Blog
Good Grief: Before asking how to get over your grief, ask whether you should.
Sometimes people aren’t very understanding of the pain of grief. They can even be downright insensitive at times. One of the common insensitive phrase I’ve
Do Opioids Work For Chronic Pain?
The NPR program Fresh Air broadcast an interview earlier this week with New York Times reporter and author Barry Meier discussing his e-book A World
What’s love got to do with it? Arguments for the use of “love drugs” miss the point
“Oh what’s love got to do, got to do with it? What’s love but a second hand emotion.” ― Tina Turner, singer That spark gone
Ketamine for OCD, Too?
I’ve written in the past about the use of a pharmaceutical version of the drug ketamine (known as the party drug, “Special K”) in studies
What’s good for your garden may also be good for your relationship
“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex,the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.” ― Bill Mollison, Founder and director of the Permaculture Institute The other day
The Ecstasy and the Agony: Using MDMA to treat PTSD
My aunt alerted me to a recent New York Times article on the use of MDMA (known as the street drug Ecstasy) to treat posttraumatic
Chinese Finger Traps: What a Novelty Item Can Teach Us about Acceptance
Let’s start with the obvious. In most cases, human beings want to minimize pain and discomfort. This is doubly true for emotional pain. While some
Coping with the Winter Blues
I was recently interviewed for an article on coping with the “Winter Blues” in the Daily Muse, an online magazine. This brief article offers some
How to avoid jet lag while travelling
We’ve written a few posts in the past (#1, #2) about using light therapy to regulate your circadian rhythms. As a person who has a
Gender, sexuality, and other things that don’t belong in boxes
“I’ve always felt that sexuality is a really slippery thing. In this day and age, it tends to get categorized and labeled, and I think
Gratitude – It does a relationship good!
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ― Marcel Proust “She never appreciates all
“You’re trying to ‘squish out’ my kid”: Is it time to revise our gender boxes?
“Little boxes made of ticky tacky And they all look just the same” Little Boxes, by Malvina Reynolds Humans and categories Oh how we humans
Why antipsychotics should not be prescribed for anxiety
The Oregonian published an Op-Ed piece that my colleague Christeine Terry and I wrote. The article addresses the growing practice of off-label use of antipsychotic
ACT and body image difficulties: Maybe not liking your body isn’t the problem
“Why doesn’t anyone tell us that it’s normal to feel bad about our bodies?” What?!? It’s “normal” to feel badly about my body? No, that
Things to Know Before You Say “Go”
In a previous post, I wrote a bit about the growing exploration among researchers in the use of psychotherapy-related smartphone apps for anxiety. In more
Should I Be Using a Smartphone App for Anxiety Instead of Playing Angry Birds?
Recently, there’s been some press on the development of smartphone apps for mental health issues. I think this a very worthy area of pursuit. For
Book Review: OCD, A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed
Although OCD is commonly used to describe someone who is overly tidy, this stereotype doesn’t capture the common struggles of someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Perhaps
Problems with Pulling Your Hair or Picking at Your Skin?—Try a Little TLC
Have you ever heard of trichotillomania or the wonderful organization called the Trichotillomania Learning Center (TLC)? See below to learn more. What’s Trichotillomania? Trichotillomania—or “trich”