An Overview

My research is interdisciplinary in nature. I pursue themes I first addressed through an undergraduate major I designed at the University of Michigan titled The Psychological and Philosophical Foundations of Culture. As a social scientist, my work explores how culture shapes the self, identity, meaning, moral development, and psychological well-being.

Much of my scholarship examines Western psychology from cross-cultural and historical perspectives. I have been particularly interested in how Western assumptions about the nature of the person—or self—and the “good life” underlie psychological theory, research, and practice. In particular, I have explored how individualism influences multiple domains within psychology.

My recent research considers the limitations of prevailing models of positive psychology and well-being, especially as they are framed within individualistic cultures. I examine alternative understandings of psychological well-being emerging from non-individualistic societies. Additional areas of inquiry include moral development, character education, and psychotherapy.

I have spent considerable time studying indigenous psychological traditions in non-Western cultures, including participant observation in contemplative training contexts and fieldwork with traditional healers and shamans. This work has clarified the presuppositions embedded in Western conceptions of well-being while expanding my understanding of methods increasingly applied within behavioral medicine.

I view this broader program of research as essential for counseling and psychotherapy—particularly when working with clients from diverse cultural backgrounds or international contexts. It also has implications for public health, health promotion and education, character development, and personality and developmental psychology.

More recently, my work has focused on developing alternative conceptions of the self and well-being that address limitations in current theory and research. While this line of inquiry has been developing for over twenty-five years, it is only in the past five that I have been able to integrate the two central strands of my intellectual formation—philosophical hermeneutics and interactivism—into what I consider a coherent and compelling framework.

One area where I have applied this theoretical work is in mind–body medicine and stress management, which I have taught for over twenty-five years. I bring more than thirty years of meditation and yoga practice, along with fifteen years of qigong training, to my work in integrative medicine. I have been a pioneer in applying mindfulness practices to counselor education. My graduate course, Mind-Body Medicine and the Art of Self-Care, was featured in Counseling Today, the monthly magazine of the American Counseling Association.

My research on mindfulness in counselor training has been published in the Journal of Counseling & Development, The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, and Teachers College Record. My 2006 article, “Teaching Self-Care through Mindfulness Practices: The Application of Yoga, Meditation, and Qi Gong to Counselor Training,” remains one of the most frequently read articles on the Journal of Humanistic Psychology website.

I have published across a range of journals. Outlets such as The Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychologyand Theory & Psychology have allowed me to pursue the conceptual dimensions of my work. At the same time, I have published in journals such as The American Psychologist, The Journal of Counseling and Development, and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, and Training because I am committed to bridging theoretical scholarship and the lived practice of psychotherapy and counseling.