What The Wild Things Are

Understandings of Self, Awareness, and Mental Health in an Ever-Changing World

Samantha Smithstein Psy.D.

All in Good Time

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

Life's Great Contradiction

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

Sobriety's Rewards

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

Self Atonement: Showing Up for Our Own Life

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

Lessons from Splitsville

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.

The Deepest Intimacy

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

Why I Kidnapped My Daughter

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.

The Grief of Love

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

Let's Talk (About Change)

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

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

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.

Power Play

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

What's Truly Hot: Desire and Consent

Six years ago a woman accused me of rape.

Love Without a Future

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?

Are Others a Threat or a Benefit?

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.

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

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.

The Ordinary Courage of Being Our Selves

If we want to live full, rich lives, we must take the risk to override the shame and to be fully in relationship with others and the word.

The Unexpected Gifts of Desire

What can we learn if we don't automatically act to fulfill an urge or longing?

Diagnoses: Harmful or Helpful?

Mental illness can tell us what's wrong with a person, with parenting, with a culture, and with society. It's bio/psycho/social. Let's learn fully about ourselves from it.

The Gender Revolution Is Here

The take-down of black-and-white thinking about what it means to be a human being and liberates us all.

Poetry In a Time of Crisis

Poetry is a place where we can preserve our imaginations, as well as necessary silence.

In the Face of Fear Is Love Possible?

An activist explains why it's a challenge to approach solutions from a place of openness and love in the aftermath of the election.

A Man’s ABCs of Miscarriage

Miscarriage is a real and painful loss for the father-to-be as well.

Fight or Grow

Moments of hurt or anger with your partner can become opportunities to heal, grow, and develop intimacy.

Moments of Grace

Moments of grace have nothing to do with us… but also do have a lot to do with us.

Stop, Drop, and Panic

As someone that has always appeared calm on the outside, while internally choking on my panic on the inside, I knew that my story was just absurd enough.

Honesty Isn't Enough

The intersection of authenticity and empathy: Sometimes too much of a good thing can become a bad thing.

Being With What Is

We all have the task of knowing ourselves as deeply as we can, and then manifesting that self as fully as possible in the world.

As My Kids Graduate, I Do Too

My kids have graduated high school, which means I've been handed a pink slip for the best job I've ever had.

What Does It Mean to Do "God's Work"?

What's more important than simply enjoying our job or being good at it?

Can't I Just Say "I'm Sorry" and We Can Move On?

The question is not if we will hurt others, because we all will. The question is what we should do when it happens.

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