An Effort Toward Science
Alaska Family Systems is an effort by Dr. Patrick Stinson to address limitations in applied psychology as a science. Whether in the clinic, business, or policy, the state of the art is formed with discrepant theories about how people work. This is one attempt to integrate research and practice toward a natural science of the human.
Dr. Stinson first became interested in the problem of human adaptation at a 10-day silent course in vipassana mediation in 2011. At this course he learned to observe his body in great detail. This allowed him to discover how reactive he was to every little impulse and discomfort in life. Interestingly, the other first timers at the course reported the same thing. The positive effect of the course itself was certainly unprecedented in his life. But what was more important was learning that he was in far less control than he had previously believed, and he could become much more in control by diligently and systematically learning to observe self objectively. This discovery instigated a career change to study Bowen Theory as a Clinical Psychologist.
The human has certainly weaseled its way to the top of the evolutionary heap. It has done so by developing the ability to respond more flexibly to the environment.
It takes years, decades, or centuries to build a better future, and only a split second of inflexible reactivity to destroy it. What would happen if one moved from simply solving problems to improving problem solving itself? What benefits would there be in short therm? In the longest term?