Pop Psychology? "Stop Poppin' That Gum!

They told me to "STOP poppin' that gum!"

So, of course, at that very moment I stopped. Also realizing at that moment, in 1992, that I was not a good fit for military life. I like doing what I want. But, during that time in my life, I had to do what I was told. Not-good.

That moment, being ordered to stop poppin' gum happened before attending Grad school to become a mental health clinician. I was young, made a choice to go into the military to help pay for college tuition. So I chose to take orders; as much as it hurt my free-spirited soul. The value of that time period was realizing one of my core values is freedom. The freedom to be me, do what I want, when I want, as much as I want. Basically being able to live my life poppin'👏🏽 my👏🏽 gum👏🏽 if👏🏽 I👏🏽 want👏🏽 to👏🏽 darnit!

I included links in this post. Some of them, the poppin' pink links, are affiliate links and I earn a commission (change-for-the bubblegum-ball-machine) if you purchase through those links. Yep, I actually use (or have used) all the products listed in the affiliate, and non-affiliate, links because I've found them to be valuable, fun, or inspiring. Please let me know if you have any questions. ~Elana LEARN MORE

As I was 'barked' at in front of my coworkers, I felt demeaned, embarrassed, beat down, and abusively controlled, and it pained my soul. Yes, I did learn a valuable lesson learned: I never popped gum again in any workplace....well, maybe if I was in my psychotherapy office alone with the door closed. But not too much, because my psychotherapist coworkers might hear it and think I had no professional chewing gum etiquette.

Fast forward to Grad school, I often saw fellow students reading Psychology Today magazine, and I just could not join in. We had been told many times to only use peer-reviewed resources, or resources from websites with .org, .edu or .gov. Psychology Today's magazine was definitely not that [**snooty nose turned up**]. I mean why in the world would budding psychotherapists want to read all those opinion pieces and ad-focused content? It's nothing but POP PSYCHOLOGY and straight trash! I was steadfast in only filling my brainiac knowledge with what was righteous. No way would I ever share any of that pop psychology mumbo jumbo with a dear client focused on real change.]

The Birthing of PsychologyPop

Proclaiming free-spiritedness as one of my core values, both of these situations came in conflict with the true me. Thinking that I needed to go against my soul and provide psychotherapy able to serve my clients by allowing my authentic self to implement outside-the-box 'therapeutic interventions." solely and provide psychotherapy within a very tight framework. Wrong! I'm better able to allow myself to be open-minded and thirsty to learn something new each day, that's where my success lives. It also keeps the provision of psychotherapy interesting and fun.

While I now understand the etiquette of chewing bubble gum, no one can stop me now. Every time I enjoy bubble gum, that day in 1992 flashes in my mind, making the flavor burst even more. I get to choose what I want, how I live my life, the way I work, and who I choose to have in my soul circle.

Whether it's the chewy center of a Charms Blow Pop (my favorite!), Bubble Yum, Hubba Bubba ——— No one can ever again command me to stop poppin' my gum. PsychologyPop reminds me to just be me. Lighten up! No one is perfect, because perfection doesn't exist. Sometimes I'll mess up, and am able to simply move on. It reminds me that by being my authentic self, I am also an effective psychotherapist.

PsychologyPop is meant to break the [moldy🤢] mold. A breathe of information, resources, and tools for cultivating confident mental health clinicians, by helping you learn, develop, engage, connect, and grow.

Let's get this thing on and poppin', and KEEP is poppin' ya'll. It's a lesson about knowing what is socially appropriate -- when and where; and when to comply for good reason.