For most local health practitioners, the summer months bring less crowded calendars—welcome downtime to enjoy local restaurants without a reservation, relax, and savor life in general. But that’s not the case for Terri Evans, DOM. The founder of TAE Healthy Aging in Naples is returning to her first love: teaching workshops.

In her spare time, Evans plans to hit the road, presenting workshops that highlight the benefits of creative reasoning and critical thinking—skills that go beyond simply recalling information. Why the focus? Because she believes critical thinking is more vital than ever in today’s chaotic world.

According to the University of Louisville, “Critical thinking has been described as an ability to question; to acknowledge and test previously held assumptions; to recognize ambiguity; to examine, interpret, evaluate, reason, and reflect; to make informed judgments and decisions; and to clarify, articulate, and justify positions.” It also requires the ability to view issues from multiple perspectives, use logic and reasoning, and maintain an open mind.

Many people equate intelligence with the ability to memorize and recall information, as this is how intelligence is commonly tested. “But memorization is only one function of the mind,” says Evans. “The real power lies in taking that memorized information and using it to create something new or solve problems—capabilities that rely heavily on input from the brain’s right hemisphere. True education develops the creative reasoning side of the brain that allows us to figure things out.”

British psychiatrist, literary scholar, and neuroscientist Dr. Iain McGilchrist, author of The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World, argues that society has become overly reliant on left-brain thinking—narrow and detail-focused—at the expense of the right brain’s broader, more holistic perspective. He writes, “The right hemisphere underwrites breadth and flexibility of attention, while the left hemisphere brings focused attention. As a result, the right hemisphere sees things whole and in context, whereas the left sees things abstracted from context and broken into parts, which it then reconstructs into a ‘whole’—something very different.”

Evans believes that changes in our educational system have led to the neglect—and atrophy—of creative reasoning, which originates in the right hemisphere. She attributes this to today’s didactic teaching styles and the rise of indoctrination, both of which overemphasize memory development.

Before the pandemic, Evans spent her summers traveling across the U.S., teaching creative reasoning and critical thinking. From experience, she’s seen how individuals can improve their critical thinking simply by becoming more comfortable with asking questions and challenging authority. “A good teacher has a responsibility to encourage students to question—not to accept everything blindly,” she asserts.

Evans enjoyed teaching in intimate, informal settings—sometimes in someone’s living room. “I’ve hung whiteboards over TVs and set up flip charts on patios,” she recalls. “Asking questions is the heart of my teaching. In my workshops, people often get frustrated at first because they’re learning a new skill. But once they get the hang of using the right hemisphere, their problem-solving ability transforms.”

Empirical research supports her approach. Studies show that when people learn how their mind reasons, they naturally progress to higher, more effective levels of thought and action. “This growth leads to clearer, more objective decision-making—and ultimately, greater success in whatever they do,” says Evans.

Tae Healthy Aging Center is located at 11983 Tamiami Trl., N., Ste 100A, in Naples. For more information on the course, Who Are You—The WAY, call 239-430-6800. Visit TaeHealthyAging.com.