Steve Stutz, D.Min, Spiritual Director
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A Review of David Keirsey's Please Understand Me 2

3/26/2013

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Dr. David M. Keirsey served as Chair and Faculty in the Department of Counseling for ten years at California State University (Fullerton). He published Please Understand Me in 1978, which introduced the Keirsey Temperament Sorter to the public. In 1998, he published Please Understand Me II, by which time his ideas on temperament theory were being widely utilized by Fortune 500 corporations, government institutions, non-profit, ... and educational organizations worldwide. He began constructing his temperament schema in the 1950's while practicing as an educational psychologist and consultant. Dr. Keirsey founded Advisor Team Inc. in 1996. This company offers solutions for conflict resolution, employee interaction, team building, team synergy, recruitment and hiring, leadership development, employee retention, customer strategy, sales tactics, marketing and messaging, customer engagement, teamwork, and organizational alignment. The company also provides assessment reports for individual, team, and organizational analysis; and Temperament Certification and the Synergy Leaders Coaching certifications, as well as consulting, training, and coaching services.

Summary of Contents

The author provides a thorough historical background of temperament theory, beginning with Plato (4th century BCE) and culminating with the work of Isabel Myers (1958). Having established a basic schema of four temperaments, Keirsey distinguishes his categorizations (Artisan, Guardian, Idealist, Rational) from the Myers-Briggs groupings (SP, SJ, NF, NT) and discusses each of the temperaments at length. The author emphasizes the danger of what he calls the “Pygmalion Project.” This is the tendency to interpret others’ differences from one’s own way of acting or approaching reality as “wrong” and as something to be corrected. This leads to furtive attempts to change other people’s natural personality and temperament, which can only exacerbate problems. The author provides a discussion of how each of the temperaments approach mating (chapter 7), parenting (chapter 8), and leadership (chapter 9). This edition features an updated temperament sorter (4-11) which allows the reader to determine his or her MBTI type. For those interested in simply discovering temperament, the author provides a sixteen question “type sorter” (341).


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An Open Letter to Clergy: I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Ordained

3/18/2013

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As a pastor (or commissioned ministry professional) you have the privilege of listening to people pour out their hearts as they daily face incredible challenges. I know you’re always looking for ways you can help them, and I also know that you just don’t have the time to give to each person, which can be very frustrating for you and for the person you’d like to help. When I was a parish pastor, I often didn’t have the expertise I needed to address some of the issues which turned up. That’s a very humbling position to be in, especially if you’ve identified your primary role as one of helping people.

One way of overcoming this trap is to connect with persons trained and skilled to help your parishioners in ways that you are not able to provide. For example, you may already have a wonderful network of dedicated and trained lay persons such as Stephen Ministers, Eucharistic Ministries, Deacons, Elders, and so forth. Maybe you have a Parish Nurse who provides valuable resources for persons facing physical challenges or issues relating to aging and care-giving. Or you already refer persons to Christian Counselors or other therapists and offer to help them along the path towards healing and wholeness.

A specialty area which you may not have considered is spiritual direction. 


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    Author

    Steve Stutz earned his doctorate in spiritual direction and formation at the Houston Graduate School of Theology, where he is currently Adjunct Professor of Spiritual Direction. He received his initial training in spiritual direction through the Formation in Direction program of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas in 2006. He is a retreat leader and workshop presenter, having worked with groups in the US, Canada, and Africa. He is trained to facilitate the Ignatian 19th Annotation, is an expert in dream work, discernment process, and the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit.   

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