First, who is this guy?! I am Dr. Mark Maxwell. Some of you may know me but many may read this and wonder who this dude is. I am, at heart, a therapist, an academic, an aspiring researcher, and a wayward spiritual traveler. I am also a cancer survivor, a trauma survivor, and a single man in his 50s who has yet to have the family he always dreamed of. Specifically, I am a therapist, a director of a group practice, an adjunct professor, a supervisor and trainer of other therapists and a passionate founder and director of the non-profit, Conexa.
I have worked in politics and I have worked in the television and film industry. I’ve been registered as both a Republican and a Democrat in my past and currently register Independent, currently describing myself as moderate left. I grew up in Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, well read and studied in theology, and worked in ministry for years as both a volunteer and youth minister, suffered through some painful abuse, and found myself a pilgrim on the journey still trying to figure it out but with some very solid epiphanies and lessons (Richard Rhor would be my pilgrimage guide).
I grew up in a Yuba City, a small town above Sacramento, went to Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles (Go Lions!) and lived there for a few years. I’ve lived in Phoenix, AZ, Lafayette, LA where I attended Louisiana State University (Geaux Tigers!), and San Diego, CA where I received my doctorate and built my business and non-profit. I spent a summer in Mexico City learning liberation psychology and it changed my life. I’ve traveled to numerous countries since attempting to espouse the humility and curiosity needed to learn about other cultures as well as myself and how to bring people together in healing, connection, and community.
Throughout all these years and the wide range of experiences they have brought, I have come to be passionate about a few things that are the foundational influence on how I think and see the world. What influences my process. I say this because first and foremost I believe that human beings are inherently good with the capacity to learn, grow and develop. I’ve learned and would like to think I’ve grown throughout the years, having made many mistakes, believed things I no longer believe, see things differently than I’ve seen them before, and attempt to stay humble and curious in order to continue and grow.
This is all influenced by what I have learned academically and what I practice in therapy, namely systemic and attachment theory, interpersonal neurobiology, and liberation psychology. These approaches have given me a lens grounded in a relational process that leads to healing, mutual respect, love and community. They have become a way for me to navigate religion, spirituality, and politics both presently and throughout history.
So naturally I have lots of feelings and opinions. I’ve mainly only shared them with close people around me, but lately I have felt convicted to share a lot more after feedback. It is not about right and wrong in those feelings and opinions, but how we arrive there. That is what I try to highlight by sharing my process. And I’m truly wondering who cares and gives a shit.
The aim is always healing, growth, bonding and community. The process often involves humility, curiosity and critical thinking to achieve a critical consciousness and a platform from which to act and change the world. It always involves mutually respectful dialogue. Growth means learning from our mistakes and being open to new possibilities and change… and that often is painful.
So how to read? My advice is to try and be open-minded, consider the facts, the science, and most of all other people and their human experience as we explore our own beliefs, our own process, and how we participate in being human through all the systems we exist in and the unintended consequences that often come from our participation in those systems.
Christians, far-right conservatives and far-left liberals beware. I often speak from these vantage points because I’ve lived there, I’m well read and well studied, and I’m passionate about the lessons I’ve learned from those seasons in my life and the pain I and so many others I’ve worked with have gone through. Some of you may dismiss me outright. Nothing I can do about that. But I hope you stick around, pause and consider, and engage in loving respectful dialogue.
Hope anything I write or share is a benefit to your life!
Comments