I am the daughter of a British army prisoner of war at Changi, a notorious WWII camp in the jungles north of Singapore. My father, Percy Herbert, went on to become a film actor. His early movies included the Oscar-winning "The Bridge on the River Kwai," directed by David Lean. Ironically the film was based on the very same concentration camp where my father was held for four years. Forced to … [Read more...]
At the movies: the observer and the observed
Hollywood has long presented psychotherapists and analysts as villains or saintly saviors, but around the turn of the century they became central characters in a handful of popular and hilarious comedies. Consider “Analyze This” (1999) and its sequel “Analyze That” (2002), both starring Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. Then there’s “What About Bob?” (1991), pairing Bill Murray and Richard … [Read more...]
When gratitude is in short supply
How often are small kindnesses extended without a second thought, simply an automatic gesture between human beings, just because. … Probably millions of time daily around the world. What a wonderful image this suggests. People offering help, care, love and consideration. Society values and rewards such gestures. Studies have shown time and again how gestures of kindness and consideration … [Read more...]
The Beatles, psychologists of rock
Humming along to "Eleanor Rigby," I began listening more acutely to the astounding lyrics of this Beatles song from 1966. How profoundly insightful their music was when it came to the the human condition from a psychological point of view. The Beatles were the pop psychologists of their times! "Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been. ... All the lonely people, … [Read more...]
A modern-day Children’s Crusade
In the year 1212, a crusade of more than 30,000 Christian children led by 12-year-old Stephen of Cloyes and young shepherd Nicholas sought to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims. The children's mission was to "peacefully" convert Muslims while securing Christians' right to the Holy Grail and Jerusalem. They were sent by the priests, backed by parents and the village communities of Northern … [Read more...]