As a speech therapist, I am sometimes tempted to focus only on improving my patients’ deficits.   After all, isn’t that what rehabilitation ...

I am sickened by the recent deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and now Rayshard Brooks—and all similar unnecessary dea...

Whenever I wipe poop off a bottom (or a toilet, or a wall), I make a mental note to say something extra positive to our nurses and sanitatio...

It seems like Pascha (Easter) has come too soon. Near-empty churches are decked in white; we sing that God has trampled death.  But the deat...

I often set expectations for myself and fail to meet them: ~I want to wake up earlier.   But I continue to go to bed late.    ~I w...

I have seen in the movies and read in books that true love is about finding joy in each other, about holding hands and giving roses and wr...

Many patients are surprised that my cognitive therapy sessions don’t involve logic puzzles or crosswords.  With me, cognitive therapy look...

Some days, I just don’t like myself.   From the outside in, I notice plenty of flaws.   I have acne, my hair is a wild mess, my posture i...

I sat with my cousin on the floor in the corner of the bookstore, poring over Elvish grammar and the rich world of Tolkien’s languages.  A...

Society has attempted to answer this question in a variety of ways, defining a person’s worth by wealth, social class, language, skin colo...

Sometimes I do too much for too long.  Constantly taking on more and more tasks, I pretend to be a Type A overachiever who has her life toge...

Dear readers, Upon re-reading my post from yesterday I felt it was a little too chipper. I understand that my patients are going thro...

“When will our lives be back to normal?” This is probably the most common question I receive from patients and their families.   I u...

In the United States, our small talk is very direct.  After asking someone’s name and maybe where they are from, the next question is usua...

Sometimes, I fail.  I don't finish my daily to-do list.  I overcook dinner.  My words fall flat, or worse, hurt someone’s feelings.  To...

Stop Striving and Start Thriving (with feeding resources for families and SLPs) It’s easy to believe that if you provide the perfect c...

" T his is W ho I am and T hat's H ow it's G onna B e ” An interview with my friend Sydney My friend Sydney always has...

"I realized very clearly that happiness has nothing to do with the material things which surround us; it dwells in the very depths of...

Communication is connection. For most of us, it's easy. A sideways glance. Hands on hips, feet tapping. A kiss on the cheek. So...

Hello, and welcome to a place where words nourish even more than bread and every day we do the best we can—even when that means making mis...