Entering the Sacred River of Grief A Community Healing Ritual Saturday, April 11 to Sunday, April 26, 2026 Online at Empathy Academy I have often said that we live in a grief-impaired time. Many of us have a very difficult time working with grief, and our funeral rituals are often stripped of their power to bring communities together to heal. But we haven’t forgotten our grief … Read More
I found out this year that all of my books have been scraped by AI without my permission, and I can’t get away from the offensive brainless nonsense. Every week, another one of my online platforms or programs breathlessly announces that they’re offering AI — except I can’t turn down the offer, so it’s really intrusion without consent. Clearly, it’s time for poetry. Become Unscrapeable They … Read More
The Rapture and the Despair I’ve been thinking — or more honestly, feeling — a great deal about this week’s Rapture, when there will supposedly be huge, planet-wide earthquakes, a rapture into heaven for 200 million true believers, and the beginning of the end of the world. The Apocalypse, Armageddon, Judgment Day. Of course, none of that will happen. It never happens. Hundreds and thousands of … Read More
Welcome to the Off-Ramp! My newest project starts with this question: How do we get out of intense relationships, positions, ideas, and groups? How do we take an off-ramp, and how do we become an off-ramp for others? This project started first with my 2025 book, Missing the Solstice, and continues with my new podcast called The Off-Ramp Project. How do we create (and survive) drastic … Read More
We welcome you to our Empathy Academy Community! For many years, I’ve been fortunate enough to develop a worldwide community of licensed Dynamic Emotional Integration® professionals who have become friends and family. Their presence, empathy, humor, and emotional awareness have helped to grow our knowledge and the depth of our work, and they’ve been with me as I wrote and wrestled with the books I’ve written … Read More
How do people create (and survive) drastic changes? How do they leave unhealthy relationships, groups, belief systems, or entire identities? And how do they leave when these things are essential parts of their lives, their careers, their place in their families … or all three? These questions are crucial in a time when so many people have been drawn into belief systems and conspiracy theories that … Read More
The Myth of Positive Emotions is of course related to The Myth of Negative Emotions In my work with emotions, I don’t treat any emotion as better or worse than any other. Instead, I focus on why each emotion arises, what job it does, and how you can work with each and every emotion you have. When you can see your emotions as important parts of … Read More
The Myth of Negative Emotions is of course related to The Myth of Positive Emotions In my work with emotions, I focus on the intelligence, gifts, and skills that every emotion brings to you. I don’t leave any emotions out, and I don’t treat any emotion as better or worse than any other. This unified approach to emotions treats all emotions as vital, irreplaceable aspects of … Read More
Oh, here’s a great book you’ve got to read: The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society. Primatologist Frans de Waal works with our cousins, the great apes, and has been able to identify empathy and emotional awareness in very helpful ways. Dr. de Waal sees empathy as an inheritance from our ancestors (primate and otherwise), and he sees empathy as the organizing center … Read More
Right now, I’m re-reading an amazing book by the historian, philosopher, poet, and funny kook Jennifer Michael Hecht. The Happiness Myth: Why What We Think is Right is Wrong. If you’re feeling troubled about the current state of the world, and confused by what seems like weekly changes to scientific theories about happiness, this book is just what the doctor ordered. There is so much to … Read More