How To Live With Yourself (a free 10 point psychiatric evaluation)

When I was a kid, I think about twelve, I heard my parents and neighbours laughing in the kitten. I entered to discover that they were listening to a cassette tape of a comedian telling jokes—as comedians tend to do. After the neighbours left I got my hands on the tape and played it for some of my friends. We listened to it several times. I don’t think any of us, as kids, fully realized that through, and between, those jokes we were learning some basics in psychology from psychologist Dr. Murray Banks.

I still have that tape and have listened to it many times since. I even played it for some of my students during my first year as a writer-in-residence with Now Hear This!’s magnificent S.W.A.T. (Students, Writers, And Teachers) program. 

I have no idea how much this recording has influenced me or my writing but trying but understanding the psychology of your character, the reason they do what they do, is important in understanding them as it is important in understanding yourself.

The other day I decided to do a search for Dr. Murray Banks on-line and was pleased to discover that someone had posted his recordings on Youtube. 

Here’s a clip from, How To Live With Yourself, where Dr. Banks begins to give the listener a free 10 point psychiatric evaluation.