Capitalism on the Couch: Does Our System Need Therapy?

by Glen F. Pastores

Overview

Readers start the book with this scene: A frantic new patient walks into a therapist's office and demands help. As readers listen in to the ensuing session, they realize this patient used to be highly respected in the business world but has recently felt out of sorts, as though people no longer trust him. The therapist, startled by the abrupt appearance of this new person, offers some help. "Excuse me, I never got your name," the therapist finally says. Just as the patient is about to leave after his session, he turns to the therapist: "My name is Capitalism."

In this book, Dr. Glen F. Pastores--an organizational psychologist and licensed marriage and family therapist--puts capitalism on the couch and readers through counseling to explore one of the most important relationships in our lives: the relationship we have with the system that affects our careers, our families, our legacy, and our health.

While we hear a lot about capitalism as an entity, both from people who love it and from those who hate it, Dr. Pastores dares readers to ask a different question: what is your relationship with capitalism, and how is it changing?

In this book, readers will learn a brief "patient history" of capitalism and will develop an understanding of how dysfunction has manifested within the capitalistic system. They will also learn how their relationship with capitalism is already changing-and what they can do to change their way of relating to this system through Conscious Capitalism.

The doctor is in.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950466238
Publisher:	CC Press
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.29(d)

About the Author

Dr. Glen F. Pastores is an organization development consultant and coach, licensed marriage and family therapist, professor of psychology, and a Conscious Capitalist. He has been providing psychotherapy services for more than twenty years, teaches psychology courses to undergraduate and graduate students, and has been a business consultant and executive coach for the past ten years.

After completing a BA degree in psychology at San Diego State University and an MA in counseling psychology at National University, Dr. Pastores obtained a PsyD in organization development at Alliant International University-California School of Professional Psychology. This helped him learn how to manage change in organizational systems and to work with individuals within a social context. It also sparked an interest in the application of psychology and social justice in organizational systems, a subject also explored in his dissertation on Conscious Capitalism and conscious business practices.

Influenced by the work of Alfred Adler and his own experience, Dr. Pastores believes that businesses have a higher purpose beyond profit, and that people have a desire to strive toward significance and to pursue an interest in contributing to their own communities.

Dr. Pastores is a clinical fellow of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, a clinical member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and a member of the Asian American Psychological Association. He is a thought leader for Conscious Capitalism San Diego and among the first psychotherapists to speak and write about the connection between psychotherapy, human psychology, and business. Dr. Pastores also maintains a private psychotherapy practice and a consultation and executive coaching practice in San Diego, CA.

If you're curious about Dr. Pastores's research, go to https://search.proquest.com/docview/1492730962/. For more information about his practice, visit www.glenfpastores.com and www.drglenfpastores.com.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Author's Note

CHAPTER ONE

An Unusual Day

Session #2

Creating Relationships: Communication through Feedback in Capitalism

Conscious Consumers

But How Has This Changed Opinions and Relationships?

CHAPTER TWO

Reflections: Our Relationship with Capitalism

My Survey Work: Could It Help Me Understand Capitalism?

My Second Survey

Whole Foods: What Is Its Relationship with Capitalism?

eBay and Its Relationship with Capitalism

Google: Another Case Study

Starbucks and Its Story

Conscious Business and Capitalism

CHAPTER THREE

A History of My Imaginary Patient: How Did Capitalism Start?

Session #3

Bad Capitalism? Good Capitalism?

CHAPTER FOUR

The Good

Session #4

CHAPTER FIVE

The Bad

Session #5

A Second Weakness: Change at Different Speeds

CHAPTER SIX

Capitalism on the Therapist's Couch

Session #6

Psychopathy and Capitalism

Psychotherapy in the Boardroom

The Government's Role in Capitalism

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Rise of Consciousness

Session #7

Changing the Story

CHAPTER EIGHT

Conscious Business

Session #8

New Business Models

Principles of Conscious Capitalism

Conscious Capitalism versus Corporate Social Responsibility

Operational Values of Conscious Businesses

CHAPTER NINE

Conclusion

Getting Capitalism off the Couch

Your Tools

Self-Report

What Are Your Support Systems?

Doing the Work on Your Own

Bibliography

About the Author