Navigating the Serpentine Path

Anxiety

Existential Distress Is Real and Increasingly Common

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 30, 2026

A growing research base is catching up to a kind of suffering that mainstream mental health discourse often misses.

A growing research base is catching up to a kind of suffering that mainstream mental health discourse often misses.

Chronic Illness

When Life Stops, but Only for You

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 23, 2026

Serious illness doesn't just disrupt the body; it disrupts the self.

Serious illness doesn't just disrupt the body; it disrupts the self.

Therapy

Existential Therapy Is More than Philosophy—And It Works

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 22, 2026

A landmark review of the evidence confirms that engaging life's deeper questions promotes healing.

A landmark review of the evidence confirms that engaging life's deeper questions promotes healing.

Trauma

When You Can't Picture Yourself in Your Own Future

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 16, 2026

The psychology behind feeling like you were never meant to make it this far.

The psychology behind feeling like you were never meant to make it this far.

Hedonic Treadmill

Why You Feel Empty After Achieving Your Goals

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 15, 2026

What the arrival fallacy misses, and what the emptiness is trying to tell you...

What the arrival fallacy misses, and what the emptiness is trying to tell you...

Identity

What Is Your Quarter-Life Crisis Trying to Tell You?

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 14, 2026

What 14 research studies say about why young adults can struggle.

What 14 research studies say about why young adults can struggle.

Authenticity

The Unlived Life: Jung's Most Haunting Concept

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 9, 2026

The unlived life: What it means, why it matters, and what to do when yours starts knocking.

The unlived life: What it means, why it matters, and what to do when yours starts knocking.

Authenticity

How to Survive an Existential Vacuum

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on April 4, 2026

When life stops making sense, something important is asking to be heard.

When life stops making sense, something important is asking to be heard.

Attachment

Religious Trauma, Attachment, and Leaving Faith

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on March 24, 2026

How faith functions as an attachment system, and what happens when it dissolves.

How faith functions as an attachment system, and what happens when it dissolves.

Therapy

Therapists Are Not Okay Either

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on March 5, 2026

Many therapists leave work still carrying pieces of other people’s lives.

Many therapists leave work still carrying pieces of other people’s lives.

Therapy

The Bureaucratization of the Therapist

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on February 28, 2026

Personal Perspective: Institutional anxiety is quietly reshaping the therapeutic relationship.

Personal Perspective: Institutional anxiety is quietly reshaping the therapeutic relationship.

Therapy

Why Does Therapy Keep Reinventing Itself?

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on February 23, 2026

Psychotherapy evolves within broader cultural and intellectual traditions, continually reinterpreting enduring human questions.

Psychotherapy evolves within broader cultural and intellectual traditions, continually reinterpreting enduring human questions.

Attachment

Nothing Is Riskier Than Love

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on February 11, 2026

An attachment-based view of love and intimacy.

An attachment-based view of love and intimacy.

Attachment

Why Are We Failing at Endings?

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on February 3, 2026

Attachment, biology, and the difficulty of letting go.

Attachment, biology, and the difficulty of letting go.

Unconscious

The Psychology of the Collective Unconscious

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on January 16, 2026

How something ancient, unseen, and deeply human lives through us.

How something ancient, unseen, and deeply human lives through us.

Post-Traumatic Growth

Growth Is an Unlearning Process

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on January 9, 2026

Why growth isn’t about becoming more.

Why growth isn’t about becoming more.

Grief

When Love Refuses to End: The Mysterious Life of Grief

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on January 5, 2026

"Continuing Bonds 2.0" and the unseen dimensions of connection after loss.

"Continuing Bonds 2.0" and the unseen dimensions of connection after loss.

Fear

Why Feeling Lost Might Mean You’re Growing

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on October 16, 2025

The uncertainty you fear may be the way toward psychological growth.

The uncertainty you fear may be the way toward psychological growth.

Unconscious

The Living Threshold: It's Alive

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on September 25, 2025

There is a psychological space for the mysterious and fertile ground between what was and what is becoming.

There is a psychological space for the mysterious and fertile ground between what was and what is becoming.

Dreaming

In the Night, Grief Speaks: Understanding Grief Dreams

Mark Shelvock, RP, MACP, MA on June 27, 2025

Here's how to work with grief dreams in your personal life.

Here's how to work with grief dreams in your personal life.