Todd Kashdan, on going against the grain, idea capture, and autonomy
Release Date: 04/24/2020
Dr. Jackie Persons on Integrating Research into Private Practice and Advancing CBT
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Jacqueline (Jackie) Persons is a distinguished clinician, researcher, and Clinical Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She served as president of the Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies (ABCT) in 1999 and currently works in private practice at the Oakland Cognitive Behavior Therapy Center. With over 35 years of experience, Dr. Persons is recognized globally for her pioneering work in integrating research into private practice, particularly in the areas of case formulation and measurement-based care. In this insightful conversation, we dive into Dr....
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Patricia Arean, PhD: Effective Strategies for Community Engagement and Digital Innovations in Mental Health Research.
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Patricia Arean is is the Director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), as well as a clinical researcher and former professor at the University of Washington’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Arean has focused her career on increasing access to mental health services for underserved communities. She has led multiple research initiatives, including the UW Alacrity Center, which aims to redesign psychosocial interventions for underserved populations, and the Creative...
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Tony Biglan, Ph.D., on balancing funding with following your true passions
Research Matters Podcast
Tony Biglan, Ph.D., is a Senior Scientist at Oregon Research Institute and Co-Director of the Promise Neighborhood Research Consortium. For the past thirty years, he has conducted research in the development and prevention of child and adolescent problem behavior. He is a former president of the Society for Prevention Research and was a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention.
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Dean McKay, Ph.D., A.B.B.P. on mental health in academia, getting into grad school, authorship, and personal planning
Research Matters Podcast
Dean McKay, Ph.D., A.B.B.P. is Professor of Psychology at Fordham University where he is a member of the clinical psychology doctoral program. His lab, Compulsive, Obsessive, and Anxiety Program (COAP) provides instruction to undergraduate, masters, and doctorate levels. Dr. McKay’s expertise is in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behavior, with his current focus being on Covid-19 related stress and anxiety.
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Steven C. Hayes, PhD, on controversy, his lab culture, and how political organizing can help you in science
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Hayes is a Nevada Foundation Professor of Psychology in the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. An author of 46 books and nearly 650 scientific articles, he is especially known for his work on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is one of the most widely used and researched new methods of psychological intervention in the last 20 years.
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Jessica Borelli, Ph.D., on Work/Family Conflict, Gender Roles, and Intervention Research with Diverse Communities
Research Matters Podcast
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James Kirby, PhD, and Jeffrey Kim, on incorporating physiological data in psychological research
Research Matters Podcast
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Bethany Teachman, PhD, and Jeremy Eberle, on embracing an open-science mindset
Research Matters Podcast
My two guests today, Bethany Teachman, Ph.D. and director of the PACT lab at the University of Virginia, and Jeremy Eberle, a 4th-year graduate student in her lab share the steps they’ve taken to embrace the open-science mindset and open-science practices in their lab.
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Jessica Schleider, PhD, on Open Science and Replicability Practices and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia
Research Matters Podcast
Jessica Schleider, PhD, is an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Stony Book University and a graduate of the Clinical Psychology Program at Harvard University. When in graduate school, she learned about open science – not from her courses but from the Twitter-spere and later from The Black Goat Podcast. What she learned was compelling and unsettling and kept her up at night as she thought about the state of scientific research in general and her research in particular.
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Maria Karekla, PhD, on wearables in research and getting a psychophysiology lab up and running
Research Matters Podcast
Dr. Maria Karekla is an assistant professor at the University of Cyprus where she studies anxiety and cravings and specializes in utilizing psychophysiological measurements in her research. I decided to interview her because she has one of the few labs in the world that has done research comparing consumer grade wearable physiological measurement devices to research grade stationary devices.
info_outlineTodd Kashdan, PhD, is a professor of psychology at George Mason University, where he’s senior scientist at the Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing. He’s been a leading researcher in positive psychology from when that area first started to blow up, but often plays the role of someone who challenges established wisdom in that area of research.
When looking for the right job, Dr. Kashdan sought the one that would give him the most autonomy in his work. He’s delighted that at George Mason he’s been able to follow his interests. As he gleefully states, he “gets paid to read books, write articles, and study whatever he wants,” which includes but is not limited to gratitude, positive emotions, spirituality, purpose, curiosity, creativity, resilience, and anxiety – just to name a few.
Dr. Kashdan doesn’t shy away from controversial, and that’s, at least partly, by design. His mantra is, whatever is the zeitgeist of the moment – be it mindfulness, positivity, etc. – there must be a psychological benefit to the opposite. That’s why you’ll frequently hear him arguing for the very opposite of whatever is the popular message of the day.
In today’s episode, Dr. Kashdan and I dive deep into his controversial side. He shares the story of the impromptu speech for which he was “banished” as a speaker from a well-known positive psychology organization. He shares lessons he’s learned on softening his approach and explains why he’s not about to give up on speaking out. He also shares his card-based method for capturing and organizing his thoughts, ideas, and insights.
If you want to read some more about the ways he’s organizes his work and his productivity tools, this blog post goes into a lot more details: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/curious/201701/essential-set-tools-productivity-work
In this episode, you’ll learn…
- Why Dr. Kashdan chose a position at George Mason
- Why Dr. Kashdan often takes an opposing position from whatever is most popular
- How reading a Charles Spielberger chapter on curiosity in grad school inspired Dr. Kashdan’s life work
- How Dr. Kashdan captures and organizes his thoughts and ideas for his work
- Why Dr. Kashdan seeks no more than an 80% approval rating from audiences
- About Dr. Kashdan’s morning and evening routines
Tips from the episode
On choosing a job…
- Look for who will give you the most autonomy to study whatever you want.
- Don’t follow the trends or the money. Follow what is interesting.
On stealing like an artist…
- Tinker with the ideas and theories others are developing
- Create a template or framework based on the work of others you admire
On organizing and processing your work…
- Use index cards and keep a separate container for each book or project with a section for each topic. Have index cards in all the places where you read, think, and work. Jot down ideas as you think of them.
- Most ideas have to be thrown out. Kill your darlings, a la Stephen King.
- Remember that you don’t have the processing capacity to hold everything in your head.
On dealing with controversy
- Be willing to be the counterpoint…and also be willing to have your mind changed.
- If you have the right temperament, it’s important to stand up to bullies in the field.
- Try to separate the person from their work.
- Try to bring people’s defenses down so you can have an open, civil, interactive conversation.
- Give context to the situation.
Links from the episode
- Dr. Kashdan’s blog, Curious, where he blogs regularly
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
- Curiosity and Exploratory Behavior by Charles Spielberger
- Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
- Getting Things Done by David Allen
- Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant
- Robert Green’s 48 Laws of Power
- The Exceptional Presenter: A Proven Formula to Open Up and Own the Room by Timothy Koegel
Research Matters Podcast is hosted by Jason Luoma, who can be found on Twitter @jasonluoma or Facebook at: facebook.com/jasonluomaphd. You download the podcast through iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify.