A Guide To Anger And Conflict Resolution
One day I was presenting to a high school class a lesson on mature ways to resolve conflicts when a student we will call Tony raised his hand. When I called on him, he said, “Dr. Rubin, how would you resolve this? This here Tina (he points to her) and I were dating, and now I decided to end it. I’m seeing another girl. But…
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Regular visitors to “From Insults to Respect” know that from time to time I like to select one of Bob Dylan’s “Theme Time Radio Hour” shows to help enrich our understanding of an important topic. Bob’s shows have so far helped us to take an insightful look at why people might seek to insult us by calling us certain types of names, and at how…
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In a past post I asked the question, “Is Depression an Illness?” Many expressed strong feelings on this subject. Some argued that it is indeed an illness; others made the case that it was an experience that most of us go through, some more than others for sure, but classifying it as an illness leads one down a path toward taking unhealthy drugs that in…
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Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Toward the latter part of President Obama’s presidency, he laid out his approach for dealing with the ISIS situation. Although our new president has not said so, it looks like his approach is no different in any discernible manner that I can detect. There was, early in the Trump presidency, a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian military on its…
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Today, concerns about youth criminal behavior and mental health tend to be addressed in a variety of ways. Placing law breaking juveniles in correctional facilities get them off the streets for awhile, but their interactions in these facilities with other offenders can make serious problems worse. Psychiatric drugs are popular, though their effectiveness and safety are debatable. Counseling and psychotherapy are often helpful but at times…
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What is the best way to deal with a bully? In my Cool Steve Trilogy, the main character, Steve Marino, struggles with this problem. It initially comes up in the first of the three novels, A Hero Grows In Brooklyn, which is available for free as an ebook by clicking HERE. There, Steve, who is at this point in the trilogy, a mere 13 years old, has move to…
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Since as far back as she can remember, Carla, 19-years-old, has been having periods during which she has waves of deeply sad feelings. She has family members who say that depression runs in their family, and she should see a psychiatrist for treatment. So, off she goes, and after a few questions, the psychiatrist declares she has a mental illness called Major Depressive Disorder. Carla…
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By now, most of you have repeatedly seen the shaky video that shows a police officer grabbing an insubordinate sixteen-year-old female student, Shakara, who is sitting at her desk (see HERE). When the officer’s hand is very close to the student’s throat, she hits at his arm. The officer then flips her over and flings her to the front of the classroom. The student reportedly…
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On this blog, we have been discussing the question, “Is it possible that there are immature and mature ways to handle our disagreements?” To help answer this question, I have, very tentatively, proposed five levels of maturity for providing criticism (see here) and five levels of maturity for responding to criticism (see here and here). In defending these levels of maturity, I have pointed out…
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Well, once again I decided to listen to one of Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour shows. This time his topic was the devil. The show begins with stirring music that sounds like an enormous storm is moving in, and then Bob says, “This is Theme Time Radio Hour and there’s hell to pay.” He then launches into a reading of a little section of John…
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