Everyday Heroism in Practicing Psychology

Abstract

Heroism requires acting altruistically in the face of considerable risk. Professions such as psychology are based on working toward a public good and accordingly provide offsetting privileges for the sacrifices expected. Consequently, psychologists occasionally face professional dilemmas that provide everyday heroic opportunities. Examples of such opportunities during one psychologist’s career path are presented and implications for others in the profession are explored. These are put into the context of heroism as a transpersonal act that can be based on self-expansiveness in which someone goes beyond identifying with their self as an isolated entity and, instead, experiences a sense of interconnectedness with others, the world, and even the cosmos.