Geeking Out on Self-help with Dr. Christine Whelan (Part 1)
Seek SafelyMay 15, 2023x
4
00:48:0833.09 MB

Geeking Out on Self-help with Dr. Christine Whelan (Part 1)

Jean and Glenn welcome Dr. Christine Whelan, SEEK Safely’s newest Board member, to the SEEK Safely podcast in this first of two episodes. 

Dr. Christine is an author, professor and speaker, and one of the few researchers who has specifically looked into the self-help/advice industry. She is also perhaps the only person whose personal library of self-help books rivals that of Dr. Glenn! But more importantly, through her research Dr. Whelan has meaningful insights to share about how we consume self-help, how the self-help industry attempts to reach us, and how the industry has changed over the years. 

In this episode, we talk about how we first connected with Dr. Christine following the Sedona tragedy and how, in her, we found someone who understood the wide reach of self-help and the broader context of the sweat lodge deaths. We also discuss the cultural pervasiveness of self-help, how to be a best-selling author-guru, and when self-help leaders start to go off in a potentially dangerous direction. 

Watch for Part 2 of this interview, in which we get into the current self-help landscape. 


About Dr. Whelan:

Dr. Whelan is a clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and director of MORE: Money, Relationships and Equality. She earned a masters and doctorate from the University of Oxford and has held teaching positions at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Iowa and Princeton University. She has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times, among other national outlets. She has appeared live on television programs and radio programs across the nation. Read more about Dr. Whelan on her website. Connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.


Also mentioned in this episode: 

Dr. Christine’s article about Sedona for the Washington Post

About Dale Carnegie’s "How to Win Friends and Influence People" on Wikipedia

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