The Psychology of Scary Movies and Haunted Houses
Fall for me as a teenager meant football games, homecoming dresses—and haunted houses. My friends organized group trips to the local fairground, where barn sheds were turned into halls of horror, and masked men nipped at our ankles with (chainless) chain saws as we waited in line, anticipating deeper frights to come once we were […]
Why We All Need to Pause More Often and How to Do It
“Taking time to do nothing often brings everything into perspective.” ~Doe Zantamata I have always been that person who just cannot seem to slow down. An overachiever? That’s putting it mildly. In every aspect of my life—work, relationships, personal goals—I have always pushed myself to the absolute limit. It is like I have this internal […]
Culturally Competent Firearm Discussions in Therapy
By Sallie Mack, Ph.D., Danielle Currin, Ph.D., and Alban Foulser, Ph.D., on behalf of the Atlanta Behavioral Health Advocates As psychologists, we have an ethical duty to promote safety and prevent harm. Given that suicide attempts utilizing firearms are extremely lethal (Cai et al., 2022), we must address firearm safety with our clients. This process […]
How Sensitive Are You To Rejection?
All of us can recall experiences of rejection, whether in our professional lives, social circles, or romantic relationships. For many, the initial disappointment fades quickly, managed through effective Coping strategies. However, for some people, rejection can trigger an intense emotional reaction that feels disproportionate to the situation. This response can spiral into a cycle of […]
I Thought I Was Protecting My Peace, But I Was Just Avoiding Conflict
“Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky, but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable.” ~Brené Brown If the title of this post gets under your skin, don’t worry, it gets under mine, too. I have a fierce aversion to conflict. That doesn’t mean […]
A Surgeon’s View: Navigating Healthcare as a Family Member
Source: DragonImages / @dragonimages The past few months have given me a deeply personal look into our healthcare system—from both the patient’s and the family’s perspectives. As a surgeon with over 20 years of experience, I am well aware of the challenges patients face: the frustration of long wait times, the stress of navigating a […]
Navigating a Nation on Edge: Resilience Amid High Stress
Even in what might seem a “mild” season of forest fires, the air feels charged, as though we’re walking on smoldering embers. Tensions are high—both within us and in the world around us. Fuses are short, demands pressing, tempers flaring, and even the sincerest apologies often seem to fall flat. We are living through a […]
Silent Storms: How Mindfulness Helped Me Reclaim My Self-Worth
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn We often hear about storms as powerful forces of nature, but for many of us, the most intense storms are the silent ones—those we battle internally. For me, this storm took the shape of bullying. While I appeared to handle the daily […]
Research-Tested Ways to Preserve Democracy
Just days before the presidential election, U.S. political divisions are bitter and deep, and polarization seems like a permanent condition. But a new approach developed by UC Berkeley researchers shows strong promise as a way to ease suspicion and rebuild trust among voters on all sides, according to a mega-study released last week in the […]
The Brain’s Cholesterol Holds Promise for New Treatments
Before we discuss the exciting new discovery of cholesterol-based drugs, have you ever considered why your brain is white? It is because the brain synthesizes its own cholesterol through a process called de novo lipogenesis. The brain’s ability to produce cholesterol is essential because it cannot rely solely on cholesterol from the bloodstream due to […]