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Anesthesiologist Maire Daugharty, who expanded her expertise by earning a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, discusses her article “Why ADHD isn’t just a childhood disorder and what that means for …
Why ADHD in adults is often missed—and why it matters [PODCAST]
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Licensed clinical psychologist and health care ethicist Jenny Shields discusses her article, “DSM-5 doesn’t name it, but moral distress is everywhere in medicine.” Jenny illuminates the pervasive issue of moral distress among …
Understanding the ethical injury of moral distress in clinicians [PODCAST]
What is the purpose of psychotherapy? What are the goals?
Psychotherapy is a talking process between a patient and a psychotherapist that involves looking at feelings, behaviors, impulses, and thoughts through a process of self-reflection. The purpose of psychotherapy is to explore life patterns and to learn what works and what gets in the way of feeling successful and fulfilled. The goals are to reach one’s fullest potential. This is done …
Why real growth in psychotherapy takes time, courage, and teamwork
Administrative violence in medicine is often understood as harm to patients due to systemic issues; however, administrative violence in medicine is also a process used to inflict harm on physicians, destabilizing the medical field on both systemic and individual levels. While much attention is given to how institutions and governments perpetuate administrative violence, it can also be enacted by individuals toward individual physicians with great harm, particularly by other physicians …
The hidden war on doctors: Understanding administrative violence
I remember the first time I was shamed for asking a question. It was during my OB/GYN clinical rotation in PA school. I asked my attending physician something about a patient, not out of laziness, but because I genuinely needed clarity. But instead of guiding me, he shut me down. “You should be doing your research. You should be telling me about the patient, not the other way around.” I …
How medical culture hides burnout in plain sight
Gaslighting manifests in many forms. The most common may be political fights involving the extreme positions on any controversial issue (e.g., gun control, abortion, immigration, you name it). One extreme faction claims they have the truth and blames the opposing extreme faction for the problems in our world. We see this every day in news reports. Those who have experienced gaslighting know that political fights involve gaslighting on steroids.
Another common …
Gaslighting and professional licensing: a call for reform
In medicine, we were taught to value humility over pride. To downplay our successes. To “just do our job.” Even as we achieve remarkable things, we rarely pause to acknowledge them, let alone celebrate.
Pride feels risky. Many physicians worry that being proud means being egotistical, self-important, or inconsiderate of others who may be struggling. We were trained to attribute our successes to the team, to luck, or hard work—never to …
Why so many physicians struggle to feel proud—even when they should
She whispered when she said “panic attacks.”
Not because she thought I would judge her or fail to understand. But because she was a physician, and in her world, saying the wrong thing to the wrong person could cost her everything.
She found me through a colleague of a colleague. No insurance, no documentation trail, no diagnostic codes, no third-party systems. She paid in cash. She never used her full name.
“If I …
“The medical board doesn’t know I exist. That’s the point.”
In medicine, we’ve long relied on the oxygen mask analogy to justify self-care: “Put your own mask on first before assisting others.” It’s a powerful image—but it’s not enough.
Oxygen masks drop in emergencies. Putting them on is a reactive action. They keep us alive—but they don’t help us thrive.
For many physicians, the oxygen mask has become the gold standard of wellness. In a culture that rewards self-sacrifice and martyrdom, “putting …
Why physicians deserve more than an oxygen mask
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Health care executive Traci Sweet discusses her article, “The role of contingency management in addiction treatment.” She makes a compelling case for the increased use of contingency management—an evidence-based approach utilizing positive …
Rethinking addiction treatment: contingency management and the future of recovery [PODCAST]
We were taught that sacrificing ourselves is noble. That resilience is enduring. And that suffering and struggling are valiant.
We were taught rest is optional, complacent, lazy—something for other, less busy, less important people.
We were also taught to see “self-care” as somewhat indulgent.
Self-care is often thought of as something earned. A guilty pleasure.
Even the words commonly used in medicine to describe caring for ourselves—”self-care”—sound indulgent.
“Caring for ourselves as well” is not …
Why self-care must become medicine’s new standard
Lose weight and you’ll be happy,
They say …
I wasn’t happy,
I was exhausted and depleted.
You’re so disciplined,
They say …
As I starved myself
And had to earn my food.
I wish I could have your problem,
They say …
Brainwashed into thinking,
Smaller is better.
How do you always eat so “healthy”?
They ask …
While my list of “safe” foods
Grows shorter and shorter.
As I dream of being free
And escaping the prison in my mind …
They wonder how to be …
How societal narratives trap us and how to escape
Here in the Midwest we have finally made it through the doldrums of winter, which also indicates the season that basketball fans eagerly anticipate all year: March Madness.
The annual National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) single-elimination basketball tournament inspires millions of folks to fill out brackets predicting the winners, myself included. I love sports for a multitude of reasons, and witnessing these young adults experiencing some of the best—and hardest—moments of …
From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness
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Practicing internist and psychiatrist Muhamad Aly Rifai discusses his article, “How America became overmedicated—and what we can do about it.” He raises concerns about the high rate of psychotropic medication use in …
Addressing America’s reliance on psychotropic medication [PODCAST]
The mental health crisis in America continues to intensify. With therapist shortages, high costs, and long waitlists, there are millions of people without access to therapy. As a cognitive scientist who analyzed therapy transcripts in grad school and now develops AI mental health applications, I’ve observed artificial intelligence emerging as a complementary solution to these accessibility challenges.
AI in mental health: a new frontier for therapy and support
Practicing medicine today is not what most of us envisioned when we chose it as a profession. We still love science. We still love health. We still love helping patients and being healers.
But the practice of medicine has changed—and continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. Navigating this shifting landscape requires a new mindset—one rooted in adaptability, self-awareness, and resilience. The way we were trained to practice medicine twenty or …
The broken health care system doesn’t have to break you
Since the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), when civil service exams evaluated intellectual abilities, people have used cognitive assessments to identify special talents or, more commonly, to detect problems.
We’ve come a long way in 2,000 years! Today, neuropsychological batteries—combinations of assessments to detect dementia, learning disabilities, and cognitive impairments from chronic conditions or acute events—are widely used. Yet, far too often, these assessments are administered reactively, only after severe deficits …
Make cognitive testing as routine as a blood pressure check
It is a routine Saturday morning—I am sitting in my office, looking at the snowflakes dropping outside my window. As I sip on my cup of Earl Grey tea preparing my psyche for a busy day of managing an on-call shift on an acute care psychiatry floor, I am suddenly washed over by grief. A very similar Saturday a year ago, I was saying goodbye to my father as he …
How grief transformed a psychiatrist’s approach to patient care
In his book Ways of Attending, McGilchrist (2016) discusses a difference in attention—one that seeks organization and one that any attempt at organizing subverts. A bit like Schrödinger’s cat, just by looking, it is disturbed. In differing translations of Tranströmer’s poem Prelude from 17 Dikter (1954), about the moment upon wakening from a dream, he captures the infinite possibility that slides one fully awake into a new day, and which …
Why your emotions are your greatest compass in therapy and life
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Anesthesiologist and psychotherapist Maire Daugharty discusses her article, “Why real therapy isn’t just about crisis.” She challenges the common misconception that therapy is only necessary or effective during acute crises (“crisis-hopping”), explaining …
Understanding therapy beyond crisis management [PODCAST]
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