Social Influence

One of my favorite classes as an undergrad was my social psychology course. There are a variety of topics covered in that course, the main focus being how social interactions influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. One area that always interested me was "group mentality" or the idea that when part of a larger group the prevailing ideals, no matter moral or immoral, will pervade into the people in that group supposedly for acceptance reasons.

Mostly this behavior is exemplified in children and adolescents. If the few "popular kids" do something then the other kids will follow as well. We have all seen it at some point in childhood so it is no surprise that examples of kids and teens falling into this trap run rampant.

I feel, again from my own professional and personal experiences, that many adults fail to see how it influences them even after childhood is over. Things such as work interests, music, food, social groups, activities, and even spiritual rituals and theology can  be affected by social influences as adults. If I spend all my time around someone who watches a certain sport, am I destined to like that sport now? Not necessarily. But you can bet that there's a greater likelihood of that happening.

Why do I bring up this topic?

I'm a religious person with my own reasons for believing what I do. And I live in a state  that has a higher percent of a certain faith. It is amazing how many people I have heard who, for their own reasons and rights, had believed at one point and then chosen not to, and then use the rationale that they had become more "educated" or " enlightened" and therefore have moved beyond such foolish ideas as God or religion. They even claim that those who still believe are "brainwashed" or have been influenced by,  yup you guessed it, group thinking.

(An added thought:  I do not mean to say that these are "bad" people or have no morals. I know many of these people and love them for who they are as people.)

But to these people I would say that their path to their own world views started somewhere. We live in the year 2014. There have been so many ideas and philosophies that I dare say there are a select few that could be considered original or novel. Following that line of reason, these people had interact with others may have introduced the to questions about various philosophies. That would have lead them to more information and more people who thought the same as them. From there it becomes very easy to following the logic of others and stop considering our own morals and thoughts.

So to those self-proclaimed educated or enlighten souls who look down on those who still believe in a God or higher power, which, incidentally, is a larger percentage of the world's population than does not believe, I would ask this:

Who do you really think is getting brainwashed?

Back to the writing.

I'm a therapist. A relatively new one at that. I got my license to practice independently less than a month ago. My experience consists of treating court-ordered teens who have substance abuse issues. But if you think that substance abuse exists in a vacuum outside of mental health then you are sorely mistaken. Substance use is typically the symptoms: mental health is the real issue. In the past there are some of the issues that I have seen while practicing therapy:

• Depression
• Anxiety 
• Anger
• Bipolar conditions
• Parent-child relation issues
• Social issues
• Racism
• Gang issues
• Educational issues
• Teen pregnancy
• Divorce
• Adoption
• Foster care
• Abuse
• Traumatic experiences
• LGBT issues
• Hallucinations
• Personality Disorders

These are some of the issues, and definitely not all of the issues. I have heard stories of heartache, betrayal, and trauma that cannot be reversed. So while one of the main points about this blog is to help those who are searching for answers, it is also cathartic for me to write about my experiences. I'll also write about couples issues and food....LOTS of food. :)

None of the stories that I write should be considered to apply to everyone. We all have different experiences and therefore not everything I write will apply to all the readers. But I hope that someone finds something that is useful.