E259: Kendra Thomas: Building bridges, cross cultural psychology, community, and Brazil

In this episode Garth interviewed Kendra Thomas from Hope College in Holland, MI. Kendra discusses her applied developmental and educational psychology research in under-resourced public schools in Brazil and with the iThemba Projects nonprofit in South Africa. She explains the challenges of collecting valid cross-cultural data, emphasizing short, context-appropriate measures built with practitioners and designed to provide immediate value (e.g., school safety, home-visit frequency, HIV misconceptions). She discusses defining and measuring "hope" across contexts, including building measures simultaneously in English, Zulu, and Portuguese, and notes how imported measures can fail (e.g., social responsibility reading as compliance). Kendra also describes becoming Kathleen Berger's textbook co-author via chapter reviews, managing time with leave and reduced load, and teaching a "developmental imagination" through five maxims. She shares her Brazil-to-U.S. educational path and teaching-focused career trajectory. [Note. Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]

🎧 AskPsychSessions Re-Release! When, if ever, should students complete work that doesn't receive feedback? Jane Halonen from the University of West Florida tackles this listener question in a lively conversation about assignments, feedback, and learning. Plus, there's a bonus discussion on grading presentations through peer review and faculty input. Tune in for practical insights and a thought-provoking conversation! 📚🎙️ [Note: Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]

In this Part 2 episode Eric interviews Chris Hakala from Springfield College in Springfield, MA. Chris discusses his evolving role as executive director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship, which provides faculty development (workshops, consultations, observations) and also manages online courses, instructional design, LMS/ed tech support, and growing online graduate programs. He discusses gaining tenure and retreat rights, pandemic-driven support for reluctant online instructors, and institutional pressures such as enrollment declines, faculty reductions, and "right-sizing," including pausing a PhD program amid capacity and political challenges. He describes teaching multiple psychology courses, heavy service and leadership work, and deep involvement in POD, STP, and NITOP. Much of the conversation centers on AI, cognitive offloading, and the need to redesign assessments to emphasize clear expectations and learning processes rather than polished products, while acknowledging faculty and student resistance and workload strain. [Note. Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]

Dr. Andrew Smiler's book Clinical Work with Men: Understanding Masculinity in Psychotherapy was recently released by the American Psychological Association. Andy shared his professional journey from five years in community mental health working with teenage boys, through a PhD in Developmental Psychology, academic work, and eventually into full-time private practice. He traced his entry into men's psychology to a pivotal graduate course on the psychology of gender and formative moments at APA conventions where he encountered Jim Mahalik discussing the CMNI and connected with Fred Rabinowitz from Division 51. The conversation then turned to his book's motivation: with ~80% of mental health professionals female and growing, and existing clinical books on men dating back 20–30 years, he wrote to translate research into practice for clinicians working with male clients. The book is structured with a cultural competence argument, an introduction to his Multifaceted Masculinity Framework (MFMF), and seven composite case studies. Andy then walked through the four facets of the MFMF. Throughout, he challenged the false stereotype that men are simple, emphasizing instead the full complexity of male psychology and inner life.

Lou walks us through exactly what happens inside a men's circle: the opening rituals, the talking stick, the accountability stretches, and yes, even the drumming. He explains the concept of "clearings," a structured practice for owning your own projections rather than directing anger outward, a tool so powerful it was even brought inside Folsom Prison. He's honest about the barriers men face walking into these spaces for the first time, the fear, the unfamiliarity, the cultural scripts that tell men to keep it all in, and why the hardest part is simply getting through the door. He also gives a clear picture of how the Mankind Project works and the remarkable cross-section of men you'll find in these circles: police officers, ex-convicts, CEOs, new fathers, grieving fathers, all showing up and speaking from the heart. And at the center of it all, Lou makes the case that the greatest gift men's work has given him isn't a skill or a technique — it's deep, lasting male friendship, the kind that's increasingly hard to come by as men get older.

I welcomed back Dr. Anthony Isacco to discuss men, religion, and spirituality. Anthony reflected on his personal journey from mandatory childhood Catholicism to a deliberate adult choice to deepen his faith commitment, a decision he credits as transformative. Despite attending Catholic universities for his master's and Ph.D., he struggled to find guidance integrating spirituality into clinical work until his doctoral internship supervisor, John Davies, created space for this integration. Grounding his work in empirical research, Will Courtney's documentation of men's poor health behaviors and research on men's help-seeking resistance, Dr. Isacco connects a striking gap: regular religious practice is a health-promoting behavior comparable to exercise, yet men engage less with religion than women. This reflects a broader field problem: mental health professionals largely don't identify as religious and don't prioritize spirituality in clinical training. He identified two core barriers: gender socialization leaving young men without male mentors in female-dominated parishes, and attachment wounds where paternal relationships shape views of God. We also discussed forgiveness as countercultural masculine virtue, grounded in service and restoration rather than revenge, exemplified by quite different but helpful examples of Pope John Paul II and the Apple TV show Ted Lasso. Young men, he also emphasized, are hungry for meaning, dignity, and purpose. After recently speaking to young men on ontological worth, he witnessed profound resonance as men as they expressed desires for family, meaningful work, and service. Dr. Isacco also proposed the idea of an ordered masculinity, or a purposeful manhood grounded in virtue, morality, vocation, and service-dimensions psychology is less equipped for but for which religion can provide a framework.

In this Re-Release episode Garth interviews Lee Gurel, who retired from the Chief of Research in Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences position from the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Washington, DC. On receiving the APA Presidential Citizen Psychologist Citation, Lee reflected on his interests in helping high school teachers of psychology have additional professional development opportunities. The conversation includes the importance of his immigrant roots, the special role of Clark University, and more. Lee Gurel passed away on July 24, 2023, at the age of 96. We are grateful for the opportunity to have interviewed him and to preserve a part of his story and legacy.

In this episode Eric interviews Virginia (Ginger) Wickline from Georgia Southern University in Savannah, GA. Ginger begins with the origin of her name and her career path from a visiting position at the College of Wooster to a decade at Miami University of Ohio and then Georgia Southern in 2018, where she earned tenure again. She describes supportive teacher-parents, being a high-achieving multi-activity student, and switching from English to psychology at Anderson University, including service trips abroad that shaped her diversity interests. Trained in Emory's clinical psychology track, she worked at Grady Hospital under Nadine Kaslow and studied with Scott Lilienfeld. Ginger discusses teaching stats/methods, service learning, study abroad, careers, ethics, personality, and diversity, as well as her varied scholarship (syllabi impressions, intercultural competence, adjustment, nonverbal communication). She highlights the STP-hosted Online Career Exploration Resource 2 (2025), updating Drew Appleby's 300+ psychology career list into a searchable website. Link to online resource: Online Career Exploration Resource (OCER-2) [Note. Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]  

Step into psychology history with Michael Wertheimer. In this (Re-Release) episode of PsychSessions, Michael reflects on his remarkable career, his educational journey, and what it was like growing up as the son of Max Wertheimer, founder of Gestalt psychology. Along the way, he shares stories from serving as a teaching assistant at Harvard for E. G. Boring and B. F. Skinner, plus insights on balancing work, life, and a lifelong love of travel. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧

In this episode Garth and special guest host Jane Halonen interview Nancy Segal from California State University, Fullerton in Fullerton, CA. Nancy discusses her lifelong twin research, books, and current projects. She describes how an undergraduate essay sparked her career, her work with the Minnesota twins reared-apart study, and how behavioral genetics became more accepted as evidence accumulated. She previews her trade book Twinship: What Twins' Ties Reveal About Relationships and notes she has nine published books, including work on Auschwitz twins, switched-at-birth Colombian identical twins, and a case involving gay fathers and twin sons. Nancy discusses twin-loss research, expert-witness cases, and doppelgangers used to counter "treated alike" critiques. She explains rising twinning rates (delayed childbirth, IVF), emphasizes twin studies' relevance to everyone, rejects evidence for "twin telepathy," and invites participation via her website and twin study center. [Note. Portions of the show notes were generated with Descript AI.]