A Free Gift From the Beach Hey all, I am writing you all from the beach! So this week is going to look a little different. No research or five step protocol. Just a free resource I want to put in your hands. This Week's Free Resource: The Four A's of Acceptance One of the benefits of our paid subscription tier is access to a growing library of clinical worksheets I have built for the people I work with in therapy. This week I am opening one of them up to everyone on the list, free of charge....
4 days ago • 1 min read
Over 600 new subscribers joined this month! Welcome! For those of you who have been around, thank you for sharing this with people you care about; that is the only reason this grows. If you want to go deeper, we launched a paid tier where a portion of every subscription goes directly to domestic violence shelters. Glad you are here either way. Upgrade to Paid Tier The Man With the Dull Axe Hey all, I want to tell you an old parable. Two men headed into the woods at sunrise with one job: chop...
11 days ago • 4 min read
I have to brag for a second. The woman who wrote this piece is my wife. She is a physician, a mother of two incredible kids, and somehow the most grounded and loving person I have ever met. We met at Camp Quaker Haven in 2005; literally two kids who had no idea what life had in store. I had no idea I was meeting the woman who would make me a better man & that I would marry. She wrote this because she means every word of it. Read it slowly. She worked hard on it and she deserves your full...
18 days ago • 4 min read
What If Your Mood Problem Is Actually a Protein Problem? "The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." — Plutarch Hey all, I was walking through the grocery store last week when I stopped in my tracks in the cereal aisle. Protein Pop-Tarts. I stood there for a moment just taking it in. Picked up the box. Put it back. Kept walking. Then I turned the corner into the chip aisle. Protein Doritos. I am not making this up. We have protein Doritos now. Nacho Cheese flavor. 10...
25 days ago • 4 min read
Without Integrity, What Do We Actually Have? The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. — Proverbs 11:3 Hey all, We live in a world where integrity is praised loudly and rarely practiced. Integrity shows up in mission statements, slogans, acceptance speeches, and LinkedIn bios. Everybody is seeming to claim it. But watch what happens when it actually costs something. When telling the truth means losing the room. When keeping your word means...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
What daily habits actually make a difference for your brain? "That's your best friend and worst enemy - your own brain" - Fred Durst Hey all! A few weeks ago I was scrolling through a article written by a neuroscientist (a real one, PhD and everything) listing her daily non-negotiables for brain health. Drink water. Get sunshine. Smile more. Go to bed. I kept reading waiting for the research. It never came. I was confused... we are living in a golden era of neuroscience. The last three years...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Is multi-tasking a myth? "What we choose to focus on and what we choose to ignore plays in defining the quality of our life." — Cal Newport Hey all, When I got to Kansas State, I decided I was going to finish my degree in three years instead of four. Not entirely sure why... prolly a combination of ambition, stubbornness, and a genuine dislike for taking out student loans every semester. It felt like a challenge at the time, so I went after it. That meant five consecutive semesters of 22-plus...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Quick recap: My first issue of Mental Health 4 Men went out to 3 people on May 23rd, 2025: Me (yes, I subscribed to my own newsletter) My wife (I asked her) And my brother (asked him too, but not sure opened it) Here's a picture of the first newsletter we launched 335 days ago titled: The Power of Being Present This past week, this newsletter surpassed 1,000 subscribers! Writing early in the morning, late at night, and jotting down notes in between clients ; I did not think it would grow like...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
The Emotion Nobody Wants to Talk About (ironically) "Shame derives its power from being unspeakable." — Brené Brown Hey all, I want to talk about the emotion that is most likely to make you close this email. Not anxiety. Not depression. Not anger. Those have become almost acceptable to discuss now. There are podcasts about them. Books. Entire therapy specialties. Shame is different. Shame is the one that makes people go quiet. The one that lives in the part of you that you work hardest to...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
What Three Years Inside a Big 12 Athletic Program Taught Me About Mental Health "In athletics, outcomes matter. That is the reality of competition. But identity doesn't have to track performance like a stock price going up and down. That distinction, between what you do and who you are, is where the real work lives." Hey All, Today I’m speaking at the Kansas Health and Science University Sports Medicine Conference about the several years I spent working as a therapist inside a Big 12 athletic...
2 months ago • 5 min read
