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Need a pep talk? What about one from a kindergartener? There's a hotline for that.

Nearly one percent of adults in the United States has a severe gambling disorder. You are not alone. Please read this candid letter about problem gambling, to a problem gambler.

A trigger sometimes referred to as a stressor, is an action or situation that can lead to an adverse emotional reaction. In the context of mental illness, referring to triggers usually means something that has brought on or worsened symptoms. In the ongoing dialogue about mental health, we don’t talk enough about triggers. Most often, the discussion focuses on what happens after a person has been triggered, which is when the situation is much harder to address. Understanding, identifying, and working to prevent triggers can be more empowering and effective.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about W.E.B. DuBois’s short story “The Comet.” DuBois came up with the concept of “double consciousness” to describe the distinctive African American experience of living alongside and outside the dominant white U.S. culture...read more

A few weeks ago, the American Girl catalog landed in our mailbox. My nine-year-old was excited to see it (as always), and she grew even more excited as she flipped through and found a two-page spread with the heading “Tradition Keepers.” Here were six American Girl Dolls dressed in their holiday finest. Only one of them was wearing a Christmas dress. The other dolls wore fancy outfits to celebrate the Lunar New Year, Eid al-Fitr, Diwali, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. For my daughter, who struggles this time of year as the only Jewish child in her school, that photo spread was meaningful. She saw herself alongside these other “American Girls.” She is unique perhaps in her community, but these images tell her she belongs. More...

The holidays can be especially challenging if you are dealing with the death of someone close to you. Whether it was a recent loss or one that occurred some time ago, feelings of grief can be heightened. This is a time for traditions and togetherness, but the ways in which we gather and celebrate have changed. Understanding how grief affects you, talking about holiday plans with those close to you, and remembering your loved ones can help.

Internet and email scams are an everyday occurrence. During the holidays, we may let our guard down with the busyness of the season, our desire for a ‘good deal,’ or our desire to be more charitable. This is a good time to review internet safety.

I recently read a research article published in 2011[i]. It talked about how prejudice comes from a deep psychological need to categorize our environment in order to remove uncertainty. Not just about situations and events but also about the people we meet.

In 2010, I ate Thanksgiving dinner at Plymouth, the place where the original “Thanksgiving” took place in 1621. A living history museum at this site features costumed Pilgrims explaining to tourists how they ate, slept, and farmed. Recently, the museum renamed itself “Plimoth Patuxet” to recognize both the colonial settlement the English Pilgrims founded in 1820 and the name given to this place by the Wampanoag nation, the “People of the First Light” who have lived there for 12,000 years.

The concept of credit can be complicated. People sometimes confuse the words debt and credit because they both have to do with borrowing money. A simplified way to tell them apart is to think of credit as the ability to borrow money and repay it later, while debt is the money you already owe or have to repay.