Kanye for President?? Kanye West has been in the news lately. He suddenly decided to run for president in 2020 and he held a rally in North Carolina during which he behaved very strangely, saying some extremely inappropriate things. Shortly after this, his wife, Kim Kardashian, wrote a letter, asking for empathy and compassion from […]
Why school is so important for kids: Children have been out of school for several months now and for the most part, they’ve been separated from their friends and their extended families. Doctors are now describing “skyrocketing rates of anxiety and depression” among school-aged children, and one reason is the lack of social interactions with […]
Masks mandated in Toronto indoor public spaces: Toronto has just mandated wearing a mask in all indoor public spaces, and yet, people are balking at this new rule. What is it that makes some citizens willing to follow these guidelines and others totally unwilling to do so? I think that there’s a psychology to mask […]
The Police and Mental Health in the News Lately the news have been filled with stories about police-related shootings of mentally ill people in Canada and in the US. Earlier in my career I worked in New York City and these recent shootings reminded me of an experience I had there, working with the dangerously […]
Jessica vs. Sasha I’ve been following the story of Jessica Mulroney and Sasha Exeter. To recap the story, it seems that Ms. Exeter, a Black social media influencer, had posted a general call to action on her Instagram story for influential individuals to use their platforms to support the Black Lives Matter movement. Apparently, Ms. […]
Negativity Bias and the Meta Experience: I just had an uncanny experience: a recent radio interview went all Meta on me. I was speaking to the host, Devon Peacock, about negativity bias – our tendency to focus on the negative over the positive – and suddenly, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember a […]
Covid Magnifies Your Stress: So, you’re at your wit’s end. The four walls are closing in, your kids are starting to drive you crazy, you’re losing patience with your spouse; your finances are in a shambles and you can’t find a moment of peace to be by yourself. Or, maybe you’re living alone and you’re […]
We’re all feeling stressed, scared and lonely these days, but the one advantage of all the quiet time at home is that we have an amazing opportunity to reflect on ourselves and our lives and make some meaningful adjustments to the way we think and the way we do things. In Part One of this […]
It’s 2020 and even though we’re all dealing with the horrors of Covid-19, including the illness and loss of loved ones, the hardships of social distancing and the ongoing economic uncertainty, life still goes on and right now, we need all the skills we can get. In these ever more challenging times it doesn’t hurt […]
Is it sadness, or depression? These days, many of us are having strong emotional reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic. In these painful and uncertain times, it’s understandable to feel scared, sad, upset, or irritable. Some of us are having trouble sleeping or we’re having crazy dreams when we finally do fall asleep. Some of us […]
