Margery Runyan, PhD

Margery Runyan, PhD

  • This program will fascinate the parents of twins particularly because Mike Poff and his wife Pam are raising quads plus three more children.  If we ever thought our hands were full, we must wonder how Mike and Pam balance farming, jobs, and children.  Mike is going to provide an inside view of his wonderful life in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  How do the children manage?  What roles do they play?  What do the quads think about their special status?  How do the quads interrelate?  Does every child have a horse and a dog or does everyone share?  How do the mom and dad coordinate their activities?  Who makes what decisions?  How do they handle conflict and discipline?  How wild and crazy can life be?  What keeps them strong?  Tune in and find out how the Poff family works!  Mike is our special guest, father, and author.  Follow him on his blogs!  He is a member of the Linked In Twins group along with Dr. Mercy. Bio: Mike Poff is a Virginia at-home-father of quadruplets plus three and gentleman farmer. He and his wife Pam, seven children, eight horses, six cats, nine dogs and a smattering of cattle live an interesting, full and blessed life near the Crest of the Blue Ridge. Mike is a freelance writer ever spreading the rants, raves and insights of an at home dad of quads. Mike has a Bachelors Degree in Theology and Associates in Radio & TV Production. He worked for several years in the Roanoke VA media market for WVFT TV27, WBRA Public TV and WFIR/WPVR Radio. Mike has recently written for several magazines and newspapers all in his quest to encourage others in their faith, family and relational lives in general. Twins, Most, The Father Life and Prodigal Magazines have all carried Mike’s work.  
  • Tina Jenicek is a perfect example of a busy single mom with twins.  Her twins are fraternal, a boy and girl 10 years old, attending day camp and learning everything they can at this marvelous age of industry and growth.  We are all wondering if their genetic material and life experiences favor similarities or differences in personality, intelligence, and aptitude. Tina will describe her experiences with the twins from conception through elementary school.  Our conversation will feature questions about the relationship between the twins, her closeness with each, the dominance and birth order myths, school placement, managing competition, ’best friends’, balancing work and home as a single mom, and all the questions that you have always wanted to ask about raising boy/girl twins.  Tina also chairs the Florida Organization of Mothers of Twins in her spare time!  She will discuss their services and supports for moms and dads of multiples.  Call in with your questions to 1-866-613-1612.
  • Dr. Mercy interviews female 53-year-old twins who have recently been confronted with a dire diagnosis threatening the survival of the second born twin.  Sonya and Tonya believe in their hearts that they are identical. Their mother and father were not sure.  They are very similar in every way and have a strong telepathy which includes feelings each others’ emotions and symptoms.  Their lives have also been similar, marrying husbands who were insecure about the twinship, having two children (boy and girl), and staying close until Tonya developed the disease of alcoholism.  The twins talk about this disease, how they coped, Tonya’s recovery and their reunification. Tonya has recently been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and this second disease has challenged Tonya to remain hopeful and Sonya to face her twin’s mortality. Dr. Mercy will speak with them again after a biopsy is performed in August.  Stay tuned.  
  • These beautiful young adult twins have reached a point in their development that fascinates clinicians and researchers.  They are moving out of the sheltered states of childhood and adolescence and learning to create their own lives.  Moving away from home, relocating to another state, finding jobs which match their credentials, evaluating potential partners, and planning for motherhood are all rites of passage which twins experience in different ways from singles.  Some of these rites occur earlier for one twin than the other, potentially creating stress and strain in the twinship.   The choices that they are making, together and apart, now have adult consequences and as Robert Frost has said in ‘The Road Not Taken’ ‘knowing how way leads on to way’ these choices will have a fundamental effect on the twinship in later years.  Listen to their points of view and world views on Twin Talk.
  • An interview with Sally Rhine Feather PhD on Twin Parapsychology. Dr. Feather is the eldest daughter of Joseph Banks Rhine and Louisa E Rhine, who are considered to be the founders of modern parapsychology.  Feather served as a child subject at the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory founded by her father, and later worked there as a research assistant, both before and after attending college, and after obtaining a doctorate in experimental psychology from Duke University (1967).  Her research topics included psi abilities of animals, correlation of memory and ESP performance, and help-hinder effects in a PK task. Following another lifelong interest, Feather obtained further training in clinical psychology at University of North Carolina in 1969 and devoted the next several decades to clinical psychology in mental health centers and private practice until retirement in 2004.   A move back to North Carolina in the early 1990’s enabled her to get re-involved in the Rhine Research Center.  Since 1994 she has served in various administrative capacities including the board of directors and for several years as volunteer executive director.  She co-authored a popular book on ESP experiences (St. Martins, 2005) and received the 2010 Career Achievement Award from the Parapsychology Association.
  • Dr. Mercy interviews Dr. Nancy Segal, Professor of Psychology and Director of Twin Studies at the California State University, Fullerton, will be discussing twins switched at birth. As a fraternal twin, psychologist and researcher, Dr. Segal has been uniquely positioned to perform ground-breaking studies on twins including her work at the University of Minnesota with twins separated at birth and reunited in adulthood and her most recent study on the development of Chinese twins adopted internationally both apart and together. Her other research has included the behavioral similarities of virtual twins (same age unrelated children raised together) and the behavioral consequences of twin loss. Dr. Segal is considered one of the foremost experts on the nature versus nurture controversy based on her quantitative studies of twins’ behaviors. Dr. Segal will be prepared to discuss the nature of twin relationships, twin development, twins accused of cheating at school, and twin relationships within the family. Dr. Nancy Segal has written seven books about twins.  Dr. Segal has authored approximately 250 scientific articles and book chapters in addition to her many books. A recent paper won a 2007 Award for Excellence in Research from the Mensa Foundation. She is also an Associate Editor of Twin Research and Human Genetics, the official journal of the International Society for Twin Studies. She serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including Twin Research and Human Genetics, Evolution and Human Behavior and Human Ethology.
  • Paula Abdullah is the mother of five teenage children living in Deatur, Illinois. Four of the teens are two sets...
  • Dr. Mercy discusses the process of synchronicity proposed by Dr. Carl Jung, a disciple of Sigmund Freud, a practicing psychiatrist in Switzerland during the 20th century, and a proponent of the collective unconscious. He used the term synchronicity to describe acausal events that occur simultaneously in the realm of Consciousness. In 'On the Nature of the Psyche,' Jung regretted that synchronicity is bound to the notion of Time. In mathematical terms, Time is the curvature of Space. Thus Jung concluded that the Archetypes have not only psychic reality but also relate in some fashion to the Space/Time continuum. Two events might occur at different times within the Unconscious where Time is distorted and then be linked in the Consciousness as if they occurred simultaneously. Dr. Mercy is thus compelled to speculate that Two Twins may have arrived on earth simultaneously even though in the realm of the Twin Archetype they have been joined outside of the human experience of Time.
     
  • Dr. Mercy speaks about her life in Paris at the age of 19 in 1968 studying at the University of Paris with her twin sister Malinda. The twins lived together in the 17th arrondissement near the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysee. There Dr. Mercy was introduced to Antoine de Saint Exupery the famous pilot and author of The Little Prince. In ‘Le Petit Prince,’ Saint Exupery describes his encounter in the desert with The Little Prince who comes from a tiny planet with three volcanoes and one rose. He tells of his travels to other planets in search of a friend and in the end learns his most important lesson from a Fox. Dr. Mercy tells his story with a depth of feeling reserved for the grandest of all lessons.
     
  • Dr. Jane Greer has lectured across the country on marital/family problems, women’s issues, and sibling (twin) issues.  She is frequently contacted by the national news media to speak as an authority on these topics. In her book, The Afterlife Connection, Dr. Greer began with the belief that the bond that exists between the living and the dead including co-twins is not purely a psychological one, but is in fact much more dynamic and empowering. Dr. Greer guides us to learn that transcommunication is not simply a "hello from heaven" but a powerful therapeutic tool that is available to any of us. Through transcommunication, the pain of grieving can be made more bearable, ambivalent relationships can be healed, and a loved one's messages can bring relief and joy. Drawing on her new book, What About Me? Dr. Jane will help us understand the sharing, connection and selfishness that can lead to Twin Rivalry.
  • Dr. Mercy interviews Dr. Diane Hennacy Powell, MD.  After an undergraduate education in neuroscience, Dr. Powell, a nationally prominent Johns Hopkins-trained neuropsychiatrist and former clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, examines the evidence for many types of psychic phenomena, from telepathy and precognition to psychokinesis, and finds several well-designed and rigorously supervised studies that prove the existence of some psychic phenomena. This raises the important question: how is this possible? Diane Hennacy Powell, who studies unusual psychological phenomenon has been studying twins separated and kept together at birth. She has found that some twins do have a special kind of connection and that twins that grow up together and in the same environment can become very close. (Powell MD, Diane Hennacy. "Twin Telepathy and the Illusion of Separation." Noetic Now Journal. Institute of Noetic Sciences, 1 Apr. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2015).
     
  • The Clark triplets were born and raised in Perry, OK the youngest of 14 children born to Gordon and Irene Clark.  They moved to Edmond, OK in 1984 to finish their college education and all remained there until Sept, 2010 when Chris and his wife Linda moved westward to Piedmont, OK.  Cary and his wife Janet have a blended family of Kyle (21) and Dakota (12).  Chris and Linda have children Curtis (27) and Lindsay (25) and their spouses Misty and Matt, along with grandsons Coby and Logan.  Charles and Debbie have a blended family of Mazey (20), Matthew (19), Kaycee (18), and Joshua (16). The triplets all became interested in computers at a young age and have pursued careers in computer programming.  For the first 13 ½ years of their careers, they all worked at the same firm.  Since that time at least 2 have usually worked together. Currently, Cary and Chris do. Besides computers, the triplets are avid sports fans and enjoy working on classic Chevrolets. Program description: The Clark triplets are amazingly alike in every way. Raised in Oklahoma, often working and raising families nearby, they have enjoyed a journey rarely experienced, the life of triplets.  How do wives, children, bosses, even neighbors react to three identical men?  How confusing can this be?  Dr. Mercy met this handsome threesome at the International Twin Association in which they are very active.  What a delight!  She is wondering what happens when a duo becomes a threesome. What new dynamics develop?
     

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