Trauma

Earlier this week I covered a new study that points to the disturbing effects (literally) of noise pollution in intensive care units. The second half of the article discussed several methods to reduce noise and their effectiveness. Read More

A few years ago, my friend Ally, who had a somewhat unwarranted confidence in my knowledge of Things Psychological, asked if I knew anything about EMDR; she had suffered some severe childhood trauma, and was thinking of trying it. "EMDR?" I asked, "Is that a new street drug?" I guess that showed her what I knew. Read More

"Standing isn't torture;. I stand in my office every day." According to some people, death threats, water-boarding or a little light physical abuse aren't torture either. Now a new study shows that in torture it's the context which matters, not whether one specific method is used or not. Bright lights and loud music in a nightclub are not the same as in a prison cell. Read More

Why am I always expecting to be taught a lesson? Why do I feel as if I will be punished into humility and gratitude event though I am busy filling my days with
being humble and grateful? Why do I think I'm not worth anything-- and that I deserve even less than nothing?

Whose praise and forgiveness am I searching for?

What voice do I need to hear? What voice can offer me redemption? Is it too easy to say that I'm scanning the airwaves, turning the dial on a sort of emotional short-wave radio, for my mother's particular speech? Read More

Eugene Drucker performs 100 times a year with the Grammy Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, of which he's a founding member. He's an active violin soloist, too. Yet away from the tuxedos and glittery ambience of high culture, Drucker reflected for long years on his father's experiences in 1930s Germany. The result was his first novel, The Savior. In our interview Drucker compared the two forms of self-expression...

  Read More

"The world is bracing for a pandemic." We've all heard that phrase lately. Jon Stewart ran a great show on that notion this week, showing how various news channels used the phrase "we're not trying to freak you out" while they were all the while trying to freak the hell out of us.

Should we be freaked out? Read More

At the age of 23, Jennifer Brunner was diagnosed with a rare form of pediatric cancer and, in her words, won the “crap lotto.” Her creativity began as therapy, but in the end became art, allegory, and, ultimately, a story to inspire all who confront mortality.  It’s a testimony to what makes us whole, even when we are fractured and broken. Read More

All this was a long time ago
There was a man, a force to yield
In sullied frame;
He was not taught of fear
Or wrong;
No one dared to imitate
His natural vices.
He had a mind
Ruthless and untamed,
Received many wounds
Outstripped death;
He was impervious to innocence
Deep-rooted in time,
His deliberate unhappiness-
Perversely joyful- Read More

In the beginning was the Deed
The time was slain
Irrevocably, and
Framed for the convenance
All desecrations were rendered sinless
God was pregnant
I remember yet
More than all of these Read More