An op-ed I wrote for the New York Times discusses how a new government policy to cut costs at the expense of patient education is likely to result in poor health outcomes and increased costs. Read More

Many aspects of prom work against the development of healthy sexuality in young people, but this doesn't have to be the case. Read More

In 1825, the French physician Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud published a book and a journal article documenting brain-damaged patients who had lesions in their frontal lobes and who'd lost the ability speak, often with no other obvious impairment. Read More

Many women suffer sexual pain, chronic genital pain independent of lovemaking, and/or pain during sex. Read More

Do you find your spouse controlling, but not intimate? Is she too easily angered after sex or avoids it altogether? Does he hold back while devoting all his warmth to the kids? Are you living like room mates, without the sweet softness of devoted lovers? Read More

The start of a panic disorder.             Back when I developed a panic disorder, the striking symptom I had was not called a panic attack; it was called an anxiety attack. I was in a classroom when it struck. I thought I was going to lose control of myself and yell something out loud. Read More

           In order to recover from an agoraphobia and panic disorder, only two things need to be learned:You can never really be trapped in a restaurant, waiting on line, in church, or even in an elevator or an airplane.No matter how bad a panic attack gets, you will not lose control of yourself and do something dangerous or embarrassing. Read More

Owning up to the “good-bye” that is built in to our finite human existing makes possible the saying of an authentic “Hello!” Read More

My wife put our daughter to bed, brushed her teeth, and freshened up before bed. Slipping under the covers, we exchanged glances and knew it was time to do what comes naturally for a couple on a warm night in Silicon Valley. We began to lovingly caress--but not each other, of course. She began to fondle her cell phone, while I tenderly stroked the screen of my iPad. Read More

Recently, I noticed that my kids are entering adulthood just as I'm leaving it. My friend Lisa asked me where I am going, and to tell her the truth — I'm not exactly sure. But what I do believe, is something Deepak Chopra also believes: Change and transformation is your birth right. Read More

Every year around this time, department store dressing rooms echo with the disgruntled sighs of women trying on swimwear. Armed with at least a half dozen spandex garments of various shapes, sizes and colors, nothing can morph a mature woman into an awkward adolescent like a full length, 3-sided mirror. Read More

Uber-pragmatic, super psych-savvy and totally readable economist Robert H. Frank takes a brilliant whack at what's wrong, what's right and how to save ourselves from ourselves. Read More

Below the belt tactics? Wonder of wonders that our partner or family member doesn’t seem to appreciate our feedback. Read More

Sigmund Freud, who famously and perhaps peevishly, asked the question, "What does a woman want?" might be surprised to know what a Vroomgirl wants. Of course, Freud never met a Vroomie, nor ever imagined such a thing. Read More

Sometimes we really need to specify what we are looking for in a mate before we meet The One. Here are guidelines on writing a list of what you are looking for in a partner. Read More

On Sunday nights, I play in the horn section of a blues band. Each week, musicians come from all over town to play with us. So, over the course of the night, I get many opportunities to hear people play solos on a variety of instruments. And sometimes, I am just blown away by the quality and creativity of people’s solos. Read More

Synesthete and researcher Dr. Christine Simmonds-Moore is pioneering a brave new frontier in synesthesia research — its connection to anomalous experiences. Read More

We social human animals depend on our tribes for survival. Our instinct to help preserve the tribe, and remain a safe member in good standing, shapes our views and easily overrides reason and morality. Read More

For Angelique Lee, her dog Finn’s passing was a transformative event, one that imbued in her the gift of emotional attunement, an unconscious “Spidey sense” for dogs in trouble. (That's Finn in the photo.) Read More

Who was the other Eve? What does she reveal about femininity? Read More

Recently, James Hansen, noted scientist with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times that development of tar sands as proposed in Canada would propel us onto an inexorable course of global warming that would be disastrous both ecologically and financially. Read More

Last September, as the Occupy demonstrations were picking up steam in lower Manhattan, I found myself struggling with a distinctly different set of problems. Principles of Economics had become the most popular course on campus, and economics the most popular major. Were students pouring in because of the failures of our economy, or despite them? Read More

Our fears of mortality can leave us with an urge to retreat from life. Yet, this knowledge has the power to do just the opposite, to inspire us to live life full steam ahead, pursuing our most meaningful goals, staying close to our loved ones, and living with integrity, self-esteem, and purpose. Read More

When talking about systems of addiction or compulsive dependence, one of the greatest obstacles to recovery is overconfidence. Read More

It is often assumed, by legal and mental health professionals alike, that when divorcing parents are unable to come to an agreement in regard to parenting arrangements for their children, and remain locked in high conflict, shared parenting is contraindicated. Read More

Vinny was loud and caustic; a stand-up comic who, as he boasted, “put his balls on the line” every night in front of total strangers. I would never have pegged him for an avoider, but in his first session I quickly realized he’d elevated it to a new level. Read More

Rick Steves travels a lot in Europe and is followed around by a camera crew. I travel alone with a Nikon in my bag. Visiting Italy for a teaching gig raises a stream of psychological issues—most of them pleasant. Read More

The fact is, we don't have "humility" seminars to bone up on self-effacement. I have yet to hear of a company bringing in a consultant at a zillion dollars a day to teach the employees to blush at a mention of the institution's success. Read More

“Illuminating the Obesity Epidemic With Mathematics” is the title of a new paper by Dr. Carson Chow. A recent New York Times article captures Chow’s conclusions succinctly, “There’s no magic bullet on this.” So, what does it take? Read More

Firing people won't do any good. The social war games are already on. Read More