It’s time to reboot the way we clinicians think about grief. Sheryl Sandberg talks about her experience here–and it’s well worth a look. 

I don’t usually visit cemetaries–they’re usually staid and ceremonial. But this one was different. (Special thanks to our VitalTalk Down Under goddess Anne O’Callaghan).

When we’re frustrated with patients, what to do? What i learned in my training was not just ineffective–it probably does damage. But there’s another way.

A body of research shows that emotions aren’t what they seem–they’re not pre-formed, not consistent between people, and don’t have any sort of neurologic ‘signature’. So then, what are they? Lisa Feldman Barrett explains this brilliantly in her new book How Emotions Are Made–and in this blog we explain what it means for communication about serious […]

When your patient asks you to lead the prayer (& you’re not the chaplain), what do you do? Hint: channel someone wise, like Krista Tippett. And consider: maybe it’s not about you 🙂

A little bit of wisdom from Arianna Huffington, with a VitalTalk spin: if you’re perpetually outraged, they win…

Sometimes patients find the notion of a ‘goal’ daunting. They stammer, get tangential, and don’t point you to their values. For those times, you need an alternative.

Whoa, enough with the emotional rollercoaster already! Today, we get granular, in the emotional sense, and learn from Metallica. (Yes, the heavy metal dudes: check out the NPR interview here, especially the audio). And thank god for Alec Baldwin.

When you hear patients say “I’m a fighter”, you might want to shake your head *no*. But you can do much better.

When you’re busy at work, how do you add a new skill? Hint: it rhymes with ‘bigger’.