The Joy of Giving

Why altruism and generosity make us healthier and happier-and how we can all give more.

by Stephen G. Post

Helping Other Alcoholics Helps the Helper

In the Fall of 1990 Bill Wilson made Life’s list of the “100 most important Americans of the 20th Century” for his efforts, along with Akron’s Dr. Bob Smith, in establishing Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1935. Why do you think AA and its Twelve Steps work for alcoholics in recovery?

The Twelve Steps are as follows: Read More

A Holiday Message for America and Wall Street in Hard Times

Many people in America will be celebrating the holidays a little more simply than in past years, for these are hard times. But there is a way through these times, and it holds promise for everyone. Read More

Doing Good for Others this Holiday Season

Ebenezer Scrooge begins with a "Bah humbug!" He is both miserly and miserable. As the story unfolds, he eventually discovers the "givers glow," as I like to term it. He is dancing on the streets in the enduring joy of his new found generosity of heart. A glow stick is a translucent plastic tube containing substances that when combined make light through a chemical reaction. Read More

Compassionate Medical Care Benefits Professionals, Patients, Students and the Bottom Line

Compassion in health care benefits professionals, students, patients and the bottom line. What's not to like about it? Read More

Good Things Don't Always Happen to Good People, But It's Still Good to be Good!

Imagine being ill, or having a major accident that leaves you in a wheel chair for life. Some really caring physician, nurse, social worker, or pastor is able to connect such that you feel that your happiness and security mean a great deal to that person. This feeling is a bit like floating in a warm pool. Read More

The Fragility and Distortions of Our Love of Neighbor

The sources of our love for others are unstable aspects of human nature, and often overwhelmed. And yes, there are forms of giving and helping that are unhealthy. We need not overstate these things, or become skeptics, but we need to acknowledge them. Read More

How Wise It Is: Volunteer to Stay in Touch With the Joy of Giving When You Have Been Uprooted

We can be anywhere, so long as we are helping others and caring for the,. This is probably the one source of stability in our lives that we can truly depend on, and so in the end we are never really out of place. Read More

BIG MOVES - Adjusting to New Places Through Helping Others

Sometimes we do not realize how challenging big moves from one part of the country to another can be. Loss of job and place are two of the three big stressors in life, and it can take a couple of years to fully adjust. We practices a lot of volunteerism and helping activity, and that made all the difference. New York is sure different than good old Cleveland! Read More

A Statement on Happiness

In the summer of 2008, we moved to Setauket, New York, up along the North Shore of Long Island. In the village of Setauket sits a lovely park dedicated to the memory of Frank Melville, Jr. (1850-1935). Inscribed in the park's stone bridge over a pond is a poem: Read More

It's Good to Be Good

Over the centuries spiritual and moral thinkers have prescribed ways of living that lead to greater happiness over the course of a lifetime, and the best of them from Socrates to Buddha, from Jesus to Maimonides, have powerfully lived out what they taught. The goal of a good life, they agreed, is a deep happiness consistent with simplicity, integrity, and a profound generosity. Read More

Updating the Helper Therapy Principle

The therapeutic benefits of helping others have long been recognized by everyday people. This concept was first formalized in a highly cited and often reprinted article by Frank Riessman that appeared in 1965 in Social Work. Read More

The Joy of Giving: Caring for Volunteers

Not every volunteer experiences a helper's high, but many could if they were better managed. A new professional group, volunteer managers, has emerged over the last decade as more and more institutions rely heavily on large numbers of volunteer helpers. Many managers have training in counseling, and they are asking the right questions. Read More

Stephen G. Post, Ph.D., is Professor of Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University, and Director of the Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care, and Bioethics. more...