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Progress So Far
Since the approval of my dissertation proposal, I have been on the long journey to recruit and interview participants for the project. The progress so far has been mostly crawling, and at times, full stop experience. It has not been easy! At the same time, I have grown each time I reach a milestone. Currently,…
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Middle Aged Gay Men
Other than destigmatizing consensual nonmonogamous relationships among gay men, I also have interest in contributing to efforts to examining and understanding middle-adulthood. There is more interest in exploring topics focusing on youth and young adults in general. Fortunately, the work of aging studies has increased in recent years. For example, I come across exciting findings…
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Skin Deep
Part of the PhD journey is to propose, create, and complete a dissertation project. Most doctoral students go through the journey of what type of research they want to do for their dissertation: quantitative, qualitative, mixed method, etc. The confident or knowing few know exactly which route they are taking early in their graduate school…
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Prior Experience
While working on the proposal, I reviewed a ton of journal articles on the topic. I came across many studies that focused on the topic of consensual nonmonogamy (CNM) broadly, covering heterosexual population as well as non-heterosexual populations. I do not get to reference all the study results I read. Some of them confirmed other…
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C’mon Poly
I remember when my ex first mentioned opening up the relationship, he mentioned the word polyamory. I was and still am not a native speaker. The concept was a little wild (but not completely foreign or strange). Currently, the web’s definition is: the practice of engaging in multiple romantic (and typically sexual) relationships, with the…
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One-year is Long-term
During the conceptualization of the dissertation, my committee discussed how many years would be considered long-term. The consensus is if two romantic partners are together for more than two years, they are in a long-term relationship. When I started building the proposal, I also noted the same length of time for the middle-aged gay male…
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Out there somewhere
I was listening to new Cash Cuties episode while driving. The hosts, Fumi and Steffie, are always entertaining and perhaps they are Asian Americans, I find them and their experiences relatable. They usually go through their relationships, finances, regrets, Japanese- and Korean- American or typical AA experiences with a self-deprecating twist & humor. On their…
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Why this dissertation topic?
My first dissertation topic was not about consensual nonmonogamy between middle-aged gay men. Initially, I developed my dissertation centering on being queer and resilience building. I reviewed available resilience scales (e.g., RS, RS-14, etc.) and at the time, none focused on LGBTQ+ or queer populations. I was also interested in the aging gay population, and…
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My Consensual Nonmonogamous Relationship (CNM) study has arrived
To be completely transparent, I was not planning to launch a website (with my name as its domain) until I finished my Clinical Psychology PhD program. I thought I was going to complete the program, internship, postdoc, and the EPPP, then start the website. Oops! Life does not always go according to our plans. I…
About Gary
Fourth year Clinical Psychology PhD student at Fielding Graduate University – Mental Health Trainee at Brea Olinda Unified School District – Research & Design Product Manager at Trifoia Media