Jason Schwartz sits with Dr Richard Sword and talk about Psyber Psychology 2006- help for military in the field thru psychology training over the internet. Dr, Sword has been a strong advocate and analyst for military for many years on Maui, Hawaii
Summary & Timestamped Transcript
In this insightful interview on the “Mama Presents” show by Jason Schwartz, Dr. Rick Sword, a prominent psychologist with extensive experience in disaster stress control and trauma recovery, shares his journey and vision for the future of psychology. Dr. Sword details his evolution from academia to hands-on clinical practice, focusing on helping veterans and victims of large-scale disasters such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He emphasizes the transformative impact of technology and media on delivering psychological care, especially through cyber ecology—a concept integrating psychology with digital platforms for broader accessibility.
Dr. Sword traces the historical progression of psychology from ancient shamanistic healing to modern cognitive-behavioral therapy, highlighting pivotal figures like Freud, Pavlov, Skinner, and Beck. He explains how breakthroughs in understanding the mind-body connection and behavioral conditioning have shaped current therapeutic methods. A significant part of the discussion centers around innovative applications such as web-based relaxation training for troops in combat zones and multimedia tools aimed at youth to prevent smoking and drug use by providing healthier behavioral alternatives.
Further, Dr. Sword explores the emerging role of genetics and DNA in psychology, proposing that positive thinking and language can influence genetic expression and overall health. He envisions a future where personalized mental health care, delivered through digital media, helps individuals cultivate resilience, self-esteem, and healthier lifestyles. Emphasizing cultural diversity and ancient healing wisdom, he aspires for a kinder, more loving world shaped by conscious mental programming through science and technology. Dr. Sword invites the Maui community and viewers worldwide to engage with his freely available multimedia resources via lifehut.com, aiming to democratize mental health support.
Highlights
- [04:22] Dr. Rick Sword’s transition from academic psychology to disaster stress control and supporting veterans worldwide.
- [05:06] Dr. Sword’s role as a founding member of Homeland Security’s disaster stress response post-9/11.
- [08:55] Introduction of “cyber ecology” – blending psychology with digital media for remote therapeutic access.
- [12:48] Overview of psychology’s evolution from Freud and Pavlov to cognitive-behavioral therapy today.
- [14:51] Use of multimedia relaxation training for troops in combat zones and families of disaster victims.
- [19:03] Innovative media-based anti-smoking programs targeting youth using iPods and positive suggestion.
- [23:25] Exploration of DNA’s role in mental health and the potential to influence genetic expression through positive thinking.
Key Insights
- [04:22] From Academia to Applied Disaster Psychology: Dr. Sword’s career reflects the evolution of psychology from theoretical teaching to practical application in crisis and trauma situations. His work underscores the necessity for psychology to respond dynamically to societal needs, especially during large-scale disasters and wars, highlighting the profession’s critical role beyond conventional therapy settings.
- [05:06] Psychology’s Institutional Integration Post-9/11: Becoming a founding member of Homeland Security’s mental health response marks a significant institutional recognition of psychological services in national security and disaster management. This integration shows how mental health is vital for public safety and emergency preparedness, shaping future governmental policies in crisis intervention.
- [08:55] Cyber Ecology as a New Frontier: The concept of cyber ecology represents a paradigm shift in mental health care delivery. By leveraging the internet and digital media, psychological support transcends geographical and physical barriers, making it accessible, scalable, and cost-effective. This democratization of mental health resources is especially crucial in reaching underserved populations and responding rapidly during crises.
- [12:48] Psychology’s Evolution and Modern Therapeutic Approaches: Dr. Sword’s historical perspective connects early psychoanalysis and behaviorism with contemporary cognitive-behavioral therapy, emphasizing how combining insight, conditioning, and practical strategies has enhanced mental health outcomes. Recognizing the fight-or-flight response as a central mechanism offers actionable pathways for stress management and emotional regulation.
- [14:51] Technology-Enhanced Psychological Support for Military and Families:The development of relaxation and coping tools accessible via laptops and DVDs directly in combat zones or for families at home represents an innovative use of technology to provide immediate psychological care. This approach reduces barriers to treatment, supports resilience, and mitigates PTSD effects, showcasing how remote interventions can be lifesaving.
- [19:03] Behavioral Substitution via Media for Youth Prevention Programs: Using music videos and positive suggestions on devices like iPods as alternatives to smoking or drug use exemplifies an inventive behavioral modification strategy. This method respects youth culture and preferences, offering engaging, healthy substitutes rather than punitive measures, aligning psychology with modern communication trends for effective prevention.
- [23:25] DNA, Mindsets, and Mental Health Interconnection: Dr. Sword’s futuristic outlook on the interplay between genetics and psychology suggests that mental states and language may influence gene expression and overall well-being. This insight opens possibilities for personalized medicine and psychological interventions that align biological, psychological, and spiritual dimensions, potentially revolutionizing health care and preventive strategies.
Extended Analysis
Dr. Sword’s work epitomizes the necessary evolution of psychology to meet 21st-century challenges. Traditionally confined to individual therapy sessions, psychology now must incorporate scalable and accessible solutions via technology, especially during mass trauma events. His role in federal disaster response highlights the increasing institutional reliance on psychological expertise during emergencies, transitioning mental health from a peripheral to a central role in public health and safety.
The integration of cyber ecology as a delivery mechanism represents a monumental shift, reflecting broader telehealth trends accelerated by technological advancements and social needs. This approach not only broadens access but also allows for personalized pacing and privacy, crucial for sensitive psychological issues. Furthermore, his stress on culturally relevant content and honoring indigenous wisdom such as Hawaiian aloha signifies the importance of culturally sensitive frameworks in mental health interventions.
The behavioral substitution strategy for youth smoking prevention is particularly innovative. By creating engaging, positive content that mimics the sensory and psychological satisfaction of smoking, this approach leverages the principles of classical and operant conditioning in a modern, digital context. It illustrates how psychology can harness popular technology and media to influence health behaviors effectively without coercion.
Finally, Dr. Sword’s insight into the genetic and epigenetic influences of mindset and language underscores a holistic understanding of human health, integrating mind, body, and spirit. This bio-psycho-social-spiritual model aligns with emerging scientific evidence on epigenetics and psychoneuroimmunology, suggesting that our thoughts and emotions can materially affect our biology and that of future generations.
In sum, Dr. Sword’s vision and work embody a future where psychology is proactive, preventive, personalized, and pervasive—empowered by technology and grounded in timeless human values—aiming for a healthier, more compassionate world.
Transcript
00:05
[Music] do [Music] [Music] aloha welcome to another mama presents i’m jason schwartz as you know the maui arts and music association has all kinds of different guests and today we have a very special guest we have dr rick sword many of you from maui know dr sword you’ve done a lot of things here let’s say hello here to all of you aloha welcome hey jason thanks for having me today thank you for being on our show you know one of my good friends who came to me said i want you to come and be involved in
03:14
and see this guy that’s doing some terrific stuff and when i heard the name dr rick sword all i remember is i have this echo of so many people telling me you’ve been involved in helping in their lives so your presence here on maui is is felt widely i don’t know how much of our audience that doesn’t know you know you you come to me with great credential you’re a psychologist and background maybe you can help me describe your background because all i know is it seems like you’ve been
03:43
all over the world helping people and here helping a lot of veterans i know with stress and with uh relief from all kinds of things that are way over my head you know that are related to war and hurricane and strife and i’d like you to sort of take the ball and kind of introduce to our audience who you are well i started out as an academic psychologist of uh teaching at universities and colleges uh i taught at university of florida graduate school and university of hawaii and in different institutions and trying to
04:22
help educate people and talk about how psychology can impact and improve their future and from there i went into a clinical practice of helping individuals and small groups of people deal with stress and i got very interested in how traumas and different life experiences affect people and how we can help them overcome the bad things that happen to them and go to a brighter future and in the course of that practice it led me to the practice of disaster stress control and i was doing this prior to 9-1-1 so when
05:06
for the federal government with the national disaster medical system and federal emergency management agency and so when they roll over and form homeland security on 911 2001 i became a founding member of homeland security and i’ve helped develop a lot of the disaster stress response for the federal government for natural and man-made disasters wow when you say 9-1-1 for our audience you mean the disaster of 9 11. the when i think 9-1-1 when they talk about emergency i i always found that extraordinary that
05:47
this problem happened on a day that had significance in our culture already well that was no coincidence that that was a contrived date they missed us out to to be like that so you know that’s a whole other subject about who they is but i i tell you it’s not an easy job to make people feel safe and feel comfortable in delivering that safety you know it’s a a real tough balance being homeland security i imagine there’s a lot of stress that goes on with people dealing with helping people never mind
06:23
the people themselves that are in trauma well it sort of forced our hand to develop new delivery systems of psychology to affect a broader ranges of people and that actually was a pivotal event in the development of psychology for the future as it let us know that there’s much more demand than we are currently able and capable of meeting so that made us think what else what is the future how can we uh get the uh the message and the benefit of psychology out to a greater number of people in a more expeditious manner especially
07:02
when there’s a pivotal event that upsets our entire culture and nation i understand and then subsequently from that now we have war in iraq war in afghanistan hurricane andrew hurricane katrina after reading your resume like i think i said to you i i started to get jet lag you’ve been traveling around really on the front lines of helping people i want to thank you personally for doing that i really appreciate and i imagine from what you’ve learned in that and having to go out there i don’t know
07:36
how many of you have yet seen this i know that the military is shared with me and people that are this is a dvd i guess it is a time for reflection is a uh adjusting to the loss of a loved one lifehut.com i guess it was was this developed for the military well we’re developing applications actually it started uh out for the government for fema and national disasters and trying to address uh mass incidences where a lot of people are affected like hurricane katrina like the september 11 2001 incident or plane
08:16
crashes or hurricanes and large-scale disasters how do we help these a lot of people most efficiently and this has brought us to what i believe is uh the new development for psychology in the 21st century and uh this is how psychology is evolving to meet the new demands of the 21st century well you know when i heard your name cyber i thought well psychology has one of those you know it could be c-y-b-e-r but it’s also p-s-y-b-e-r i thought that was a really clever and descriptive way cyber ecology
08:55
what is cyber ecology well it’s uh using media and cyberspace uh as a vehicle to for psychology and the blending of putting psychology into cyberspace and making it something that then is available to people in their own homes in their own computers so this can be delivered i guess there i guess we’re going to talk about that you know i wonder what freud would have thought of this you know here we are you know psychology has gone through so many changes over over these i guess couple of centuries right now
09:31
things have really evolved this is you know in psychology you know in delivering it this way maybe you can kind of lead me through a history of psychology because this really seems like a really significant breakthrough maybe it’s coincidence i don’t know about coincidence anymore like you said even with 9-1-1 this is a real rebirth into a new century what was psychology like i mean it’s gone through a whole evolution well i break it down into basically uh three phases one phase would be
10:04
the pre-20th century when we had the priest and the shaman then and people would go to their elders or to their priests or in primal cultures to the shaman to try to get answers and try to get relief for problems that come along in life and these people helped and then we started developing medical doctors and how they spread off from the shamans and we had the priests and the medical doctors and then came along a couple of very important people in the beginning of the 20th century which were sigmund freud who developed
10:43
insight in seeing how life experiences affect us and change us and uh the russian psychiatrist pavlov who uh let us know and made the the discovery and determination that you can modify behavior by coupling different things together you can actually engineer changes in behavior so freud believed you could change behavior through getting insight and understanding so people understood what happened to them and it was based originally on trauma and bad things happening to the people and what he felt by talking about the trauma and
11:27
learning how this affected their different parts of their psyche as he saw it the it and the ego and the superego and how those worked out is what determined our behavior and who we are and by understanding that you could get rid of the problems and find more uh peace and understanding of yourself through the insight and pavlov says well you can just change you can change your behavior by engineering it through classical conditioning and so then that let us know we could train and change people’s ways that and that
12:07
much of behavior is actually learned and so then skinner came along in about the middle of the 50th century i mean the 20th century in the 50s and explained to us that we could actually engineer and develop ways to change and shape behavior to be more socially acceptable and a better for the individual and so then we worked on that through observable behaviors and then came along aaron beck and a group of people that sort of in a way put together uh the insights of freud uh that insights and understanding
12:48
and and they added common sense and straight talk to the behavior modification to create the cognitive behavioral therapy and in that therapy we learn that the fight or flight response is what gets us nervous and upset and causes the type a behavior of irritation aggravation anger and impatience and that we could learn to modify these behaviors and to ameliorate them through the cognitive behavioral therapy and relaxation training and originally this was done by the doctor and the patient freud
13:31
began it by talking and using uh back then hypnosis and through the work of charcoal and and how to get people to relax and get out of this through the work of i’m sorry a fellow named sharko who developed the hypnosis and uh of teaching people to relax and then uh own their own mental health that mental health is a natural part of our life and all we have to do is relax and it will naturally emerge we don’t have to work for it or create it that it’s naturally part and if we relax it will float to the top
14:51
training and actually take the power of psychology to the battle frontlines which has never been done before then we made relaxation messages for their families left behind and at home we also made messages for the surviving families of the 911 incident that was used in the family assistance center at the world trade center to help the families deal with the loss of the loved one which then helped us lead to develop a specialized dvd experience specifically for the loss of a loved one which is what this is yeah whether it’s
15:28
time for reflection yeah through a terroristic act or a natural death uh let’s see the passing on and adjusting to these big life events wow so we’ve we see psychology developing from the priest and the shaman to the doctor in the professional setting and then learning how the mind and the brain interact to form our reality and then we learned that the human is more than just the piece of hardware like the computer it’s the programming that make the computer able to do what it does to function properly right
16:05
and we found that it’s the mind that allows the body to function properly and to do that do you do you find that you’re you’re obviously you’ve had lots of people commenting about this even early on now the military must really be uh extraordinary help to people to have an extra friend in the field that’s leading the threat well we’re learning to do that my hope is we can there’s a big problem that’s emerging now of the troops returning home from iraq and a lot of problems with the
16:39
post-traumatic stress disorder and the battle memories and the va is says they’re not prepared they they’re not ready to deal with the high volume and then with the degree of problems that are coming home so we’re offering to the va hey try the media and we’re uh have offered them to set up on the va website or to create media web-based media to help the veterans to reach out to them at home so they don’t have to come to the vet center or the va and we think that in the future what i
17:14
see is our ability to affect more people more cost-effectively uh and make it home-based and to take psychology to where they live and work instead of making them come and find us in our office that’s great you know i i um as you’re talking i’m thinking about all the things that are so better delivered to a large audience over the power of the internet and also understanding the the sensitivity i feel as an individual knowing that that i can you know i imagine it’s very satisfying
17:51
to know you’re helping so many people because psychology is a very personal thing and so seeing it over a medium that seems impersonal is surely an interesting balance have you looked at that much at all it’s an extension and a tool like the psychiatrist helps people to relax and calm down by giving them drugs and and we are drug society but what we would like to do is use the power of the media and develop uh products whether they be over the internet or dvd to help using the principles of
18:28
psychology and behavior to change people’s behavior and not just use medication you know people talk about the changing you know the mind power and the changing of behavior through communication you know the the first time i met you personally we were at the mental health association i was videotaping someone asked me to take your videotaping showing them something i thought was extraordinary that um the the power of using media in a positive way an anti-smoking campaign yeah we something special
19:03
yeah we’ve been working on a way to use the media as a substitute behavior for smoking especially in the youth and this is part of what i see is the evolution of the future of psychology where we can take the media and the emerging technology such as ipods and make a nice music video for the youth and to have with them positive suggestions and motivation to not smoke and to feel good and to get the same feeling they would through the use of the cigarette through listening to media and media and
19:44
through positive suggestion so what we plan to do is to take and make uh media presentations that could play on an ipod that would take about the same a length of time as to smoke a cigarette and when the youth get the urge to smoke a cigarette instead they go out and listen to their ipod and watch their video and get the suggestions and recreate the feeling uh through breathing air instead of the harmful smoke and our hope is is that we could then test them for six months or a year the length of the program long enough to
20:21
set them in not smoking and if they remain not smoking for that period of time to give them the ipod and to give them a reward for uh investing in their health that’s extraordinary i think that’s so positive yeah i think there’s all kinds of ways like this we have such amazing technology and availability and the kids think it’s cool so we have to do what they think is cool not what we think is cool and we have to approach them where they live and give them a good reason not to do the
20:54
unhealthy behavior by offering them something healthy that’s much more valuable that’s fantastic we’d like to use this in uh anti and stop uh drug programs and anti-drug programs i’ve been talking with some musicians about developing an anti-ice and anti-drug programs through the use of media and give them again an alternate substitute behavior that gives them something else to do instead of using drugs yeah well i remember when i you know i what do they say i threatened to be a
21:31
psychologist years ago in college and i remember that social behavior was always a matter of having an alternative choice i hope that message is loud and clear all of you out there you know they’re sitting around a chess club’s fun and reading books and you know it’s a i think it’s a terrific thing you know i’m i’m having a great time being here i’m learning a lot i’d like to know what you feel is the direction of where we’re all going what can we now do with this
21:58
to take it another step how can we as a maui public serve you is there anything that we can do to help well the the whole thing is just uh tuning in and trying to see what kind of alternatives we could have to negative and self-destructive behaviors and how we can modify those behaviors to healthy uh life-affirming behaviors that create more positive mindsets within people especially our youth and to help people overcome traumatic events because once you learn to overcome the bad things then they can make you stronger and
22:37
develop your self-esteem and self-concept and what you can add and what we’re finding now is i believe that in the future in evolution of psychology that dna will become increasingly important thinking futuristically i see that we’ll be able to for example analyze your dna and on the medical side create designer drugs made specifically for your dna to help balance the chemistry on that end i see that our dna also can be affected not only by medicine but by words and by a positive effect
23:25
and we found that i believe that in a way we are our ancestors we are the sum total of all of the dna of all of our ancestors and they live in us through the dna and we found there’s actually a god gene a spiritual dna gene that helps people connect with the spirit and and i believe that words can affect your dna like through the type a behavior modification we’ve learned that words and reprogramming your mind you can increase your health and reduce your cardiac risk over 50 percent and i believe that those risk factors
24:13
are developed through the mindsets of if we’re aggravated irritated angry and impatient we develop heart attacks stroke car accidents we get in a hurry and it determines not only how we live but how we die and then we pass those personality traits along to our children so uh that we are through our dna we’re have all the dna of our ancestors and we also hold all the dna of our future generations and by affecting our dna through positive thinking and healthy thinking and some researchers have even shown how the
24:58
way you think affects water and its qualities and since we’re a large percent water and basically we’re dna and water in salt water put together and if we can affect that mix in a positive way we can have healthier and more productive lives and what we’re trying to do is figure out how to achieve that goal through the media and reaching out to large numbers of people especially in times of crisis like the 911 incident or katrina and then also to help people to give them something they can focus on every day
25:36
to direct and control their minds in the most positive and productive means possible and that’s so very important is not only to take the action and give them the tools but create that self-sustainability in that person you know that that they then use these tools so it becomes part of their very uh nature to understand and share that i’m sure that’s a quality of life that uh is really very positive i guess you say um a long-term benefit of this is a better more gentle and loving world you
26:09
know and that would be a nice thing to see creating a kinder and gentler future yeah and uh i think we can uh artistically engineer our the programming of our minds and direction of our lives if we so choose and we can make that choice consciously and then use the tools of science and technology that’s uh really and base it on the ancient healing methods and on the cultural diversity and put that together i think we have the psychology of the 21st century well with the the culture of hawaiian
26:49
as our host culture here they’ve been a very good host to really bring those words into you know reality with aloha i hope that we all can share that aloha i know that you’re a great representative to the world from maui i appreciate all the work that you’ve been doing thank you i would really um love to be able to help i hope that our audience here will share this about i guess it’s important to give a couple of website addresses in ways that you might be contacted if that’s comfortable yeah we can be
27:21
contacted through lifehut.com l-i-f-e-h-u-t and uh the what life hut is our website that we present these media media and relaxation says free to the public we are just putting them out there so people can take advantage of them and utilize them and they’re available through the website or no yes and the dvds are available and someday we hope to have more comprehensive programs and everything based on the web to help people uh develop and as i see psychology emerging and and developing you know basically from the
28:03
doctor-patient relationship and through a single culture to a relationship through the high-speed computing through the internet for a doctor to reach many many people and affect their change and focus on the cultural diversity of all of the people that make up our fine country and also see how we can affect the dna and the basic way your body functions and your mind is to find an integration of your mind body and spirit so that you can create a brighter future well you know wasn’t there a company at
28:45
one point that said modern things through chemistry maybe it was dupont progress is our most important product who is that a ge that was uh somebody uh dao i think either adele chemical we are now going to be in charge you know take self-responsibility for our lives using technology to get us something so very personal it’s really a pleasure thank you for being with us all right thank you very much jason you’re welcome i hope that everyone enjoyed being here with me and dr richard sword
29:16
rick sword um if you need to contact or any other questions you always can contact them through me and us here at the dream acres foundation maui arts and music association it has really been a great pleasure thank you hope you’ll see us again aloha hang loose [Music] [Music] do [Music] do [Music] so [Music] do [Music] do [Music] you
