Brookdale College

Faculty Member, Psychology

Associate Professor of Psychology & Human Services

About

My name is Eugene M. DeRobertis. I have a B.A. in philosophy from St. Peter’s College and a Ph.D. in psychology from Duquesne University. I have worked as a guidance counselor, a psychotherapist, and an addictions counselor. However, I have found teaching and writing to be more personally fulfilling.

As an author in their field of psychology, I think of myself as existential-phenomenological, humanistic, hermeneutic, personalistic, dialogal, and somewhat neo-Thomistic. All of these terms ring of anthropological holism to me and that is why I favor them. My work is inspired by an array of philosophers and psychologists. Here are just a few of the individuals whose intellectual accomplishments I admire: Charlotte M. Bühler, Edward L. Murray, Emmanuel Levinas, Gabriel Marcel, Gordon Allport, J.H. van den Berg, Jacques Maritain, M.J. Langeveld, Karen Horney, Martin Heidegger, William Stern, Alfred Adler, Mary Whiton Calkins, Max van Manen, Medard Boss, Paul Ricoeur, Paul Tillich, Rollo May, Søren Kierkegaard, St. Edith Stein, St. Thomas Aquinas, Stephen Strasser, Adrian van Kaam, Viktor Frankl and William James.

The decision to devote my graduate studies to psychology was in large part due to what I perceived to be a widespread preference for reductionism in the field. Too much time is wasted looking for how the brain “creates” mental processes or worse, where the mind resides in the brain, despite the fact that these kinds of ideas disintegrate under the scrutiny of philosophic analysis. It seems to me that human beings are increasingly interpreting their lives in reductionistic terms as psychology grows in popularity. I frequently find that my students tend not to take the risk of speaking of their own minds in favor of speaking about “the” brain. I find that psychology has repeatedly fallen prey to a case of mistaken identity when it comes to human beings. As a result, it unwittingly hurts mankind in spite of all it does to assist in the development of our species. Questions of truth are answered with skepticism. Questions of life’s meaning or purpose are answered with nihilism. Questions of ethics are answered with moral subjectivism.

I believe that psychology ought to be conscientious and mindful of the consequences of its assertions. I am suspicious of the popularity of reductionism (partially due to it being a product of mind/body dualism) though I am aware its value as an interpretive device. I hope that my writings reflect this. Highly reductionistic perspectives such as strict behaviorism or biological psychology have made enormous contributions to the betterment of mankind. What I oppose is the refusal to acknowledge that there is more to being human than what is accounted for in these kinds of interpretive frameworks. Moreover, acknowledging that human existence is too multifarious and intricate to be “explained away” via the methods of natural science does not mean that psychology cannot be a science at all. It can become a truly human science if we are brave enough to face the sheer complexity of human reality.

Some of my writing reflects a global concern for the dehumanization of human beings. In other writings I search for a more humanistic approach to issues pertaining to child maltreatment and child developmental theory. Eventually, I hope to address the manner in which we interact with animal life and the environment via a dialogue with ecopsychology. All in all, my academic concern is for the increasing legitimization of holistic perspectives in psychology.

Representative Publications~

Dissertation:
The long-term significance of having been psychologically maltreated by one’s maternal figure: An empirical-phenomenological investigation, 2000

Refereed publications in periodicals:
Third Force Psychology and Child Psychology: A Convergence of Horizons. The Humanistic Psychologist, 40: 58–78, 2012.

Becoming Verbally Aggressive Toward One's Child: A Study of the Mother's Perspective. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma 21(4), 422-439, 2012.

William Stern: Forerunner of Human Science Child Developmental Thought. Journal of Phenomenological Psychology, 42(2), 157-173, 2011.

Prolegomena  to a Thomistic Child Psychology, Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 31(3),151-164, 2011.

St. Thomas Aquinas’s philosophical-anthropology as a viable underpinning for a holistic psychology: A dialogue with existential-phenomenology. Janus Head, 12(1), 2011

Deriving a third force approach to child development from the works of Alfred Adler. Journal of Humanistic Psychology 51(4), 492-515, 2011.

Existential-Humanistic and Dynamic Systems Approaches to Child  Development in Mutual Encounter, The Humanistic Psychologist, 39(1), 3-23, 2011.

Thomistic thought as a metaphysical meeting ground. Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology, 17(4), 367-372, 2010.

Winnicott, Kohut, and the developmental context of well-being. The Humanistic Psychologist, 38(4), 336-354, 2010.

Self matters, but not that way: Humanism, pedagogy and selfishness in America. Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice, 21(3), 38-42, 2008.

Deriving a humanistic theory of child development from the works of Carl R. Rogers and Karen Horney. The Humanistic Psychologist, 34(2), 177-199, 2006.

Charlotte Bühler’s existential-humanistic contributions to child and adolescent psychology. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 46(1), 48-76, 2006.

(With J. Iuculano) Metaphysics and psychology: A problem of the personal. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 25(2), 238-256, 2005.

The impact of long-term psychological maltreatment by one’s maternal figure: A study of the victim’s perspective. Journal of Emotional Abuse, 4(2), 27-52, 2004.

(With R. Saldarini) Technology as a contributor to isolation and loneliness in contemporary culture. Community College Humanities Review, 24, 1-13, 2003.

(With R. Saldarini) The impact of technology induced anonymity on communications and ethics: New challenges for IT pedagogy. The Journal of Information Technology Impact, 3(1), 3-10, 2003.

Chapters in books:
The Centrality of the Imagination in Human Science Child Psychology, In Essays in Phenomenology in Honor of Fr. David L. Smith, C.S.Sp (forthcoming volume)

(With R. Saldarini) Technology and sociality in the new millennium: Current challenges for the human services generalist.In H.S. Harris, D.C. Maloney, F.M. Rother, (Eds.), Human Services: Contemporary Issues and Trends (3rd ed.), pp. 375-382. New York: Allyn & Bacon, 2003.

Editor’s prologue: A few words on this, the “final” work of Edward L. Murray. In E.L. Murray, The quest for personality integration: Reimaginizing our lives, pp 1-7. Pittsburgh: Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center Publications, 2001.

Edited works:
Literary Editor, E.L. Murray, The quest for personality integration: reimaginizing our lives. Pittsburgh: Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center Publications, 2001.

Book Reviews:
Catching Up to Alfred Adler: Individual Psychology Reconsidered [Review of the book Alfred Adler Revisited, 2012]. PsycCRITIQUES, 57(7), 2012.

Conference proceedings:
Third Force Thinking and  Child Developmental Theory: On the Threshold of a Burgeoning Dialogue. APA Divison 32 Conference, Chicago, Illinois, Arpil 17, 2011

(With R. Saldarini) Information Technology and the Changing Nature of Collegiate Social Relations. League for Innovation Conference, Phoenix, Arizona, Monday, March 17, 2003

(With R. Saldarini) E-Ethical Behavior as a Course Requirement. League for Innovation Conference, Boston, Massachusetts, March 18, 2002

(With R. Saldarini) The Impact of Technology Induced Anonymity on Ethics and Communications. Integrating Ethics into Technical Education, Raritan Valley Community College, June 1, 2000

Books:
Phenomenological psychology: A text for beginners. MD: University Press of America, 1996.

Humanizing child developmental theory: A holistic approach. NY: iUniverse, 2008.

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