What If Friendship, Not Marriage, Was at the Center of Life?
“Our boyfriends, our significant others, and our husbands are supposed to be No. 1. Our worlds are backward.”
The Friendship Files
What a Simple Haiku Can Do for a Friendship
“I get a glimmer as to what she’s feeling right then, and it also gives me a way to share how I’m feeling with her.”
Here Comes the COVID-19 Baby Bust
The U.S. could have hundreds of thousands of fewer births next year than it would have in the absence of a pandemic.
Can Children Be Persuaded to Love a Parent They Hate?
When one parent in a divorce has worked to prejudice the kids against the other parent, the last-ditch solution for some judges is to send the children to “reunification camp” with the mom or dad they can’t stand.
Dear Therapist: My Parents Won’t Let Me Tell My Brother I’m Gay
How can I be open and honest with him when he doesn’t know who I am?
To Die in the Time of Pestilence
Watching my wife wither away had been hard enough. Then the pandemic hit.
Sedentary Pandemic Life Is Bad for Our Happiness
The times when we most want comfort and rest may paradoxically be the times we most need to move, for the sake of our well-being.
The Last Children of Down Syndrome
Prenatal testing is changing who gets born and who doesn’t. This is just the beginning.
It’s Not Stealing. It’s Acquiring.
Inside the heads of people who borrow things from friends and never return them
Dear Therapist: I’m Shattered by My Husband’s Sexts
They’re many years old, but they’ve totally upended my world.
What We Miss When We’re Masked
There’s a reason people say “It’s so good to see your face!” and not “It’s so good to see your elbows!”
Dear Therapist: I Had a Great Relationship With My In-Laws. Then Everything Changed.
They are judging me for not being a good mom, for not having a job, and for not losing my pregnancy weight fast enough.
How to Cope With Election Agony
In presidential elections, the happiness losers lose more than the winners win.
It’s Been 1,000 Years Since 2016
Like some stressful quadrennial birthday, elections prompt us to think about where we’ve been and where we’re headed, both personally and as a country.
Dear Therapist: Should I Just Accept That My Relationship With My Mom Is Beyond Repair?
I’m getting married, and I want her to be a part of my life.
I Wouldn’t Have My Son Without the Help of a Trump Superfan
Both versions of Reg are real—the one tolerant enough to see that we are worthy of raising his great-nephew, and the one who seriously thinks people who hold our views are “unhinged.”
When a White Republican Teen Invited a Black Pastor to Preach in His Hometown
“It is unlikely to think that someone who was trained by Strom Thurmond would end up being like brothers with me, my father being a civil-rights activist.”
The Science of Changing a Loved One’s Vote
The odds of altering the outcome of the election: close to zero. The odds of altering your relationship with your family: much higher.
Dear Therapist: My Boyfriend Is Sending Me Mixed Signals
I am incredibly worried that he’s not on the same page as me about moving our relationship forward.
How the Racism Baked Into Technology Hurts Teens
Adolescents spend ever greater portions of their days online and are especially vulnerable to discrimination. That’s a worrying combination.
Communication Experts’ Advice for Handling Trump’s Interruptions
There’s likely little Joe Biden can do to stop his opponent’s interjections during tonight’s debate, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still respond to them strategically.
Are We Trading Our Happiness for Modern Comforts?
As society gets richer, people chase the wrong things.