I work as a clinical psychologist in private practice in northeastern
Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. I work mostly with individuals and
couples, so my interventions have focused on only a small number of people at
any one time, but I have always been a "systems thinker" in my approach to
therapy. I am currently exploring ways to expand the range of my impact as
an agent for positive change.
I came to the Learning Organization concept through reading Senge's, "The
Fifth Discipline." I have always seen individuals as embedded within
interpersonal and societal contexts, but I never felt I had an adequate
vocabulary to describe the relationships between these different levels of
interaction. For me, Senge's was the first presentation to articulate the
connections between the multiple levels and to provide a useful framework for
effectively promoting learning about systems dynamics.
In LO parlance, my experience as a clinical psychologist has included:
1) Articulating Mental Models (Formal and informal psychological assessment)
2) Facillitating Personal Learning (The goal of therapy)
3) Participating in and Fostering Dialogue (The process of therapy)
4) Altering Small System Dynamics (Whom I've worked with: Individuals,
couples and families)
What I hope to get out of participating:
1) For my current work, a fuller articulation of the interaction between
intrapsychic and interpersonal dynamics.
2) For a possible career change, an exploration of ways to shift my focus
from individuals and small groups to larger groups and organizations.
3) For my "pipe dream," musings about what it would take to create a
"Learning Democracy" - to address the problematic dynamics of our political
system.
I will admit up front that I will be unable to participate in this forum
every day, so please forgive me if I take a while to respond to any posts
directed to me. Then again, when I am able to respond, I will probably have
a lot to say. I think active learning is the most effective, so I'm going to
put my ideas forward in this forum.
I look forward to learning from everyone here.
- Jeff Brooks (BrooksJeff@AOL.com)
--Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>