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Dr. Marlene Winell is a human development consultant, educator, and writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her background includes 28 years of experience in human services, in both community and academic settings. She holds a doctorate in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University, and specializes in communications training for couples. She is the author of Leaving the Fold: A Guide for Former Fundamentalists and Others Leaving their Religion. Her services related to recovery from religion can be found at www.journeyfree.org.

More about Marlene Winell

Welcome & Overall Approach

Thank-you for visiting my website. You will find information here about who I am, my services, events, writings, and media. As a human developmentalist (my Ph.D. is in Human Development and Family Studies), I seek to help people move through normal life transitions in a way that maximizes their opportunities for personal growth.  I believe my approach is compassionate, yet direct and action-oriented. I assume a basic respect for a person’s intuitive abilities and strengths, emphasize building a relationship of trust, and focus on helping people actively engage with the challenges of life.   Unlike psychotherapy, which is concerned with diagnosing and treating pathology to help people become "normal" and cope, a developmental approach is about thriving instead of surviving.  My training in social ecology also gives me an awareness to help people consider the social, economic, and cultural context of the issues we discuss, and not just personal psychology.  

Read more about my overall approach

 

Updates

Updates

  • In praise of empathy!

    Bestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifkin investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has shaped our development and our society.  (It's also a very clever animation).

    The Empathic Civilization 

  • Be careful with email messages

    Most of the work I do teaching communication skills involves talking in person. However, these days people use email for many things and often run into trouble. It can be a mild misunderstanding or a huge disaster, causing such things as the end of a relationship, job loss, or legal trouble. Why? A number of reasons. Email can be easily misunderstood since there are no visual cues or voice tones to convey meaning.

  • Managing Emotional Flashbacks

    This article by Pete Walker is a good explanation of "emotional flashbacks" and complex PTSD, which result from childhood neglect and emotional abuse.  In essence, current stress can trigger old pain; recognizing the signs and learning to manage the emotional reactions is important for healthy functioning.  I think that this work provides valuable insights that coincide with my own approach with taming the "idea monster" and learning to actively care for one's inner child.   -- Marlene Winell (more)
     

  • Understanding ourselves with an evolutionary perspective

    July 10, 2011.  This online article for a college class  at William and Mary is an excellent description of evolutionary psychology, which helps tremendously when trying to understand ourselves and others.  Here's an excerpt - go to the link for the rest and enjoy.   MW

    Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer   by Leda Cosmides & John Tooby

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