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Understanding Compulsive Shopping

 by Katherine Todd     I have always loved to shop. I shop in order to relax from a long, stressful day. So, how does casual, relaxing shopping turn into an uncontrollable impulse that damages your personal, professional, and financial well being? Compulsive shopping is defined as an uncontrollable and impulsive urge to shop. It… Read more »

The Intersection of Health and Justice: Views from the Bench

There are few intersections that exist in the world of programs, policies, and disciplines. But when they do meet, they form an eclipse; a blinding phenomenon of worlds colliding. Such an interaction is rare, fascinating, and eternally life changing not only for the immediate players, but also for all who are impacted by its influence…. Read more »

Taking Control of Your Happiness by Debunking Misconceptions About What Happiness Is

              Let’s face it; with the expectation that society holds for near perfection, it is easy to get trapped in thoughts of self-doubt, agonizing fear, and sheer exhaustion from the day-to-day issues and errands we must conquer.  How many of us halt our anxious thoughts and replace them with… Read more »

How To Be Assertive While Keeping A Kind Heart

A friend doesn’t return your email. You wonder if she is angry with you but don’t know what to do about it. Your sister asks you to take care of her children for a long weekend, and although you dread the thought, you don’t want to let her down. Your boss asks you to take… Read more »

A Traumatized Nation

In the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut massacre, we take pause and try to make sense of a senseless act. Unfortunately, mass murder has become all too frequent in recent years. A report by Mother Jones showed, “since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country, with… Read more »

Fame is a Dangerous Drug: A phenomenological glimpse of celebrity

Fame is a dangerous drug. I should know. I wrote the book on it — or, rather, the book chapter. That chapter, “Ready for the Close-up: Celebrity experience and the phenomenology of fame,” describes the dead-end cycle of fame’s merry-go-round through first-hand reports of celebrity experience in the book Film and Television Stardom. As was… Read more »

Teaching Right From Wrong

I recently struggled with this question when my dog became ill with cancer.  She was a loving 9-year-old black Labrador retriever who slept in my daughter’s bed and greeted us cheerfully whenever we came into her line of sight.  She started sneezing one day.  Over time the sneeze was an indication that there was something… Read more »

Working Behind the Wall: Mental Health of Correctional-Based Staff

When we think of incarceration, we think about people sentenced to prison. Perhaps we think of those in jail awaiting trial or serving a short sentence. When we think of reentry, the act of person’s returning home from prison, we think about sentenced people coming home. When we think about prison – we think of… Read more »

I Never Gave Up on My Dream

I never gave up on my dream. That is the key. All it took was the persistence to never give up. Early on in my life I thought of myself as a journalist and creative writer, but after college I settled for something more practical – technical writing and editing in the aerospace industry. And… Read more »

7 Ways to Stop Violence at Every Age

Violence, youth violence, PTSD

Understanding, preventing, and effectively treating violence Seeing an image of a violent adult, it’s hard to imagine the innocent baby they once were. Is there such thing as being born violent? Are there really “bad seeds” when it comes to a human life? Like so many qualities, violence involves a real interaction between genetics and… Read more »