A. Kent Van Cleave, Jr, Ph.D.
Background.
Greetings. Several years ago, as I completed a bachelor's degree in business administration at Auburn University, I was convinced that I had seen the inside of the last classroom I would ever visit. This turned out to be not the case. After a stint in the U.S. Navy as an air traffic controller, I wanted something different, so back to school I went. I earned a M.S. in Psychology at the University of West Florida, and then went on to earn a Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology at the University of Tennessee. I taught at the University of Tennessee for several years, first in the College of Business, and then in the Psychology Department. I presently teach online at American Intercontinental University, undergraduates, and at the University of Phoenix, doctoral studies.
My interests in psychology are diverse, and include I/O psychology, social psychology, learning and cognition, and the history of psychology. At the University of West Florida, I was influenced by Dr. Bruce R. Dunn into the field of cognitive psychology, just about the time that perspective was poising itself to become the dominant paradigm of psychology. For 35 years, I have translated the concepts of learning and cognition into practical teachings on how to be an effective, lifelong learner, and I teach those processes to all my students. You will find some of my tools in the folder for Student Success files
As stated in the basics page, the intrapsychic taxonomy was an outgrowth of teaching a health psychology class, in which the biopsychosocial model is a central concept. I continue to explore and develop the concepts surrounding the intrapsychic taxonomy, with a particular focus on the spiritual aspects of self, and welcome inputs and suggestions. I also will consider posting html-ready papers that use the intrapsychic taxonomy in some integrative way. In either event, please Send me an email.
In 2008, I spent ten days in northern Arizona, studying with a fifth generation Diné medicine man, who is treating Indian veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and healing them. This is something that the psychiatric and medical models are not having much success at, as they treat only body and mind. Medicine man is using explicitly spiritual interventions, and it is my hope that I will be able to translate what he is doing across the cultural differences to treat veterans of all races and gender. This has led me to speculate that some of the psychological disorders found in the DSM-V are really disorders of spirit.
I have published several stories in non-fiction books of a non-academic nature, serving as co-editor of one which will be published in 2020. I will publish a chapter in an academic book in 2020.
Presently, I am writing two books. One is a stage theory of personal integration, which pulls together the influences of Piaget, Erikson, Jung, Kohlberg, my own thoughts on spiritual development, and physical development and decline. The other book codifies a teaching approach focusing on student success. That method led to my receipt of American Intercontinental University's 2017 Instructional Excellence Award, Student Success.