SHARP EDGE PSYCHOLOGY (SEP)

We live in an interpersonal world where all behavioural outcomes, whether economic, artistic, engineering, and yes also crime, war and unethical behaviour are the results of human thinking. The beautiful products of the minds of men and women are indeed a pleasure to observe and enjoy. Recently in Dubai my wife and I attended a fountain and music show adjacent to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. What a sight and what a triumph for human engineering and construction capability and excellence. Compare that to the horrific visuals on news outlets, such as, CNN, and others, of wars being waged, mass shootings in communities, human trafficking, white collar crimes, and the like. Add to the latter the rationalizations of those in power who order these atrocities. The human condition indeed. We are all fallible in a skewed system where the focus is increasingly shifting back to survival for most – this against the backdrop of tremendous technological advances such as the internet, cell phones, computers and others. SEP is an approach to thinking that endeavours to identify, expose and remove the blurry edges of unethical exchanges in human interaction, such as the defence mechanisms of denial, rationalization, projection and others to defend unacceptable and hurtful inter personal behaviours. These are specifically evident in power skewed relationships, where those in power often behave unethically and abusively towards those who lack it. SEP also applies to unethical intra psychological interactions such as self-demeaning and devaluing exchanges, for example where lack of esteem leads to self-destructive behaviours such as substance abuse. SEP places the causes of these behaviours in sharp focus, and applies strong ‘medication’ such as behavioural contracting and discipline to induce change. I will discuss various applicable themes and issues in our inter and intrapersonal human world and I will apply SEP to analyse them.