Arden Mahlberg, a long-time resident of Madison, WI, died on June 4, 2024, at the age of 76 in his new home in Michigan, where he and his wife Linda moved to retire in 2021.
Arden had a long and gratifying career as a psychologist at the Integral Psychology Center, where he was Director for over 25 years. In addition to his clinical practice, Arden was a consultant to other mental health professionals and several organizations locally, nationally, and internationally, was a workshop leader, published journal articles, co-authored a book, and received an international award for his ground-breaking research in collective memory.
After moving to Michigan, Arden began creative writing in earnest, joining three writers’ groups in Ann Arbor. He and Linda enjoyed biking and kayaking the Huron River close to their home, as well as watching and listening to birds.
Arden Mahlberg began his journey in Worthington, MN on May 6, 1948. He went through Northfield, MN for college and then Minneapolis, San Francisco, Southern Oregon and Madison, WI before his final destination in a lovely town outside Ann Arbor, MI. Arden was raised for a life of service by his father, Arthur, proprietor of an auto repair service, and his mother, Margaret, a registered nurse, as was his older brother, Paul, an ophthalmologist, his older sister, Mavis, a music therapist, and his wife, Linda, a registered nurse. Their children followed that tradition—Nathaniel as a minister and Nora as a poverty law lawyer.
Arden was good at arguing and received a debate scholarship to college, where he studied philosophy and sociology. Upon graduation during the Vietnam War, he was drafted and was acknowledged to be a conscientious objector. He did two years of alternative service, which became a launching pad. This is when he became proficient at playing the washtub bass. Arden did community organizing in south Minneapolis and worked on a draft repeal and antiwar campaign for a Quaker organization. He also worked for a state legislator in Minnesota and wrote prisoners’ rights legislation that is still in force. His spiritual life blossomed with the gift of meditation. He obtained formal training in nonviolent strategy and tactics. What he learned shaped how he approached his subsequent work as a psychologist. Justice work, he learned, involved both outer work and inner work. The goals and guiding principles are the same in both domains.
Arden leaves his wife, Linda; their children, Nathaniel and Nora, their spouses, Rachel and Todd; granddaughters, Alma, Shea, and Eleanor; brother, Paul, and his children, Peter, Erik, Erik’s wife, Erin, and their son, Oskar; sister, Mavis, and his friends and valued conversation partners.
Arden died with gratitude for how fortunate he was and with curiosity toward what comes next.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, 4001 Ann Arbor-Saline Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48103.
Donations in his memory are invited for Partners in Health working toward health care equity and Undue Medical Debt which eliminates medical debt for those who need it.
