MSI Press Blog

Frederic Craigie Jr., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer. His passions and areas of expertise include spirituality in health and health care, healing relationships, clinician well-being, and resiliency and positive mental health. Fred attended Dartmouth College during the tumultuous Vietnam War era and completed his doctorate at the University of Utah.  He served internships in the VA system in clinical psychology and in substance abuse rehabilitation.  Following his training, he began what was to become a 37-year full-time faculty role at the Maine -Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency in Augusta, Maine, where he coordinated behavioral health teaching for residents and students and provided behavioral health care to a largely underserved primary care population. He serves as Visiting Associate Professor at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (AWCIM) at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and held an appointment as Associa

  San Juan Books is the hybrid division of MSI Press LLC. It allows first-time writers to become published in a traditional way through the reduction of risk by sharing publication costs. All other publishing features are traditional in nature, and most SJB authors go on to be offered traditional contracts for their subsequent books. SJB publications are available as paperback, hard cover, and e-book versions. SJB authors' books very much hold their own against their contemporaries in the traditional publishing division. Indeed, a number of them have outsold their traditional compatriots. Today, San Juan Books presents author Dr. Frederic Craigie . BIO: Frederic Craigie Jr., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, consultant, educator, speaker, and writer. His passions and areas of expertise include spirituality in health and health care, healing relationships, clinician well-being, and resiliency and positive mental health. Fred attended Dartmouth College during the tumultuous Vietnam

    Today's book excerpt comes from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Frederic Craigie . INTRODUCTION   In August, 2004, my friend and psychologist colleague Peter Flournoy, Ph.D., died of cancer at the age of 45. Peter was a remarkable person, an energetic professional, and a gentle soul. He experienced his cancer as a blessing that taught him more about life than he otherwise would have understood. He packed a lot into the last couple of years of his life, ice climbing several times and sea kayaking to Monhegan Island (ten miles off the Maine coast—not for the faint of heart) a month before his death. Peter was also excited about his spiritual life, which was informed particularly by Buddhist philosophy and practice in his last years. His memorial service took place on a glorious summer day. We who attended all received a card with a favorite meditative image of Peter’s and his words:   Life has taught me not to grasp and hold but

  " Arthur has some really interesting insights. I like his calm style of talking. He's more well versed on a bigger myriad of religions than anyone I've ever seen. This was a fascinating interview to watch and it definitely gave me some things to think about." (feedback from a listener/watcher) Arthur Yavelberg, author of the award-winning book, A Theology for the Rest of Us , was interviewed recently on the podcast, Spirituality with a Twist. This interview is titled Beyond Dogma: Navigating Complex Spiritual Questions . Enjoy Description from the interviewer: Hi, Welcome to Spirituality with a Twist In this episode, I had the pleasure of sitting down with educator and author Arthur Yalevberg for a interview. We discuss his book A Theology for the Rest of Us and explore how spirituality, science, and philosophy intersect. With experience teaching comparative religion, world history, and American history, Arthur offers a unique perspective on complex spiritual que

  Craigie, FC. Spirituality, resilience, and well-being in healthcare. Video interview as part of the “Anti-Wellness Retreat for Physicians; A Virtual Space to Reclaim Joy, Play, and Creativity,” sponsored by Sustainable Caring Cooperative. October 18, 2022.  See  https://www.rx-retreats.com/fredericcraigie . Craigie, FC. Spirituality, resilience, and well-being in healthcare. Video interview as part of the “Anti-Wellness Retreat for Physicians; A Virtual Space to Reclaim Joy, Play, and Creativity,” sponsored by Sustainable Caring Cooperative. October 18, 2022.  See  https://www.rx-retreats.com/fredericcraigie . Spirituality, Resilience, and Well-being in Healthcare See more posts about  language learning.                                         Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Excerpt from A Guide to Bliss Expansion and the Creation of the World Let us now “expand” the context in which the principle of expansion is activated. In the teachings of Ha’Ari (Isaac Luria, 1534-1572), which to this day are considered the prime interpretations of the Kabala, the process of creation is presented as a process of contraction. The infinite divine light contracted itself, more and more, into structures, and this is, in fact, the created world as we know it: a denser, or more contracted, divine light. Matter is, in effect, a condensed or contracted spirit.  From this astounding point of view, we can perceive the entire universe as narrow channels through which divine energy flows, as formations containing a condensed divine light. Each form and every structure are nothing but an “entrapped” light, a light that was limited so as to create and make visible the form or the structure. Hence, contraction was a necessity in the original divine creation. Without it, cr

  CHANGE OF HEART “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.” --Ezekiel 36: 26   “I hate change!” If I received a dollar for every time a patient said that to me, I could work for free.   They often add, “Change replaces the familiar with the unknown. The unknown scares me.” In response, I remind my anxious patients, “If there is no change, you are dead. The future is always unknown, of course, because it does not yet exist. You are now in the process of creating your own future.” I also ask them,”Why are you here meeting with me, except to change?” They tell me how miserable they feel and powerless to do anything about it. Frightening change is the price of relief. Therapy is for healing and growth. Some of my patients imagine that their trying life circumstances cause their distress. In our work together they learn that only changing their minds and hearts, their outlooks, atti