When we find ourselves crying at movies or when reading books and stories, it’s often at happy endings, not during the parts that are objectively sad.  The reason, it turns out, is that the unconscious mind regulates when and how we express and experience painful affects, and it does so according to its assessments of danger and safety.

The concept of “gaslighting” seems to be increasingly appearing in the media and public life.  In this webcast I discuss The meaning of gaslight and explain how exactly it works.

I offer some thoughts and, hopefully, understanding of a problem that some might think of as a “First World Problem”-- namely, the frequency with which things break down in our everyday life and our inability to get the proper and prompt help we need to fix them.

In this episode, I analyze how victimhood works, psychologically and politically.   When someone experiences him or herself as a victim, it gives that persona a kind of  get-out-of-jail free card to retaliate, strike back, and hurt the person or group that they have come to believe is responsible for their victimization.