Prying Questions

As the holiday season begins family gatherings, work parties, annual reunions, and other gatherings provide opportunities for…

Small Talk, Big Talk, Mid Talk

Some people really hate small talk and will go out of their way to avoid it: leaving work early or late…

Hangry, hanxious, and had

By now most people know the portmanteau word hangry: the combination of “hungry” and “angry” that describes how…

How to Stop Feeling Guilty

As I often comment to my patients, guilt is a strange emotion. One can feel guilty for no good reason at all…

Entitlement/Need/Deprivation

What makes some people take or ask for more than they are entitled to? In his paper on people who act like “exceptions,” Freud quotes from Shakespeare’s Richard III. Richard is usually portrayed as hunchbacked (kyphotic). In the opening of the play, alone on stage, Richard…

Goodbyes and Badbyes

Or say that the end precedes the beginning,
 And the end and the beginning were always there
 Before the beginning and…

The Really Fundamental Attribution Error

The concept of the Fundamental Attribution Error is one of the cornerstones of social…

Ikea, Marie Kondo, and the life changing magic of empathy

Texting: Tennis or Post Cards

Texting is one of those tools that most definitely has a double-edge. It offers fast and convenient communication at little (apparent) cost. Some of the (many) problems that people encounter with texting involve getting stuck in texting exchanges that bounce back and forth…

Giving and Receiving

It’s a commonplace of Western thinking and morality that it is “better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). At this time of year, great importance is placed on the giving of gifts. Whole material industries of gift giving have arisen and corresponding social industries commenting on…