a brief
bio
a brief
bio
Dr. Ken Tangen grew up in an international family. His grandfather was born in Norway, his cousin was born in S. Africa, and his brother was born in the Philippines. "For my part, I was conceived in mainland China and born in the United States." Consequently, he says, he was taught two rudimentary rules: (a) respect all cultures, and (b) people basically are all alike. Our customs vary but our humanness doesn't.
Dr. Tangen was born and raised in Seattle. His father pastored a church and his mother kept track of four growing boys. "I was the third child and youngest until I was 10," he says. A month after he turned ten, his mother gave birth to boy number four: Jimmy. But Jimmy had Down's Syndrome, was profoundly retarded and suffered from a blood disorder similar to leukemia. He required 24-hour care as if he were a baby. "Jimmy was bottle fed and lived on a bottle of liquid tranquilizer, a bottle of aspirin, and several bottles of soy milk per day. For seven years, he was the family project in terms of care and the family example in his ability to unconditionally love."
Ken was not without his own struggles. He is the only member of his family to be an albino. "If I could describe myself without revealing that I'm an albino, I would. But my birth defect and the fight to appear "normal" probably define me more than I would care to admit. Although some aspects are entertaining, I work hard at making sure people don't discount me because I look odd -- I prefer they dislike me because I'm a rotten person." Listen how he describes his experiences in Disneyland, Albinism & the Study of Psychology (or read the transcript ).
Before his birth, Ken's family spent a lot of time in Asia. In Jan. 1940, his parents set out as missionaries to China. They lived in Peking for a year and then moved to the "safe" American territory of the Philippines to avoid the impending war. Unfortunately, safe is a relative word and his folks spent 3 1/2 years as prisoners of war.
Miraculously saved 3 days before their scheduled execution, Ken's parents and oldest brother (born in prison camp) returned to the States to recover from the starvation, disease and stress that plagued them. They returned to China (with 2 boys with them) and stayed until forced to leave by the communist regime. Although Ken (boy #3) was nearly born in China, his mother held out until making it back to Seattle. "They would have gone back to China (Taiwan), if I hadn't been an albino. I felt quite guilty as a child for having stopped them from doing what they loved."
After pastoring in Seattle for over 25 years, his parents were going to become missionaries again but Rev. Tangen died suddenly from a heart attach. A year later, Ken's mother once again became a missionary in Taipei, Taiwan. She taught English on the radio and held Bible studies in her apartment. But more importantly she had a special way with people and adopted (emotionally and spiritually) many young professionals. When she died of ALS, she was survived by her 3 sons and 3 grandchildren, but also by hundreds of people who felt part of her family and called her "Mom."
A graduate of Seattle Pacific University (BA in psychology) and Central Washington University (MS in counseling psychology), Dr. Tangen earned his doctorate from the University of Washington. After some post-doc study, he and his family (wife and 2 daughters) moved to southern California where they still reside.
Copyright © 2009 Ken Tangen.. All rights reserved
Dr. Tangen is a member of::
Association
for Conflict Resolution
Southern California Mediation Association
American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress
American Association of Marriage & Family Therapy
