What The Wild Things Are

Education

Will We Survive or Perish? (Part 2 of 2)

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on September 10, 2020

If the goal is a loving community, sustainability, and respect for all people and nature, then we must choose a path that includes all of us.

If the goal is a loving community, sustainability, and respect for all people and nature, then we must choose a path that includes all of us.

Trauma

Will We Survive or Perish?

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on September 10, 2020

The only way forward is with each other.

The only way forward is with each other.

Fear

Why Do We Have Rampant Pandemic Denial?

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on September 3, 2020

We insist that disability and death is something that happens to others, not us.

We insist that disability and death is something that happens to others, not us.

Health

Unseen Victims of the Pandemic

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on July 4, 2020

In the United States, our incarceration rate is the highest in the world. What is happening to all those people during the pandemic?

In the United States, our incarceration rate is the highest in the world. What is happening to all those people during the pandemic?

How do we cope when the rhythm of yesterday has become a bunch of questions of today? We return to our values and passions.

Relationships

All in Good Time

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on March 8, 2020

Time is a precious resource: Spend it well. It’s up to you to decide what that looks like.

Time is a precious resource: Spend it well. It’s up to you to decide what that looks like.

Anxiety

Life's Great Contradiction

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on February 20, 2020

We long to feel safe, but following one’s heart is often filled with risk, contradiction, and loss.

We long to feel safe, but following one’s heart is often filled with risk, contradiction, and loss.

We all have ways we try to avoid the discomfort of this human experience. What happens if we show up instead?

Forgiveness

Self Atonement: Showing Up for Our Own Life

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on October 14, 2019

In the Torah, when Jonah was called to head east and be a prophet, instead of listening he fled in the opposite direction.

In the Torah, when Jonah was called to head east and be a prophet, instead of listening he fled in the opposite direction.

Relationships

Lessons from Splitsville

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on August 16, 2019

There isn't any reason long-term co-parenting relationships can't be as wonderful as post-divorce unions. Here are some lessons from those who are trying a second time.

There isn't any reason long-term co-parenting relationships can't be as wonderful as post-divorce unions. Here are some lessons from those who are trying a second time.

What if we didn't enter a relationship from a place of need, but instead from a desire for discovery?

Therapy

Why I Kidnapped My Daughter

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on April 8, 2019

Guest writer Simone Silver hired someone to kidnap her daughter. It was one of the best (and most difficult) decisions she has made as a parent.

Guest writer Simone Silver hired someone to kidnap her daughter. It was one of the best (and most difficult) decisions she has made as a parent.

We create partnership and companionship. We fall in love. And we do so in the face of inevitable loss, aloneness, grief, and emptiness.

True dialogue between us, whether between individuals, groups, cultures, or countries, is one of the only things that actually leads to that desired change.

Child Development

Toxic Masculinity: What Is It and How Do We Change It?

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on October 2, 2018

To really recover from toxic masculinity, one must admit that they are sick. I had to admit that I was very sick, then I had to do the work to get well.

To really recover from toxic masculinity, one must admit that they are sick. I had to admit that I was very sick, then I had to do the work to get well.

Could kink give us understanding and a way to play with choice, surrender, power, and empowerment and even create avenues for healing from trauma?

Six years ago a woman accused me of rape.

Relationships

Love Without a Future

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on October 25, 2017

What if we spent our effort getting to know, deeply, who this other person is and what their life is about, and love was about supporting that, even if it takes them away from us?

What if we spent our effort getting to know, deeply, who this other person is and what their life is about, and love was about supporting that, even if it takes them away from us?

It is so important at times like these to step back and think about how people come to the point of acting out in hate against one another.

Relationships

I Still Don't Feel Loved/Connected/Cared About!

Samantha Stein Psy.D. on August 30, 2017

One of the biggest issues to plague the couples I see in my practice is the tension between what is happening and what is wanted.

One of the biggest issues to plague the couples I see in my practice is the tension between what is happening and what is wanted.