Building Bridges of Belonging
Sharing Science through Stories
Leading Lifesavers with Love
Welcome, Friends!
Use the buttons below to find your way.
I Am On A Mission
I am on a mission, and I hope you will join me.
Recent studies have indicated that more than half of the U.S. population struggles with isolation, loneliness, and friendlessness.
To make matters worse, and despite our best efforts to intervene, we continue to struggle with issues of bullying and peer-victimization.
This truly is an epidemic.
I have spent much of my life on the front lines. As someone who survived years of bullying, friendlessness, and social anxiety, I know what it feels like to be the target, the outcast, the undesirable. And my heart breaks as I sit with clients who must fight those same battles.
I believe that, together, we can build a world where everyone has a space to belong.
My way of helping is through writing, speaking, and leading one of the best mental health organizations in the country. I know that the science of psychology and my hard-earned life lessons can make a difference, and that gives me the strength to keep going.
Whether you could use a friend or a keynote speaker (or both!), I’d love to hear from you.
Building Bridges of Belonging
Sharing Science through Stories
Leading Lifesavers with Love
The Friendship Formula
Give someone a friend, and they might be less lonely. Teach someone how to friend, and they will never be lonely again. Too many of us feel isolated and unwanted. Loneliness truly has become an epidemic. Our little planet has plenty of other issues – war, world hunger, global warming, people who put pineapple on pizza. And yet, when we fight against issues like world hunger, we don’t just send food to the needy. We teach them how to grow crops, be resourceful, and become self-sufficient. Similarly, The Friendship Formula isn’t just about making friends – it’s about learning the art of friendship:
- Recognize the self-defeating beliefs that hold you back
- Understand your attachment needs
- Identify barriers to friendship and connection
- Discover the key to building a healthy relationship
- Notice bids for human connection
The Science of Friendship
Loneliness isn’t our natural state.
As relationship-oriented creatures, human beings are hardwired for connection. In fact, it’s at the heart of our survival – both as a species and as individuals. This makes America’s current loneliness epidemic all the more concerning.
But the truth is that it’s hard to make friends. So many of us yearn for belonging but fear the icy sting of rejection, the long dark night of isolation. All of us deserve a place to belong, whether we’re completely friendless or we feel lonely in crowds.
At its core, Shumway’s lessons are a rewarding, life-affirming look at how to make our disconnected world just a bit more connected. With his help, you can learn to become a good friend to your community, to those around you, and (most important) to yourself.
The Science of Friendship
Loneliness isn’t our natural state.
As relationship-oriented creatures, human beings are hardwired for connection. In fact, it’s at the heart of our survival – both as a species and as individuals. This makes America’s current loneliness epidemic all the more concerning.
But the truth is that it’s hard to make friends. So many of us yearn for belonging but fear the icy sting of rejection, the long dark night of isolation. All of us deserve a place to belong, whether we’re completely friendless or we feel lonely in crowds.
At its core, Shumway’s lessons are a rewarding, life-affirming look at how to make our disconnected world just a bit more connected. With his help, you can learn to become a good friend to your community, to those around you, and (most important) to yourself.
Neurodiversity
and the
Myth of Normal
Everyone deserves a place to belong. We all need a place where we can be accepted, filled with people who love us just as we are.
But that place of belonging can be really hard to find – especially if you’re “different.” For people with neurotypes such as autism or ADHD, the pressure to fit in, to “be normal,” is immense.
But what if normal doesn’t exist? What if “normal” is a myth – a story we’ve told ourselves, rather than the reality? What if breaking free of the myth of normal will allow us to accept ourselves and others in a whole new way?
Get Psyched
You have a story to share, and this book can help make it happen. Get Psyched is a comprehensive guide for integrating public speaking into your career in psychology. Psychotherapists, counselors, researchers, and students alike can learn everything from identifying your topic to marketing yourself as a speaker. Get Psyched can help you:
- Choose a strong topic
- Find and land speaking gigs
- Develop a stellar presentation
- Perform with confidence
- Master the Q&A
- Negotiate compensation for paid events
- Avoid speaker burnout
- …and more!
Get Psyched
You have a story to share, and this book can help make it happen. Get Psyched is a comprehensive guide for integrating public speaking into your career in psychology. Psychotherapists, counselors, researchers, and students alike can learn everything from identifying your topic to marketing yourself as a speaker. Get Psyched can help you:
- Choose a strong topic
- Find and land speaking gigs
- Develop a stellar presentation
- Perform with confidence
- Master the Q&A
- Negotiate compensation for paid events
- Avoid speaker burnout
- …and more!