Conference Presentations by Michael Moats
Poetry is a powerful medium for facilitating understanding and empathy across cultures. In this p... more Poetry is a powerful medium for facilitating understanding and empathy across cultures. In this presentation, we explore the intersections of cultural empathy, cultural trauma, and social justice. While personal/collective healing and cultural empathy may appear distinct from activism, this presentation will show how, for some individuals, they can be intimately intertwined.
In the United States, there is growing evidence that the increasing publicity surrounding violence against marginalized groups, such as killings of many Black individuals by people in power, has contributed to cultural trauma. Hearing about and viewing these events is contributing to symptoms similar to PTSD, yet many who are not in these cultural groups have a difficult time understanding their experience. Poetry originating as self-expression intended for healing can also be used to promote cultural empathy and can be used with social justice activism. Furthermore, activism, for many individuals, is part of the healing process when experiencing cultural trauma. Poetry, through its ability to hold multiple meanings and allow meanings to evolve over time, can serve an important role in uniting healing, empathy, and activism in the face of cultural trauma.
In this presentation, we begin providing theory and research regarding cultural trauma. Next, we address how poetry can be used in the context of healing, cultural empathy, and activism. We conclude with an experiential exercise intended to facilitate cultural empathy and explore how this can then be used in the service of social justice activism.
Poetry is an ancient healing art predating the advent of psychotherapy. Historically, poetry was ... more Poetry is an ancient healing art predating the advent of psychotherapy. Historically, poetry was commonly used to address grieving and loss. Many of the sacred texts of different world religions are replete with poetic laments that were part of individual and collective healing processes. In contemporary society, many have lost the appreciation for the power of poetry to facilitate healing around grieving and loss. In this presentation, we begin by setting the foundation of how poetry can be integrated into humanistic and existential psychotherapy. Building from this frame, we explore five important themes in the grieving process: 1) trusting emotions and the grieving process, 2) emotional expression, 3) meaning-making, 4) connecting and deepening relationships, and 5) paradoxes of the grieving process. With each theme, we discuss ways that poetry can be used to assist grieving individuals. Additionally, with each theme, we utilize examples and illustrations of the use of poetry to address the particular theme. The examples illustrate the complexities and power of the use of poetry with grieving and loss. The presentation concludes with opportunities for reflection and discussion. We are requesting 2-hours in order to adequately illustrate the complexity within each theme and discuss various ways that poetry can address the theme.
Poetry is an ancient healing art predating the advent of psychotherapy. Historically, poetry was ... more Poetry is an ancient healing art predating the advent of psychotherapy. Historically, poetry was commonly used to address grieving and loss. Many of the sacred texts of different world religions are replete with poetic laments that were part of individual and collective healing processes. In contemporary society, many have lost the appreciation for the power of poetry to facilitate healing around grieving and loss. In this presentation, we begin by setting the foundation of how poetry can be integrated into humanistic and existential psychotherapy. Building from this frame, we explore five important themes in the grieving process: 1) trusting emotions and the grieving process, 2) emotional expression, 3) meaning-making, 4) connecting and deepening relationships, and 5) paradoxes of the grieving process. With each theme, we discuss ways that poetry can be used to assist grieving individuals. Additionally, with each theme, we utilize examples and illustrations of the use of poetry to address the particular theme. The examples illustrate the complexities and power of the use of poetry with grieving and loss. The presentation concludes with opportunities for reflection and discussion. We are requesting 2-hours in order to adequately illustrate the complexity within each theme and discuss various ways that poetry can address the theme.
A number of recent events contributed to significantly increased tension pertaining to racial and... more A number of recent events contributed to significantly increased tension pertaining to racial and other multicultural issues in the United States. These events represent powerful, shared cultural traumas. In the wake of many recent tragedies that hold multicultural implications, poetry has emerged as a powerful source of healing. Poetry allowed people from across the country to connect in a shared experience of grief, loss, and anger, and aided in allowing these emotions to transform into something that promotes healing and change at the individual and collective levels. As the painful emotions and anger are processed, it allows for more compassionate and empathetic dialogues to emerge. We will use a number of illustrations of poetry being used to find meaning in tragedy, and move towards transformation.
Many commonplace ways of engaging cultural diversity frequently lead to debate and individuals becoming more entrenched in one’s own perspectives. Poetry and other narrative ways of communicating hold the potential to transform multicultural dialogues. In particular, we propose that poetry can facilitate increased cultural empathy and understanding. By shifting from dialogue rooted in ideology to listening to each other’s stories and emotions, poetry encourages a new layer of depth and compassion. We discuss several approaches and examples of utilizing poetry to facilitate these dialogues.
The workshop concludes with an experiential activity illustrating how poetry can be used to facilitate multicultural healing and cultural empathy.
Long before psychotherapy, poetry was used to facilitate painful expressions of grief and loss. I... more Long before psychotherapy, poetry was used to facilitate painful expressions of grief and loss. In so doing, poetry often served roles similar to psychotherapy in promoting the grieving process. Poetic expression allows one to communicate what is evasive in everyday language and, in doing so, often deepens one’s own awareness of one’s experience. Poetry serves at once a way to honor and preserve what is being grieved while beginning the healing path. This presentation will examine ways that poetry can be used to facilitate healing in psychotherapy as well as other contexts. Particular attention will be given to the ways that using poetry to facilitate grieving and loss fits with existential-humanistic perspectives. Bugental, for example, emphasized process and nonverbal communication in therapy. Similarly, in poetry it is often the comas, line breaks, and imagery that go beyond words and create the most powerful impact.
Poetry is an ancient healing art that has transcended cultural barriers since long before the adv... more Poetry is an ancient healing art that has transcended cultural barriers since long before the advent of psychotherapy. In the Foreword to Stay Awhile: Poetic Narratives on Multiculturalism and Diversity, Gradilla (2015) stated that, “ in all ancient societies poetry was seen as the purest and most dangerous form of truth and knowledge” (p. 7). The purity and danger of poetry is also closely connected to its ability to promote healing and growth at the personal, social, and cultural levels. Poetry is authentic communication that often emerges from deep within one’s subjective and empathetic experience. As such, the use of poetry to facilitate healing, growth, and dialogue is highly consistent with humanistic psychology.
This presentation identifies several ways in which poetry is relevant to personal and social engagement with multiculturalism and diversity. We begin with a general discussion pertaining to the ways that poetry facilitates healing and growth prior to focusing more specifically on multiculturalism and diversity. Through engagement with poems in the book Stay Awhile: Poetic Narratives on Multiculturalism and Diversity by Hoffman and Granger, eleven themes were identified that are relevant to multiculturalism. Many of these themes are also relevant to psychotherapy and the application of psychology to social issues. These themes will be discussed along with illustration of poems that embody the themes. Special attention will be given to the clinical applications. We conclude the presentation with an experiential exercise in which participants will be guided to deeper engagement with multicultural issues through poetry.
Granger, N. Jr., Hoffman, L., Alsoraimi, N., Bargdill, R., Belton, G., Christensen, R., Granger, A., Hamlin, N., Lac, V., Moats, M., & Reynolds, N. (2015, March). The use of poetry to facilitate multicultural dialogues. Symposium presented at the 8th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Chicago, IL.
McGuire, K., Dias, J., DeLoia, C., Claypool, T., Moats, M., Saxon, E., Ren, J., Yang, M., Wang, X... more McGuire, K., Dias, J., DeLoia, C., Claypool, T., Moats, M., Saxon, E., Ren, J., Yang, M., Wang, X., Ungvarsky, J. & Hoffman, L. (2009, October). Existential psychology in China: Challenges and possibilities. Poster session presented at the 3rd Annual Society for Humanistic Psychotherapy Conference, Colorado Springs, CO.
"International psychology is receiving increased attention over the past several years. In postmo... more "International psychology is receiving increased attention over the past several years. In postmodern times, advancements in communication technologies and increased mobility have made international collaborations a more commonplace reality in the lives of many, including mental health professionals. Additionally, this has opened up “international markets” not just for material products, but also for various social products, such as psychotherapy and mental health ideologies. As an illustration, following the Sichuan earthquakes in China, a significant number of mental health professionals swarmed to China offering training for the relief workers. These approaches were Western approaches that typically made little effort to adapt to the culture or explore culture-based approaches to providing support and healing to the earthquake victims. In a now often referenced presentation, Ren Zheng Jia responded to this with a presentation titled, “Psychology as Dog Shit” (see Moats, Claypool, & Saxon, 2011). In essence, Ren recognized the potential value of many of these approaches, yet maintained they were useless without some cultural adaptation and sensitivity.
The focus on this of paper is to provide a model for international psychology that is rooted in existential and zhi mian psychology. Existential psychology is a Western approach to psychology. Zhi mian is an approach to therapy developed by Xuefu Wang (2011) rooted in the philosophical and literary writings of Lu Xun. Although Wang maintains there is no direct translation of zhi mian to English, zhi mian could be translated as “to face directly” in the context of facing life, oneself, and one’s relationships directly. It has been proposed that zhi mian could rightly be considered an indigenous Chinese existential psychology, and that existential therapy could rightly be considered an indigenous Western form of zhi mian therapy (Hoffman, in press).
The existential/zhi mian approach to international psychology that we are proposing emerged from dialogues, trainings, and other collaborations between United States and Chinese psychologists and therapists. A number of principles provide the foundation of this model:
1. Relationship: International work is best conducted in the context of relationships. In instances where there is merely the exchange of ideas or training, as is common practice, there is minimal benefit or true advancement. The relationships provide a context that allows for deeper forms of exchange and learning.
2. Mutuality: International psychology should always be a mutual process. Even in contexts where there is involvement between countries in which psychology is more advanced in one country, there are always opportunities for to learn from each other. In cultures where formal psychology has not been developed, there are indigenous approaches to understanding people and engaging in healing that can contribute to dialogue and exchange. Mutuality, in essence, is an attitude in which one remains curious about and open to the other culture.
3. Adaptation: An existential/zhi mian approach recognizes that no psychology can be transported to another culture and applied in the same manner as it was applied in the culture in which it was developed. Effective psychotherapy always considers the cultural context.
4. Universality and Particularity: An existential/zhi mian approach recognizes the universality of the existential givens, which represent challenges that all people must face, and the need for a culturally and individually specific answer to these challenges (Hoffman, 2009). Such consideration considers the needs of the individual as well as the needs for connection and affiliation beyond oneself.
5. Reflection: Engagement in international psychology requires one to move out of their comfort zone. This provides important opportunities to learn about oneself and one’s culture; however, it also brings possibility of one’s own unresolved issues emerging. Given this, self-reflection is an important part of internationally psychology. In many situations, it is important for groups to have opportunities to process what emerges from the cross-cultural experiences.
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Book Chapters by Michael Moats
Existential Psychology East-West, 2019
Existential Psychology East-West (Volume 1 - Revised and Expanded Edition), 2019
The Strength of Self-Acceptance: Theory, Research, and Practice. Edited by Michael E. Bernard, 2013
Existential Psychology East-West, 2009
Papers by Michael Moats
Existential Psychology and the Way of the Tao
Journal of Humanistic Psychology
Contemporary protests movements, which are distinguished from historic movements by relying on de... more Contemporary protests movements, which are distinguished from historic movements by relying on decentralized leadership and utilizing social media and technology, have a central role in addressing social justice issues. Black Lives Matter represents one of the most influential and controversial of the contemporary protests movements. Much of the controversy is connected to misunderstanding, distorted portrayals, and attempts to discredit the movement. Through an examination of the history of Black Lives Matter, and consideration of issues such as privilege and polarization, it can be recognized that the Black Lives Matter movement is providing a healthy cultural critique and creative use of pain, anger, and suffering to advocate for human dignity and positive cultural change. Furthermore, the principles of existential–humanistic psychology can be used to deepen the understanding of Black Lives Matter and other protest movements, while also offering important guidance on how to avoid...
NeuroQuantology, 2011
Louis Hoffman's contributions to the science of psychology are too numerous to list. In addition ... more Louis Hoffman's contributions to the science of psychology are too numerous to list. In addition to his recent election to the office of APA Division 32 president, his growing international renown as an existential psychologist and dozens of publications, many early-career psychologists count Hoffman as a mentor and a profound influence. This paper describes some of his most significant contributions to the science of psychology, to people in general, and to the authors of this paper specifically.
Poetry is an ancient healing art that has transcended cultural barriers since long before the adv... more Poetry is an ancient healing art that has transcended cultural barriers since long before the advent of psychotherapy. In the Foreword to Stay Awhile: Poetic Narratives on Multiculturalism and Diversity, Gradilla (2015) stated that, “ in all ancient societies poetry was seen as the purest and most dangerous form of truth and knowledge” (p. 7). The purity and danger of poetry is also closely connected to its ability to promote healing and growth at the personal, social, and cultural levels. Poetry is authentic communication that often emerges from deep within one’s subjective and empathetic experience. As such, the use of poetry to facilitate healing, growth, and dialogue is highly consistent with humanistic psychology. This presentation identifies several ways in which poetry is relevant to personal and social engagement with multiculturalism and diversity. We begin with a general discussion pertaining to the ways that poetry facilitates healing and growth prior to focusing more spe...
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Conference Presentations by Michael Moats
In the United States, there is growing evidence that the increasing publicity surrounding violence against marginalized groups, such as killings of many Black individuals by people in power, has contributed to cultural trauma. Hearing about and viewing these events is contributing to symptoms similar to PTSD, yet many who are not in these cultural groups have a difficult time understanding their experience. Poetry originating as self-expression intended for healing can also be used to promote cultural empathy and can be used with social justice activism. Furthermore, activism, for many individuals, is part of the healing process when experiencing cultural trauma. Poetry, through its ability to hold multiple meanings and allow meanings to evolve over time, can serve an important role in uniting healing, empathy, and activism in the face of cultural trauma.
In this presentation, we begin providing theory and research regarding cultural trauma. Next, we address how poetry can be used in the context of healing, cultural empathy, and activism. We conclude with an experiential exercise intended to facilitate cultural empathy and explore how this can then be used in the service of social justice activism.
Many commonplace ways of engaging cultural diversity frequently lead to debate and individuals becoming more entrenched in one’s own perspectives. Poetry and other narrative ways of communicating hold the potential to transform multicultural dialogues. In particular, we propose that poetry can facilitate increased cultural empathy and understanding. By shifting from dialogue rooted in ideology to listening to each other’s stories and emotions, poetry encourages a new layer of depth and compassion. We discuss several approaches and examples of utilizing poetry to facilitate these dialogues.
The workshop concludes with an experiential activity illustrating how poetry can be used to facilitate multicultural healing and cultural empathy.
This presentation identifies several ways in which poetry is relevant to personal and social engagement with multiculturalism and diversity. We begin with a general discussion pertaining to the ways that poetry facilitates healing and growth prior to focusing more specifically on multiculturalism and diversity. Through engagement with poems in the book Stay Awhile: Poetic Narratives on Multiculturalism and Diversity by Hoffman and Granger, eleven themes were identified that are relevant to multiculturalism. Many of these themes are also relevant to psychotherapy and the application of psychology to social issues. These themes will be discussed along with illustration of poems that embody the themes. Special attention will be given to the clinical applications. We conclude the presentation with an experiential exercise in which participants will be guided to deeper engagement with multicultural issues through poetry.
Granger, N. Jr., Hoffman, L., Alsoraimi, N., Bargdill, R., Belton, G., Christensen, R., Granger, A., Hamlin, N., Lac, V., Moats, M., & Reynolds, N. (2015, March). The use of poetry to facilitate multicultural dialogues. Symposium presented at the 8th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Chicago, IL.
The focus on this of paper is to provide a model for international psychology that is rooted in existential and zhi mian psychology. Existential psychology is a Western approach to psychology. Zhi mian is an approach to therapy developed by Xuefu Wang (2011) rooted in the philosophical and literary writings of Lu Xun. Although Wang maintains there is no direct translation of zhi mian to English, zhi mian could be translated as “to face directly” in the context of facing life, oneself, and one’s relationships directly. It has been proposed that zhi mian could rightly be considered an indigenous Chinese existential psychology, and that existential therapy could rightly be considered an indigenous Western form of zhi mian therapy (Hoffman, in press).
The existential/zhi mian approach to international psychology that we are proposing emerged from dialogues, trainings, and other collaborations between United States and Chinese psychologists and therapists. A number of principles provide the foundation of this model:
1. Relationship: International work is best conducted in the context of relationships. In instances where there is merely the exchange of ideas or training, as is common practice, there is minimal benefit or true advancement. The relationships provide a context that allows for deeper forms of exchange and learning.
2. Mutuality: International psychology should always be a mutual process. Even in contexts where there is involvement between countries in which psychology is more advanced in one country, there are always opportunities for to learn from each other. In cultures where formal psychology has not been developed, there are indigenous approaches to understanding people and engaging in healing that can contribute to dialogue and exchange. Mutuality, in essence, is an attitude in which one remains curious about and open to the other culture.
3. Adaptation: An existential/zhi mian approach recognizes that no psychology can be transported to another culture and applied in the same manner as it was applied in the culture in which it was developed. Effective psychotherapy always considers the cultural context.
4. Universality and Particularity: An existential/zhi mian approach recognizes the universality of the existential givens, which represent challenges that all people must face, and the need for a culturally and individually specific answer to these challenges (Hoffman, 2009). Such consideration considers the needs of the individual as well as the needs for connection and affiliation beyond oneself.
5. Reflection: Engagement in international psychology requires one to move out of their comfort zone. This provides important opportunities to learn about oneself and one’s culture; however, it also brings possibility of one’s own unresolved issues emerging. Given this, self-reflection is an important part of internationally psychology. In many situations, it is important for groups to have opportunities to process what emerges from the cross-cultural experiences.
"
Book Chapters by Michael Moats
Papers by Michael Moats
In the United States, there is growing evidence that the increasing publicity surrounding violence against marginalized groups, such as killings of many Black individuals by people in power, has contributed to cultural trauma. Hearing about and viewing these events is contributing to symptoms similar to PTSD, yet many who are not in these cultural groups have a difficult time understanding their experience. Poetry originating as self-expression intended for healing can also be used to promote cultural empathy and can be used with social justice activism. Furthermore, activism, for many individuals, is part of the healing process when experiencing cultural trauma. Poetry, through its ability to hold multiple meanings and allow meanings to evolve over time, can serve an important role in uniting healing, empathy, and activism in the face of cultural trauma.
In this presentation, we begin providing theory and research regarding cultural trauma. Next, we address how poetry can be used in the context of healing, cultural empathy, and activism. We conclude with an experiential exercise intended to facilitate cultural empathy and explore how this can then be used in the service of social justice activism.
Many commonplace ways of engaging cultural diversity frequently lead to debate and individuals becoming more entrenched in one’s own perspectives. Poetry and other narrative ways of communicating hold the potential to transform multicultural dialogues. In particular, we propose that poetry can facilitate increased cultural empathy and understanding. By shifting from dialogue rooted in ideology to listening to each other’s stories and emotions, poetry encourages a new layer of depth and compassion. We discuss several approaches and examples of utilizing poetry to facilitate these dialogues.
The workshop concludes with an experiential activity illustrating how poetry can be used to facilitate multicultural healing and cultural empathy.
This presentation identifies several ways in which poetry is relevant to personal and social engagement with multiculturalism and diversity. We begin with a general discussion pertaining to the ways that poetry facilitates healing and growth prior to focusing more specifically on multiculturalism and diversity. Through engagement with poems in the book Stay Awhile: Poetic Narratives on Multiculturalism and Diversity by Hoffman and Granger, eleven themes were identified that are relevant to multiculturalism. Many of these themes are also relevant to psychotherapy and the application of psychology to social issues. These themes will be discussed along with illustration of poems that embody the themes. Special attention will be given to the clinical applications. We conclude the presentation with an experiential exercise in which participants will be guided to deeper engagement with multicultural issues through poetry.
Granger, N. Jr., Hoffman, L., Alsoraimi, N., Bargdill, R., Belton, G., Christensen, R., Granger, A., Hamlin, N., Lac, V., Moats, M., & Reynolds, N. (2015, March). The use of poetry to facilitate multicultural dialogues. Symposium presented at the 8th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference, Chicago, IL.
The focus on this of paper is to provide a model for international psychology that is rooted in existential and zhi mian psychology. Existential psychology is a Western approach to psychology. Zhi mian is an approach to therapy developed by Xuefu Wang (2011) rooted in the philosophical and literary writings of Lu Xun. Although Wang maintains there is no direct translation of zhi mian to English, zhi mian could be translated as “to face directly” in the context of facing life, oneself, and one’s relationships directly. It has been proposed that zhi mian could rightly be considered an indigenous Chinese existential psychology, and that existential therapy could rightly be considered an indigenous Western form of zhi mian therapy (Hoffman, in press).
The existential/zhi mian approach to international psychology that we are proposing emerged from dialogues, trainings, and other collaborations between United States and Chinese psychologists and therapists. A number of principles provide the foundation of this model:
1. Relationship: International work is best conducted in the context of relationships. In instances where there is merely the exchange of ideas or training, as is common practice, there is minimal benefit or true advancement. The relationships provide a context that allows for deeper forms of exchange and learning.
2. Mutuality: International psychology should always be a mutual process. Even in contexts where there is involvement between countries in which psychology is more advanced in one country, there are always opportunities for to learn from each other. In cultures where formal psychology has not been developed, there are indigenous approaches to understanding people and engaging in healing that can contribute to dialogue and exchange. Mutuality, in essence, is an attitude in which one remains curious about and open to the other culture.
3. Adaptation: An existential/zhi mian approach recognizes that no psychology can be transported to another culture and applied in the same manner as it was applied in the culture in which it was developed. Effective psychotherapy always considers the cultural context.
4. Universality and Particularity: An existential/zhi mian approach recognizes the universality of the existential givens, which represent challenges that all people must face, and the need for a culturally and individually specific answer to these challenges (Hoffman, 2009). Such consideration considers the needs of the individual as well as the needs for connection and affiliation beyond oneself.
5. Reflection: Engagement in international psychology requires one to move out of their comfort zone. This provides important opportunities to learn about oneself and one’s culture; however, it also brings possibility of one’s own unresolved issues emerging. Given this, self-reflection is an important part of internationally psychology. In many situations, it is important for groups to have opportunities to process what emerges from the cross-cultural experiences.
"