When Linda , Teddy and I head out for our morning run and pickleball excursion, the Bluetooth SiriusXM setup on the Golf cart is tuned to the love songs of the 70s. Those songs, before Linda ( BL ), are terrific and associated with love, joy and growth . During the 70s , I’m in my 30's ,with an enormous amount of psychic energy. This brief essay is before BL and pertains to some of those terrific and wonderful memories .
In 1969, I was accepted to the educational and clinical PhD psychology program at Wayne State University. I learned from a distinguished faculty that included Drs . Kounin, Wattenberg, Collier, George, Miller,Barahal,Ambinder,Lyness , Hillman and others. Kounin was brilliant and was a doctoral student of Kurt Lewin. My buddies included Denny, Archie, Mary and Wayne. Back then I had a full beard and wore my hair in a ponytail.. My dissertation advisor Jack George was previously a priest and found a new calling.
Going into the 70s, I experienced a heartfelt marital breakup and loss. Then my life expanded in leaps and bounds. I left my Assistant Professorship at Oakland Community College. and friends and colleagues President Joe H, Dean of Students Don N, faculty members Virgil J, Tom T, Randy, Kathy V, Peggy, Mary W, Wally S, Bob P, Les Moran, Sylvia, Beverly and many others and visited my brother Ron, one summer in San Francisco, We attended Bill Graham's Fillmore West and watched Creedence Clearwater perform . Then I met a beautiful ,gorgeous psychologically oriented redhead at a park near the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.. I fell in love with Gail B. Gail was fun , exciting,and musically oriented , The Doors, Bob Dylan, Ike and Tina ,Simon and Garfunkel, Marvin Gaye ,,Temptations,, Blood Sweat & Tears,, The Who, ,Guess Who, Chicago, Bread , Cat Stevens, Laura Nyro etc were music to my ears. Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Apocalypse Now were memorable .Gail and I spent time in Detroit and then, we spent a couple of fun and exciting months in Europe like dancing to Joe Cocker ‘s music in a West Berlin disco , crossing checkpoint Charlie going in to East Berlin; visiting Denmark, islands in the Mediterranean ; touristing the sites in and around London; catching the red district in Amsterdam and hanging out on the beach in southern Spain with Frommer’s book guide.. During our glorious stay in Paris ,Jim Morrison overdosed . ..
I completed my PhD and accepted an Assistant Professorship at Cal State San Bernardino. There, I fell in love with June T, a faculty member . She was attractive, psychologically oriented and a terrific lover. We lived in the mountains and had a Blue Jay mailing address. Also I met Samantha Eggar at Lake Arrowhead making a TV film "Love Story" with co-star Vic Morrow.
We relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and I began another but related career in a Short- Doyle community mental health facility composed of psychiatrists, MSW’s, mental health technicians, and PhD psychologists. Clarence T. Bob S. Dwight E. Ed P. Paul D. Louise B , Don M and the cute seductive Melanie K were some of my favorite colleagues .
As it turned out, Jan H. was the Chief of Service. Actually, Jan and I attended Denby high school. On one of my birthdays, I entered the clinic and in front of me was a gigantic blown up Denby yearbook picture on the wall. What a pleasant surprise. Howard B, Velma D , and Pat H were colleagues as well. Time at the clinic was a learning experience, exciting, social and a lot of fun.
I met psychologist Ed S. and we attended training in hypnosis with Michael C. and became good friends .TI also attended training sessions at the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute where I met Jackie H. Additionally, for the Superior Court, I performed competency to stand trial evaluations of prisoners in the jails and prisons
I bought my first home in lower Piedmont and moved to San Leandro. Real estate was booming and highly profitable. Jackie H was another one of my lovers during that period. I also started independent practice while at the Tri-City clinic and subsequently left for a full-time practice. I initially shared office space with Chuck R and eventually bought a building for my practice as well as becoming a landlord.
Stan R. supervised me for procuring my California psychology license. Stan, while attending the University Wisconsin, trained with Carl Whitaker. Stan married Noga, an Israeli psychologist. Aside from supervision, we attended Eagles, the Who and Rod Stewart concerts. My friend Stan eventually left and relocated to Israel with Noga.
Completing supervision., I took my licensing exam in LA and stopped a suicide attempt in the process. After licensing, I started independent practice in addition to working at the Tri-City Clinic in Fremont. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Est by Ken, a psychologist in his residency. I was also trained in the art of consultation by Dr. Singh in Berkeley .
During my time at Tri-City mental health, I consulted with the school psychologists in the Fremont, Union City and Newark school districts ; drug and alcohol programs and school principals. I also conducted a research study measuring the ego identity of pregnant high school girls and made professional presentations about my findings.
One week my ex came to San Francisco and we discussed a possible reconciliation. Later , during the summer, she brought out our two children and we traveled up and down the coast being tourists. After that visit, we decided to remain just friends.
I was most productive professionally during the 70s and also began running at Lake Merritt in Oakland. The distance was somewhere between 5 and 10 km. There, I competed with many other runners during that time.. Intellectually I grew ,physically. I grew and emotionally I grew with many love encounters and meaningful experiences. Listening to 70’s music with Linda seven days a week is terrific for my continued well-being.
In closing, there is only one remaining friend, not counting family, Wayne. from all those I mentioned that I can familiarly talk with about the glorious 70s. Unfortunately, some of those associations are lost because of death , while others became severed for a number of reasons. In essence, what remains are our memories ,along with one friend and family that remain alive…
PS
Dr. Wayne and I first met at Denby high school.
Do we have the memories !
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