Only Liberals Need Apply

Here is another USA Today article looking at the disturbing trend of fewer men attending college--especially liberal arts colleges (gee, there's a surprise). It is easy to see why boys avoid these types of feminine empires--to succeed, one has to adopt a liberal point of view:

UCLA higher education professor Linda Sax says such a discussion should address what effect, if any, the gender composition of a college has on men and women. To find out, she examined data from more than 17,000 students at 204 four-year colleges.

Preliminary results show that on campuses that were predominantly female, both men and women got higher grades. Predominantly female campuses also led to a "significant increase" in men's commitment to promoting racial understanding and led males to more liberal views on abortion, homosexuality and other social issues, her research found.

"What we're talking about here is the impact of women's attitudes and values," Sax says.

As if all that matters is the impact of certain women's attitudes and values. What happened to diversity for the rest of us? We women who hold more libertarian points of view or men who are conservative? Where do we apply?

Self Help Books in Cognitive Therapy

Some readers have commented or emailed me to ask for suggestions for books on cognitive therapy techniques that apply to everyday life. Here is a list of those books from the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. I have not read all of these books but some look pretty good.

Maybe Bloggers Should Heed Advice From Father of Cognitive Therapy

One of my commenters mentioned that Albert Ellis got ahead by popularity and is now being ousted from the very institute he started due to shifting fashions. That's not really true as this story shows.

When Albert Ellis, PhD, conceived of REBT in 1955, "it was denounced by practically everybody," he recalls. "But one of the principles of REBT is not to take criticism too seriously, so I survived."

Indeed, Ellis believes people should consider critiques of their behavior, "but never damn your being and spirit--your essential self" in the process. His address will thus urge psychologists to "hold their ground, take a stand and not defame themselves when they are defamed by others," he explains. By doing so, he believes, "maybe their views will prevail."

Ellis says he stood by his unpopular theories long enough to gain professional regard. Then "science won out" in the 1970s when "study after study started showing that REBT and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were quite effective."

This is also good advice for bloggers--even when your view is unpopular and the controversy flies, just remember not to take the criticism too seriously.

For Some Psychologists, Being Different Means Getting the Boot!

In just another example of how dysfunctional some psychologists can be in their interactions with each other, Albert Ellis, one of the founders of cognitive behavioral therapy is being ousted from the very institute he founded in New York City. I was in graduate school in the 1980's at the New School for Social Research in Manhattan and studied the principles of Albert Ellis's work. His rational-emotive therapy focused away from childhood trauma and instead, dealt with the distorted beliefs that patients had about their current lives. I have found cognitive behavioral therapy to be extremely effective with many of the clients I see now. It is a shame that such a maverick should have to deal with those who do not understand his genius.

Women and Wages

Here is a good article on the gender paygap by Warren Farrell, one of my favorite authors. I haven't read his new book, Why Men Earn More: The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gap -- and What Women Can Do About It, but I did like The Myth of Male Power.