Farmer observes trends in a Fast-Changing World

Three psychology students from the North Dakota College of Science in Wahpeton, wrote to me and asked me some questions about my career.

Where did you attend college?

I attended college at Brigham Young University for my bachelor’s degree and the University of Arizona for my Masters and Ph.D.

Why did you select psychology as your career?

I had a desire to learn about life and the human condition. I am sure my personal and family background prepared me to want to understand myself and others around me.

Brigham Young University did not offer philosophy as a major so I took the next best thing, psychology. Later on, I discovered I had gifts that would help me to be a good counselor. By then, I realized the psychology was a more practical and fun field to be in anyway. I considered psychiatry but I didn’t have the aptitude or interest in physical medicine and didn’t want to pay that kind of price (medical school) to end up doing what both professions do, psychotherapy.

Who was the most influential person in your career?

I had an opportunity to work with Dr. William Fife, a psychiatrist, in Sacramento, Calif., at a time after my graduation from college and before I went back to graduate school. He was in charge of a short-term treatment unit for inpatients. I admired his Gestalt therapy techniques and saw his loving ability to get to the core of people’s problems. He had an exceptional gift of being able to concentrate on the person he was with. He, more than anyone else, showed me the remarkable power of a healer’s art.

Having read many of your articles in the past dealing with rural mental health and family relationships, what lead you to choose this area?

I chose rural mental health and family relationships as a speciality, because of where I live. I came to Nebraska for my internship year and ultimately stayed in South Dakota for all of my professional career. I saw many problems unique to rural families and communities that were not being addressed professionals. The need was there. I made a conscious effort to listen, learn and share what I was learning with others.

What is the most important idea or concept to be learned in psychology?

We human beings have a remarkable ability to transform ourselves and shape our own lives through ideas, attitudes and experiences.

What contributions in psychology would you like to be remembered for?

The explosive force of change grows exponentially in this marvelous age of information. Science has become democratized. Knowledge and ideas move with lightening speed and connect with others who, for their part, add value to the stream of information and send it out again laden with implications.

Who integrates this information? Who assigns it value? Who brings it into the awareness of the public? Who puts it into useful form? How do new ideas derive their power? How do they become tangible and far-reaching?

The world is in dire need of artist/information brokers who understand the importance of the new knowledge and how it can be meaningful in people’s lives — and then have the gift to make it real in their lives. As a psychologist in the media, I try to perform that role. I have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility.

Through my study and experiences, I try to recognize the values at stake and define the issues. Through my craft of writing, I dramatize the nature of the challenge and encourage responsible action. I am an observer of the times and trends. I try to be a lightening rod of understanding in a fast-changing world.

Through my writing, I can shatter the loneliness one feels within the group. My expressions have the power to make connect experience and reduce the isolation of the solitary soul. I put words on feelings and names on problems. The mysterious becomes understandable.

Through my writing, I provide ideas that replenish the mind and motivate the soul. The artist in me, the performer in me, invests ideas with a vibrancy that can penetrate, change, and move people. I try to provide energy for human advancement. I can take information and help the individual face a truth that can make a difference in his or her life. This is my art. The ideas I present have to penetrate layers of defenses, tradition, and resistance.

Through my writing, I am in a good position to convert human knowledge into human progress. I hope to be remembered for having done it well.

I would like to be remembered for my compassionate words during the farm crisis of the mid-80s, my commitment to family and moral values, and for having touched lives for the good. I would like to be remembered for having lived up to my principles and having been a good husband, father and community leader. I would like to be remembered that through all my success that I remained approachable and accessible to people who needed me.