This week’s edition highlights stories by Peter Flax, Abigail Edge, Jesús A. Rodríguez, Henry Wismayer, and Elif Batuman.
Psychology
Finding Awe Amid Everyday Splendor
“A new field of psychology has begun to quantify an age-old intuition: Feeling awe is good for us.”
The Therapists Using AI to Make Therapy Better
“Ultimately, the approach may reveal exactly how psychotherapy works in the first place, something that clinicians and researchers are still largely in the dark about. A new understanding of therapy’s active ingredients could open the door to personalized mental-health care, allowing doctors to tailor psychiatric treatments to particular clients much as they do when prescribing […]
Dear Mom & Dad: We Need to Talk about QAnon
Children Of QAnon believers are desperately trying to deradicalize their parents.
How Should We Talk About Suicide Online?
“People are dying after joining a “pro-choice” suicide forum. How much is the site to blame?”
Meet the Woman Teaching the Psychology of Survival
“Unlike a broken bone, which is treated pretty much the same way every time, psychological injuries are more nuanced, she says, and intuition can lead well-intentioned guides astray.”
Whiteness on the Couch
Clinical psychologist Natasha Stovall looks at the vast spectrum of white people problems, and why we never talk about them in therapy.
Chimayó
Esmé Weijun Wang discovers a new interpretation of faith while on two kindred pilgrimages: one to find an accurate medical diagnosis, one to a sacred site in New Mexico.
Finding Comfort in Small Spaces
In this personal essay, Jessica Gross considers her preference for certain types of confinement.
A Prescription for Forgetting
Diane Mehta tries to manage anxiety with meditation that requires her to discard all her memories.