China

I am off again.

Several weeks ago I was invited to join two Fuller professors and one other student on a delegation to China. I will leave on March 10 and return on March 26. Fuller is committed to developing a formal partnership with a Chinese seminary. For various reasons, the School of Psychology is the first part of Fuller to send delegations to China. We are planning to collaborate with mental health professionals and Chinese Christians to address mental health needs and to help develop an indigenous model of Chinese psychology and pastoral counseling. I expressed interest in a trip that went last summer and was very disappointed to not be selected. The invitation to participate in this trip was an unexpected, very exciting honor.

This is a working trip. We have a packed schedule of presentations, meetings, discussions, and consulting. I am going as a professional, not a tourist. I feel a little bit of anxiety about this. I am in the middle of a busy academic quarter and working very hard on my dissertation. I am struggling to find the time to work on the presentations I am giving, read-up on relevant literature and generally prepare to go to China as a "professional". There is so much to do! I try to console myself by telling myself that I know more than I think I do (but I think I am lying).

We are going as professionals, but we are also going to learn. The more I travel, the more I am aware of how much American culture can gain from listening to the wisdom of other cultures. China's communal approach to life is radically different than ours. A Chinese approach to mental health is community based, it does not focus on one individual, but thinks about the well-being of an entire group. I hope to learn to think more like this.