$5,000 Bribes to Vote and Their Roots in Literature
On September 9, 2026, President Donald John Trump offered the American public yet another bribe. He promised that the federal government would pay each adult $5,000 if Republicans were elected to majorities in the U.S. House and Senate. This is on top of the...
New York Times Podcast: “What Autocrats Have in Common with Abusers”
When I was recruited to write a chapter for “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” in 2017 I knew my approach would be very different from the other writers, all esteemed and established mental health professionals. They generally wrote chapters consistent with a...
Self-honesty is THE Key to Accountability and Personal Growth
Being honest with yourself is the key to accountability and personal growth. Self-honesty and being able to hear the truth from yourself or other people is the real goal of personal growth and psychotherapy. Without this skill of honesty, self-awareness isn't...
Understanding Narcissistic Family Systems In Your Life and Our Politics
This video by Matthew Cooke draws the same comparisons I’ve drawn between family systems of narcissistic abuse and societal levels of authoritarianism such as the Trump/Vance/MAGA regime. My understanding of narcissism and narcissistic family systems was why I — can...
How to Reclaim Your Attention
This thorough article on Psyche on How to Reclaim Your Attention is for those who struggle with distractibility, poor focus and low productivity. As someone who began my adult life with manual typewriters and landline phones, I've watched the digital age be born and...
In Praise of Indignation: Trusting Our Moral Emotions in Relationships and Politics
In a special edition of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology in 2020 I wrote about the emotion of indignation — a primal, moral emotion that tells us our anger is due to feeling we or others are being harmed, demeaned or treated unjustly. It is a protective emotion that we should not ignore in personal relationships or in the current political climate, with the Trump administration behaving in amoral ways, shooting citizens, violating constitutional rights, and ignoring laws.
2017 Prediction: Trump will destroy everything; 2026: It’s Coming True!
This meme summarizes some of what I wrote about in The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump in early 2017. That book when on to become a #1 bestseller because at that time so many people were trying to make sense of this deeply troubled person who had surprisingly (with...
How Narcissists Sow Self-Doubt in Victims and How to Gain Self-Trust
Narcissists sow self-doubt in victims through gaslighting, lying, hypocrisy, changing the rules, and verbal abuse. Learn how to gain self-trust through listening to your emotions, journaling, meditation, and valuing your own values.
Review of “Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life” by Dacher Keltner
Standing on a Vermont hillside watching the total solar eclipse was the purest experience of awe that I can recall having. As the moon slid slowly in front of the sun, it made concrete the fact that earth is not some solid, sedentary rock, but a ball flying through a...
Arthur C. Brooks: The Bliss of a Quieter Ego
I’m sharing an excellent article from Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic. Here is the link, but it is behind a paywall for subscribers. I completely agree with Brooks as this is the process I worked on in my personal development many years ago — decreasing an unhealthy...