How 18th Century Racism Affects Your Healthcare
When I lived in Philadelphia, I had an allergist who would often give me lung function tests to assess my asthma-related difficulties. The test always registered as normal, even when I was clearly unwell, and in fact, sometimes it came out above average, which she said was odd for an asthmatic. I have always hated […]
Providing Health Care Across State Lines
Source: hillside7/Pixabay The United States’ licensure process for different health care disciplines is a bewildering hodge-podge of state-specific rules that vary across different disciplines. Exceptions exist and are often the rule, making it incredibly challenging to render any overarching opinions or statements, much less solutions. By and large, health care licensures in the U.S. operate […]
What Harry Styles Fans Taught Me About Happiness
For my daughter’s 15th birthday, I treated her to a Harry Styles concert. There I was, a dad surrounded by 15,000 giddy, elaborately dressed teenage girls in a sports stadium. You may smirk at the vision of a wizened professor in a sea of boas and sequins. But the experience shot through me, a neuroscientist […]
Strategies for Health Care Leaders to Build…
Countries around the world face a health care workforce crisis: The World Health Organization estimates that by 2030, an additional 40 million health care professionals will be needed. Meanwhile, in most countries, health care staff are experiencing high levels of stress and burnout, resulting in ill health and many leaving their professions. The pandemic exacerbated […]
Preventative Conflict Management for Leaders
My last post focused on specific strategies to resolve workplace conflict. But let’s be honest. Most of us don’t relish the idea of managing conflict, whether that occurs at work or in our personal lives. We already have enough stress, don’t we? That’s why I want to follow up with some quick tips for being […]
Are Therapists Behind the Rise in Family Estrangements?
Source: SHVETS / Pexels As family estrangement gets more media attention, some have suggested that therapists are causing—or at least encouraging—many of these family cutoffs. This criticism has been made of adult children’s therapists by the media (see Barry, 2024), estranged parents, and their therapists and advocates. Yet while it’s true that some adults decide […]
What is “Healthy” Spirituality or Religion?
As a psychologist, I am a scientist of human behavior. I am accountable to what can be understood scientifically through empiricism. And yet empiricism is not the only method we use to explore reality. Michael Polanyi, a philosopher of science, introduced the concept of “personal knowledge,” arguing that personal experiences and intuition also play a […]
The Hidden Mental Health Costs of Dieting
In a world where dieting is often seen as a quick path to better health or improved self-esteem due to weight loss, the Mental health consequences of dieting are not often acknowledged. Yet, the psychological toll of dieting can be severe, often outweighing any physical benefits. Let’s explore some of the ways that dieting can […]
What’s Giving Us Hope Right Now?
What is giving you hope right now for the future of our society? That’s the second question we posed to our circle of scholars, writers, and thinkers in the aftermath of the 2024 United States election. (The first question asked where we can go from here, and we published those answers yesterday.) Some find hope […]
How to Overcome “Anxious Attachment”
Insecure or “anxious” attachment most often manifests in romantic relationships in expressions like “clinginess,” jealousy, emotional dependency, enmeshment, or generalized anxiety about the status or trust in the relationship. Many people who experience anxious attachment report feelings of not getting enough or “the right kind” of love and affection from their partner and often need […]