First Person

Creative personal essays on life and family
Article October 10, 2022

Sweet Surrender

Ice Cream, Fatherhood, and the Meaning of Life

A tale about fatherhood and the pleasures of ice cream. Read more

Article September 14, 2022

Unhappy Campers

When a Guys’ Weekend Goes South

A nightmare camping trip exposes the limits—and possibilities—of male bonding. Read more

Article September 14, 2022

Laughing with Big Mama

How to Discover the Wise Guide Within You

A grandmother’s indelible spirit inspires a therapy practice. Read more

Article September 14, 2022

Colliding into 70

Don’t Send Me a Sympathy Card!

Getting old is hard. But sometimes, as the body becomes more vulnerable, the spirit becomes fiercer. Read more

Article September 14, 2022

"You're a Moron"

An Angry Client Embraces Therapy at 92

At 92, a pugnacious client discovers that it’s never too late to change. Read more

Article July 27, 2022

Wartime Trauma Treatment

Reflections from a Therapist Treating Ukrainian Survivors

A therapist specializing in trauma treatment in the wake of human-made and natural disasters shares what she's seeing in her work with survivors of the war in... Read more

Article July 27, 2022

Cutting the Cord

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Getting Unstuck

According to psychoanalysis, we all carry an imago—an image of our parents inside of us. But what do you do when the negative, traumatic, or unconscious... Read more

Article July 13, 2022

The weight of whether to put a child in a group home. Read more

Article July 13, 2022

A Therapist Confronts Cancer

Finding a Way through the Abyss

No one can prevent the horrors of cancer, but processing this particular experience of loss with a therapist who's been through it may stave off the trauma of... Read more

Article July 8, 2022

Attachment Grief

Living with the Loss of a Child

For someone who has survived the death of their child, describing grief as a journey perpetuates the myth that, eventually, there’s an end point. Read more

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