Human nature
Collecting versus connecting the dots
We are all familiar with the phrase, “Connect the dots.” And yet we spend far more energy collecting dots. Why is that, and what can we do to change it?
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Mental illness
Anxiety disorders: Alarms gone wrong
If you think of anxiety as an alarm system I was recently trying to explain to a patient about the panic attacks they were having and to help them understand what the issue was without making them feel like I was saying, “It’s all in your head.” (Which she
culture
Coronavirus, communication and connection
Our relationship to tech is changing—and with it our relationships, period—since coronavirus made the jump from medical textbooks to everyday language.
Relationships
Power trips in relationships
Let’s talk about the threefold power rule I once heard a preacher say people are never jealous of your success; what upsets them is your showing off. It was one of those statements that grab you like the glint of gold catching a miner’s eye, indicating a rich
Christianity
Therapists are the new priests
Some say we all need therapy—but do we?
Human nature
Words actually speak louder than actions
It’s never been a better time to traffic in words, but the responsibility has also never been greater.
Healthcare
Why mental health—and what’s it like?
People often ask me why I chose to do mental health of all the available medical specialties. Well, it started with my grandfather…
Humour
What’s so funny?
Why we laugh and how we can make the most of humour Humour is one of the things that’s unique (or as close to it as we can find) to humans, whether it’s rooted in physical comedy, or as is more often the case, communicated through language (another
Christianity
Two kinds of strength
What do we mean when we say people are “strong”? What are we really saying?
Pain and Recovery
Avengers: Endgame: time heists, trauma and therapy
The MCU finale as a metaphor for trauma and therapy
Poems
Rendezvous
A poem He glances at her, this chauffeur-driven man in business suit, from within his air-conditioned made-by-Toyota rain shelter, one of nineteen such that slow to a stop before the glare of two red lights. Her eyes stung by endless darts of falling water, She silently watches as he continues
Communication
From my cage to yours
A meditation Here we stand, you and I, aching souls sentenced to life within frail cages of tissue and bone behind walls that first were fences — boundary-markers over which to meet — but now serve only to imprison ourselves. And within, we are lonely. Here we stand, cage to cage, and