Counselor's Corner

  The Disney/Pixar movie  Inside Out  was released in June 2015. My boys were five and a few months away from beginning kindergarten. We went to see it the weekend it was released and we loved it. The voices, the animation, the energy, the plotline, the facial expressions…all wonderful. The movie is about 11-year-old Riley who relocates to San Francisco with her parents and struggles with the complicated emotions that a cross-country move brings. Five of her emotions (Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust) arise at different times in response to environmental provocations and the audience watches these five characters work collaboratively to help Riley choose her responses to different situations.   As a psychologist, I was (and still am, after at least 20 viewings) very impressed. The writers created a movie about a very complex topic – the interplay of our emotions, memories and personality structures – and made it accessible to children and adults. I particularly appreciated the final

“Psychology is a train.” Dr. Marshall Duke was closing his final lecture of our Introduction to Psychology class. Two hundred and fifty students, most of us college freshman, waited for him to continue. “Some of you will be getting off here and some will continue the journey. To all of you, I say this – I hope you have enjoyed the ride.”    I’ve carried the memory of that moment for over 25 years. I appreciate the metaphor and have used it to guide my self-reflection and decision-making when I find myself at a journey’s end, a crossroads, or when grappling with the question “Is this still working for me?” What I have learned since I sat in that lecture hall so many years ago is that each train carries three different passengers: (1) Those who are disembarking, (2) those who are comfortably seated with no intention of moving, and (3) those who sit somewhere in between “disembarking” and “I’m comfortable here.” I have been each of those passengers. We all have.   As this academic year ne