Category Archives: Random thoughts

The hidden meaning behind the insignificant

One of my pet peeves is the tendency to read meaning into everything we do. It isn’t that there isn’t a reason behind our behaviours. It’s just that the reasons are either banal (basic instincts and human motivation) or are so prone to both misinterpretation and over-interpretation that most attempts to explain them will be [...]

1 comment
8

Pithy aphorisms and media shrinks

“Where do I get my ideas,” is probably the most common question I get asked. I have no idea how to answer it. To be honest, I don’t usually set out to write about a topic. I simply go about my business of living a normal life. I talk to people, I see things, I [...]

1 comment
3

All I want for Christmas is a big smelly monkey

I don’t indulge in bowls of sorbet very often, yet the idea of cleansing the palate appeals to me. Whenever I play poker with my brothers and a few friends, and it’s my turn to deal, I choose to play straight poker (no wild cards) as a means of cleansing the poker palate after several [...]

Leave a comment
2

Wisdom at the Tim Horton’s

It happens every day. Whenever we are faced with a restriction in our lives – like speed limits, border restrictions, or even the number of cans of beans you can buy when they are on sale – we complain about it. Whenever we witness someone doing something they “shouldn’t be allowed to get away with,” [...]

1 comment
2

Why put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow

I used to think that my biggest fault was my tendency to procrastinate. All my university papers were finished at the last possible moment. They were started not much earlier. Every single time, I swore to myself I would do better next time. Eventually I simply gave in and stopped deluding myself. I always laugh [...]

Leave a comment
3

The Nobel Peace Prize goes to…Oops, wrong envelope

I am a fan of Barack Obama. He is a breath of fresh air after eight years of living in George Bush’s twilight zone. There are many reasons to admire him. A simple example is Obama’s openness to stem cell research. It illustrates the triumph of science and rational thought over the kind of over-zealous [...]

Leave a comment
2

Golf green with envy

As a clinical psychologist I normally deal with people’s unwanted emotions (and my own for that matter). Yet the fact is most of our emotional reactions are normal ones, whether they are wanted or not, and they can’t all be “treated.” Sometimes our best option is to live with them…as best we can. Of course all [...]

1 comment
2

Guaranteed to lose my vote

So it has come to this. This past Friday I saw a new Conservative Party of Canada attack ad on Michael Ignatieff. Let me just say to the geniuses who think up this garbage: You will never, EVER, get my vote using these pathetic smear tactics!  I don’t normally delve into politics but the trend [...]

1 comment
3

A shrink’s take on shrinks

In my April 14 column, I decided to try to answer a question that I get asked on a regular basis. What makes a good shrink? (Source: À la recherche d’un bon psy. Journal Métro, April 14, 2009) Whenever I meet with high school students about careers in psychology I always get asked the same question: [...]

Leave a comment
3

Hidden shame

A woman without hair, a man with a diseased penis, a teenager with psoriasis all over his back, a woman with severe varicose veins, a manager with a record of a sexual infraction… If I extended this list, I might eventually get to something that you identified with yourselves. We almost all have shames or [...]

Leave a comment
3