The Psychology of Being Human: A Companion Course - Available Feb 2026
The Psychology of Being Human: A Companion Course is a structured extension of the framework introduced in The Psychology of Being Human: An Authoritative Guide to Mind, Emotion, and Meaning. While the book lays out the architecture of mind, emotion, identity, and meaning, this course focuses on how to recognize and work with that architecture as it appears in lived experience.
The course is designed for thoughtful adults who want clarity without simplification. It does not replicate the book, summarize chapters, or translate ideas into self-help techniques. Instead, it draws out the underlying psychological framework and shows how the same patterns recur across emotion, cognition, relationships, defenses, trauma, and meaning-making. The emphasis remains on recognition rather than correction, and coherence rather than control.
Across eight modules, the course guides participants through the core psychological operations that shape human experience. Each module stands on its own while contributing to a larger developmental arc. Lessons provide orientation to a specific domain of psychological life, a clear explanation of the framework at work, and concrete illustrations of how these patterns show up in everyday situations. The aim is not to prescribe action, but to refine perception.
This is not therapy, coaching, or skills training. It does not rely on exercises, journaling, or performance-based reflection. Instead, it treats psychological understanding itself as the primary instrument of change. As understanding stabilizes, reactivity softens. As patterns become visible, choice becomes possible.
The course assumes familiarity with the ideas in The Psychology of Being Human, whether through full reading or partial engagement, and is designed to deepen and integrate that understanding over time. Participants are encouraged to move through the material at their own pace and return to modules as their understanding matures.
Ultimately, this course is about developing psychological adulthood: the capacity to recognize internal dynamics without dramatizing them, to hold emotional complexity without collapsing into avoidance or overidentification, and to live with greater coherence in the face of uncertainty. It does not offer answers to who you should be. It offers a clearer understanding of how you work, and how that understanding can quietly reshape the way you inhabit your life.
Immediate access • self-paced • lifetime availability-
Module 1: Orientation to the Human System
An introduction to the psychological framework that underlies the course. This module establishes how mind, emotion, identity, and meaning function as an integrated system, and how to locate yourself within that system without judgment or self-diagnosis.
An introduction to the psychological framework that underlies the course. This module establishes how mind, emotion, identity, and meaning function as an integrated system, and how to locate yourself within that system without judgment or self-diagnosis.
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Module 2: Attention, Narrative, and the Construction of Identity
An exploration of how attention and internal storytelling shape the sense of self. This module focuses on how narrative becomes identity over time, and how recognizing this process creates flexibility without dismantling coherence.
An exploration of how attention and internal storytelling shape the sense of self. This module focuses on how narrative becomes identity over time, and how recognizing this process creates flexibility without dismantling coherence.
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Module 3: Emotion as Information, Not Obstacle
A reframing of emotional experience as signal rather than problem. This module examines how emotions communicate underlying needs, conflicts, and pressures, and why attempts to suppress or control emotion often intensify distress.
A reframing of emotional experience as signal rather than problem. This module examines how emotions communicate underlying needs, conflicts, and pressures, and why attempts to suppress or control emotion often intensify distress.
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Module 4: Defenses, Avoidance, and Self-Deception
An examination of the protective strategies the mind uses to maintain stability. This module focuses on how defenses form, how they distort perception, and how they can be recognized without shame or confrontation.
An examination of the protective strategies the mind uses to maintain stability. This module focuses on how defenses form, how they distort perception, and how they can be recognized without shame or confrontation.
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Module 5: Attachment and Relational Reality
A look at how relationships shape perception, regulation, and identity. This module explores attachment patterns not as styles to label, but as ongoing relational dynamics that influence how we experience closeness, threat, and belonging.
A look at how relationships shape perception, regulation, and identity. This module explores attachment patterns not as styles to label, but as ongoing relational dynamics that influence how we experience closeness, threat, and belonging.
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Module 6: Memory, Threat, and the Past in the Present
An exploration of how past experiences continue to shape present perception. This module focuses on trauma and memory without diagnostic language, emphasizing recognition of threat patterns rather than reenactment or avoidance.
An exploration of how past experiences continue to shape present perception. This module focuses on trauma and memory without diagnostic language, emphasizing recognition of threat patterns rather than reenactment or avoidance.
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Module 7; Meaning, Morality, and Psychological Exhaustion
An examination of why meaning collapses under pressure and why moral effort can become draining. This module explores cultural demands, internalized expectations, and the psychological cost of constant self-monitoring.
An examination of why meaning collapses under pressure and why moral effort can become draining. This module explores cultural demands, internalized expectations, and the psychological cost of constant self-monitoring.
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Module 8: Integration and Psychological Adulthood
A synthesis of the framework into a coherent stance toward life. This module clarifies what psychological adulthood looks like in practice: flexibility without fragmentation, responsibility without rigidity, and steadiness without emotional withdrawal.
A synthesis of the framework into a coherent stance toward life. This module clarifies what psychological adulthood looks like in practice: flexibility without fragmentation, responsibility without rigidity, and steadiness without emotional withdrawal.