You know that guy who can’t ever seem to commit long-term? The one who breaks hearts with naive abandon…the one that people start to wonder about?
Well, that’s me. Or at least that was me in the past – like Ebenezer Scrooge before the midnight rendezvous.
But he woke up! And I did too.
Life is better awake. I think others will feel the same way – that’s why I’ve been investigating and writing about this issue of fading romance.
While I see value in discerning numerical patterns, my own research focuses on identifying themes across human discourse, language, interpretation and narrative. An early mentor, Brent Slife (BYU), changed my world by illuminating the striking impact of interpretation itself on everything that happens in our lives. After graduating as the psychology department valedictorian, I went on to study in the clinical-community psychology doctoral program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. There, my world was again turned on its head by Julian Rappaport, Nicole Allen, and community psychology’s focus on the power of surrounding context to shape our lives. My dissertation research ultimately explored the consequences ensuing from competing narratives of depression and its medical treatment.
I was also invited by the UIUC Program on Intergroup Relations to help develop and co-facilitate a liberal-conservative dialogue class for undergraduates, the first of its kind in the nation. This led to a recent book on political dialogue co-authored with Dr. Phil Neisser (State University of New York, Potsdam), entitled, “You’re Not as Crazy as I Thought (But You’re Still Wrong)” – recently featured on NPR’s This American Life.
Since finishing my Ph.D., I have worked as Research Director at Utah Youth Village, a charity for abused children in the Rocky Mountain Region, where I’ve conducted long-term treatment outcome studies. I’ve published 12 peer-reviewed articles – and have collaborated on the development of Fight the New Drug‘s Fortify online recovery program for those struggling with pornography addiction.
More recently, I co-founded with mindfulness teacher Thomas McConkie, a new non-profit, All of Life (www.alloflife.org), with a mission of developing risk-factor-based, industry-independent mental health education.
After ten years of heartbreak, in my early 30’s I finally committed everything to a wonderful girl: Monique Tenaya Moore. We now have two little precious boys – William and Sammy – who have changed their daddy’s life more than anything else that came before!
