Evolutionary Counselling

Marc W. Ross, PhD is a psycho-educational consultant working in private practice in conjunction with various organizations including the Canadian Paraplegic Association, Rick Hansen Foundation, Easter Seals and the Calgary Board of Education. Specializing in the areas of evolutionary psychology, integral studies and mind-body medicine, he has worked extensively with biofeedback in his practice with individuals and groups. In addition to counseling individuals and families on how to navigate through difficult transitions, he has spoken to thousands of students across southern Alberta on topics related to risk management, resiliency and health and wellness. He also teaches courses on leadership and diversity as well as worldview literacy in the Graduate Division of Educational Research and serves as a preceptor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

What is Evolutionary Counselling?

A step beyond the “positive psychology movement,” Evolutionary Counselling aims to transform a person’s meaning, purpose and reason for being in the world. To put it succinctly, Evolutionary Counselling is three things: a new context for human life; an understanding of how our evolutionary heritage affects the way we think, act and feel and; an integral approach to full, healthy living as a human being.

A new context for human life: We are living in an immense universe that has been evolving for over 13.7 billion years. What does that mean? Where are we? What are we? These are vital questions that need to be faced and reflected upon. Only when we take time to study and learn who and what we are will we begin to see our lives and the problems or challenges we face from the right perspective.

Understanding our evolutionary heritage: Why do you like sugars, salts and fats? Why is pornography such a problem on the Internet? Or gaming? Why is it that even when you know better, it is sometimes very difficult to make the right choice when you are emotionally charged? The answer to these questions and many others lies partly in a greater appreciation for how evolution has shaped us as human beings. There is great liberation in understanding yourself more comprehensively including the reasons for your behavioural patterns.

An integral approach to life: New healing models are based on an integration of multiple disciplines. The coordination and exercise of mind, body and spirit is a prerequisite to being truly healthy. An awareness and integration of the many facets of life may allow an individual to feel more whole and purposeful as well as to be able to reach beyond themselves.

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