Deconstructing Black and White Thinking
Why binary thinking is at the root of fundamentalism
Welcome to Walking the Middle Path! To celebrate two years of my Substack, we’re going back to the basics of deconstructing black and white thinking and practicing dialectical (both/and) thinking.
I started this Substack in June 2024 as a way to share more vulnerable, personal writing on faith and culture and to grow an authentic community beyond the boundaries of the social media algorithm.
Walking the Middle Path is where we search for both/and in a faith and culture of black and white.
You can read more about the origins of Walking the Middle Path on my first post here.
And who is Dr. Camden?
Nice to meet you! I’m a licensed psychologist, writer, and speaker living with my husband and two children in Knoxville, TN. My main job is as a therapist in private practice working with women and couples. In 2020, I began writing regularly online, speaking on podcasts, and eventually coaching on Purity Culture Recovery and Faith Reconstruction.
In October 2024, my first book was published—a dream come true for me! Recovering from Purity Culture was written to help other purity culture survivors dismantle the myths, overcome shame, and rebuild their faith and sexuality.
I’m writing my second book now, for publication in Summer 2027. Reparenting Yourself While Parenting Your Kids (official title TBD) meets readers at the intersection of parenting children in a different way while breaking cycles and healing the wounds from your own upbringing, especially from toxic religious teachings.
Learn more about my next book:
Black and White Thinking
Black and white thinking is also called all or nothing or either/or thinking. You may also hear it referred to as dualistic or binary thinking. This type of thinking is labeled a dysfunctional thought pattern in cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). In fact, research has found black and white thinking to be the root of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems.
I believe all or nothing thinking forms the basis of all other dysfunctional thought patterns (or perhaps most, if we want to avoid all). It’s also a foundational way of thinking in religious authoritarian parenting and high control religion, in general.
That’s why I say black and white thinking is the at the root of fundamentalism. Everything is black and white, either right or wrong, in or out, good or bad.
My kid’s behavior is sin and needs to be punished.
My sexuality is bad and should be suppressed.
Doubt is bad.
If you don’t believe what I do or vote like me, you’re not a Christian.
This thought pattern is not only detrimental to our mental health, but to our spiritual growth as well. It looks at faith as static instead of constantly changing, growing, and forming. And this thought pattern doesn’t necessarily go away when we deconstruct our faith or leave conservative evangelicalism.
If we truly want to pluck out the roots of black and white thinking, we have to learn and practice a more open and flexible way of thinking.
Practicing Dialectical Thinking
Dialectical thinking is the opposite of black and white thinking. It is about finding the both/and and bringing openness and flexibility to our thinking patterns. When we “walk the middle path”, we refuse polarized, all-or-nothing thinking to search for the synthesis between two seemingly opposing ideas. Instead of either/or, we ask:
What are we missing?
What else could it be?
How are these two things both true?
I believe it is also consistent with the way Jesus taught. Jesus was full of paradox, both welcoming people and calling them to change, both forgiving sins and requiring repentance, both offering grace and speaking truth. Dr. Alison Cook says, “So much of authentic faith is leaning into the paradox that two things really are so very often true… Walking by faith is a delicate tightrope. It’s the ultimate both/and.”1
At Walking the Middle Path, we practice this dialectical thinking by valuing critical thinking over certainty, curiosity over judgment, and dialectics (integration) over either/or.
We’re all about embracing complexity and nuance as we ask the question, “What is the Middle Path here?”
Become a Middle Path-er
Join us here at Walking the Middle Path! Free subscribers get access to monthly posts on topics related to faith, reparenting, purity culture, egalitarianism, mental health, and relationships. I include my favorite books, resources, and links, as well as Practices to integrate the mind and body.
Check out these top free posts:
What Bridgerton Reveals About Purity Culture (my most read post of all time)
Paid subscribers get additional posts per month, as well as access to seasonal series, bonus downloads, and quarterly live workshops. When you subscribe at the paid level, you also get access to all the past content and recorded workshops.
Past Live Workshops:
Join us for these top paid posts:
“I upheld my end of the bargain, but God hasn’t upheld his.” (most read paid post)
I hope you’ll join me and other Middle Path-ers as we seek to heal our faith from toxic beliefs.
The paid option is not meant to be a barrier, but it gives me more privacy to share personal stories, like in my own parenting or healing from toxic beliefs. All of the income from Substack goes into the costs of running an online business, such as Zoom, email service provider, and website.
If you’re interested in the content we have here at Walking the Middle Path and want to support and encourage my work, I hope you’ll consider subscribing! And if you cannot afford a subscription, just email and let me know. And thanks to founding subscribers, who help cover the costs of scholarships for others.
Want More Resources?
If you’re looking for more help on your journey of healing from toxic beliefs, here are some other offerings:
I offer two- to three-day Therapy Intensives for trauma and purity culture recovery in my Knoxville, TN office. Intensives can include EMDR to target the stuck beliefs and trauma of purity culture so you can make a remarkable amount of progress in a short amount of time.
I provide Professional Consultations for mental health professionals, coaches, ministry leaders, and content creators and do Speaking engagements at conferences, colleges, non-profits, and churches both in person and virtually.
I also work one-on-one with women and couples online for Purity Culture Recovery Coaching.
And of course, I can’t recommend my book, Recovering from Purity Culture, enough! For only $10.38 on Amazon, you get to benefit from my 15 years of knowledge, research, and clinical experience as I guide you through the process of deconstructing the myths of purity culture and rebuilding your faith and sexuality.
How are you deconstructing black and white thinking? What do you hope to learn here about both/and thinking?
I hope you’ll join us here at Walking the Middle Path.
You can subscribe for free or be a paid subscriber at $5 per month or $50 for the year. You get access to the exclusive content and the full archive of past series and workshops. You can cancel any time (although I hope you love it!). And if you can’t afford a subscription, I’m happy to extend it to you for free. Just email or message me!
Know a friend who’d like to join us here on the Middle Path? Why don’t you share this post with them and invite them to our discussion!
Warmly, Dr. Camden
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I Shouldn’t Feel This Way by Dr. Alison Cook