Faculty Member's New Book Helps Readers Find Their Path
It started with a period of uncertainty.
After 15 years in the classroom at Rockhurst, Risa Stein, Ph.D., professor of psychology, just wasn鈥檛 feeling as inspired as she once was. It was part of a larger feeling that she was living according to what was expected of her, not what she found personally fulfilling.
She wasn鈥檛 alone 鈥 in her discussions with students, Stein said 聽many reported feeling like they were living out 聽others鈥 expectations, rather than 聽their own desires.
鈥淔ar too often, we 聽aren鈥檛 guided to develop authentic lives. Instead, our lives are built on messages we鈥檙e given as we鈥檙e growing up 鈥 stay between the lines, don鈥檛 rock the boat,鈥 she said. 鈥淩arely are we encouraged to 聽take the time to experiment and grow comfortable with failure in a way that promotes 聽learning - not just about the world, but about ourselves. As a result, we ultimately fail to appreciate and integrate the various facets of ourselves into everything 聽we do.鈥
Stein said she reviewed the available literature and didn鈥檛 find anything along the lines of a therapeutic approach to working through such a crisis. On one side were self-help aphorisms, and on the other, research-based works intended for academic audiences. Stein said she aimed to create 聽an empirically-sound therapeutic approach for the layperson.
聽鈥淚t鈥檚 really intended to fall between a pep talk and full-blown therapy,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a self-guided and structured approach to personal development.鈥
She applied for, and was granted, a sabbatical in fall 2018 to finish , which Stein said she had begun working on聽 several years 聽prior.
As its title implies, the book requires active participation. Each chapter is a unit 聽involving prompts for the reader to work through. It is linear and purposeful, meant to get the reader to find their own path in life by recognizing the patterns in their own thinking and behaviors that might be holding them back, and 聽to facilitate their finding a path that鈥檚 suited for them. It鈥檚 a distillation of Stein鈥檚 work in the classroom, through Active Minds,聽 聽through her innovation and creativity efforts at 射精视频, her academic research, and her own personal experience and clinical training.
鈥淚 bear my soul in it,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd in my way, this is my pi猫ce de r茅sistance of being vulnerable, which was crucial to promoting my personal growth.鈥
She said she hopes the result helps others who find themselves in that place of uncertainty, no matter their stage in life.