a number sure to increase -- and wounded many more when he fired a shotgun and then pistol in a large auditorium classroom before turning his pistol on himself. It is sad, and it hits me close to home as I think of the many exams I proctored in that very classroom during my grad school days.

Perhaps we will learn more about the reasons why he did this to people he did not know. Having an explanation such as that helps us deal with the pain and loss. But in our everyday lives, we do what we can to avoid the unpredictability that surrounds us. Events such as this, when they hit close to home, bring us back to the reality that our world includes unpredictability and it isn't as safe as we supposed it to be.

I am going to read again my copy of Elliot Aronson's Nobody Left to Hate. His social-psychological examination of the Columbine High School killings contains much wisdom for us as a society as we consider senseless violence.

More fundamentally, join me in a moment of silent reflection. Whether or not you believe in God, pause and contemplate existence and the fragility of life, and recognize that there are, every day, many people who suffer and who die horrible, premature, and preventable deaths. Then, consider how you might help alleviate at least a little suffering that goes on in the world today. There is too much war, too much suffering, and we all too often move through the day carefully avoiding exposing ourselves to it. Facing suffering is part of life, but doing something to alleviate even a small part of others' suffering is the essence of living.

What Spirituality & Religion Offer the Contemporary Practicing Psychologist

Dr. Thomas Plante has written a new paper, What Might Sirituality and Religion Offer the Contemporary Practicing Psychologist and shares it with you through my website. In this article he describes several ways that clinical, counseling and pastoral psychologists can use religion and spirituality to enhance their work with clients. Look for his book on this topic soon to be published by the American Psychological Association.

I am very pleased to help distribute Dr. Plante's work, and I invite you to consider doing the same. If you have articles that you would like to share through my website and blog, please contact me.

GTU Announcements

If you are in Northern California, you might want to visit the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. They have a Religion and Psychology group that meets regularly with speakers addressing topics of interest. They meet monthly on Wednesday afternoons. More information is available on their facebook page or from Steven Bauman at SBaumanSF /at/ yahoo.ca (Replace the /at/ with the @ symbol).

Physicist Loses Tenure Appeal Over Intelligent Design

Guillermo Gonzalez, the physics and astronomy professor who was denied tenure at Iowa State, has lost his appeal before the Iowa Board of Regents. A key factor in his tenure case was Gonzalez's support of intelligent design. Details to the case are in The Des Moines Regsiter. If you are interested in how people view the intelligent design case, be sure to read the comments left by readers at the end of the Register's story.

Conference on Terror-- Deadline extended

This call for papers announces a deadline extension. The list of speakers includes Richard Koenigsberg and Sut Jhally, who always have interesting perspectives on current issues.

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Call for Papers 2008

THE HUMAN CONDITION SERIES

2nd Annual International Multidisciplinary Conference
Laurentian University @ Georgian College
Barrie, Ontario

Conference Theme: TERROR

May 2nd & 3rd, 2008

Deadline for abstract submissions: January 30th, Extended to February 15th, 2008

Accepted submissions notified: February 25th.

Draft papers and full registration due: March 30th

Please submit abstracts to: humanconditionseries@gmail.com

Contact Person: Marianne Vardalos, Director, Human Condition Series Organizing Committee, 2008


This conference is part of a larger series of ongoing conferences, run under the general banner of The Human Condition Series. The series is an international, multidisciplinary conference that seeks to address the current state of the human condition. It aims to bring together people from a variety of disciplines to assess a singular topic from artistic, cinematic, literary, moral, social, political, philosophical, psychological and religious perspectives. We encourage you to share innovative ideas and new theorization. Submissions will be considered on any related theme and we especially welcome papers, reports, works-in-progress, workshops and sessions.

This year’s theme is Terror.

The Organizing Committee welcomes the submission of pre-formed panel proposals. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by February 15th, 2008. Accepted presenters will be notified by February 25th. If an abstract is accepted for the conference, full registration and an 8-10 page draft paper are required by March 30th 2008.

All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be considered for inclusion in the THCS e-journal. In addition, some papers will also be considered for publication in a themed volume on Terror.

Grad Programs in Clinical/Counseling Psych of Religion

One of the most common questions I receive is from students who would like to become clinical or counseling psychologists and to use or study religion from that vantage point. I have resisted creating a page devoted to this question for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that listings of such programs are almost certainly incomplete and outdated moments after they are published. It also seems more like the kind of task that is suited to an organization than to an individual.

Still, I receive enough questions on the subject that I have added the following to my FAQ file. If you are reading this and note any glaring errors, please let me know so that students and prospective students have the information they need.

QUESTION: I would like to get a doctorate in clinical or counseling psychology, and to do it with a professor who studies religion. What schools offer this?

Getting into an applied psychology program is not easy, as most admit only a small percentage of their applicants. Adding a religious component to your search then limits the number of schools even further. This means that your task is not impossible, but it will require a combination of hard work and a strong application.

Your best option is probably to seek out a good clinical or counseling psych program that has one or more faculty members who are interested in religion. The names that come most quickly to mind are Bowling Green (Pargament); Pepperdine (Shafranske); Loyola-Baltimore (Piedmont); Connecticut (Park); Fuller (several); Regent (several); Brigham Young (several). Of course, several of those universities are religiously affiliated, so you may or may not feel personally able to agree to study there with the expectations that they have for students. Still, you should at least check in to each of these universities and consider just what type of fit they may provide you. I don't believe that any of those faculty study faith development themselves, but each of them do study the psychology of religion and would likely be open to studying faith development.

In all likelihood, I've left out some others who would be suitable, as this list is merely what comes to mind at the moment, but this will give you a start. I should also mention that I am replying to this question in February, 2008. If you are reading this in a few years, the answer almost certainly will have changed as university faculty retire or are hired, and as university curricula and degree programs change. For instance, the psychology department at my university has initiated a Psy.D., aimed at preparing students to practice clinical psychology in rural settings. There is no formal psychology of religion component, but students can do their dissertation on a variety of topics, including religion.