Psychologist, Author, Teacher of Mindfulness and Compassion

Short Essays and Blog Posts Featuring Dr. Susan Pollak

How to Help Your Kids Cope
Your moods are contagious. To help your children know that they are alright, safe, and cared for, you have to center yourself first.
- Follow link, scroll down to "Talks"...
Warm Mindfulness
"I've tried everything, and I mean everything, to stop smoking. And it hasn't worked. I just can't stop," Michael told me, looking ashamed. "I feel like such a failure."...
Making Fun of Your Inner Critic
In these uncertain times our lives have become much quieter, but people tell me that their inner critics are blaring at full volume on loudspeaker. "As if things aren't hard enough, the critical voices in...
How to Meditate if You're Going Through Trauma
For those experiencing trauma, it's often best *not* to focus on the breath. Here are some alternatives for meditation techniques that are safe and grounding for those who have been traumatized...
Do You Have 'Zoom Apnea'?
In this new reality in which we are living, many of us now live the bulk of our lives online. From work negotiations, to talking with friends, to family interactions and even holiday celebrations, we depend...
Illness as a Dharma Door
Have you felt awkward lately? If so, don’t worry, you are not alone. As we collectively rebuild our social and communal lives, many of us are feeling unexpectedly awkward at what were once routine...
Covid Transition Anxiety
In the 1960s, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., acquired a white tiger named Mohini. For decades, she lived in a 12-foot by 12-foot cage with iron bars. Day and night she would pace the pen...
Cultivating Resilience with our Parents
The pandemic has been especially hard on the elderly. Even though, at last, many are now receiving vaccines, people over 70 remain at increased risk not only of Covid-19, but also of anxiety, depression...
You Are Not Alone
For many of us, being confined to quarantine because of the coronavirus has been the most challenging time in our lives. The very scaffolding of our world, all that we had depended on to sustain us...
Helping Kids Remain Calm When the World Seems Scary
Many of the parents I see in my clinical practice are telling me about the nightmares their children are having. One client in particular was concerned about his young son. "My four-year-old is waking...
Compassion During Quarantine
The other day I was standing in line at the pharmacy, waiting to pick up a prescription. It was a long line and it was moving slowly. People were getting irritable. Suddenly, a man ahead of me turned started yelling...
An Eight-Step Practice for Parents
"I'm so distressed," Stephanie said, immediately reaching for the box of tissues in our first session. "I've never felt this much sadness in my entire life. The last few months have been hell. I'm having...
The Unlived Lives of Parents
Lionel and Kyra's son, Tyrone, had significant developmental delays from his premature birth. Now seven years old, he's playing Little League, but he can't run as fast as the other kids, doesn’t have good...
Illness as a Dharma Door
On a dark and frigid day in February 2020, we found out that my husband had a rare and deadly blood cancer. It could be treated but not cured. It was difficult to diagnose and we initially thought it was...
Why Parents Need a Little Self-Compassion
"I don’t have any time for self-care. I know I need it, but I feel like I'm a bad mother if I take time for myself," said Michelle, a participant in my Self-Compassion for Parents workshop. "I simply don't have...
Self-Compassion for Parents
Recently I was helping some cousins with preparations at a family wedding in the countryside. One of them was a mom who had three young kids, including a newborn. We began to talk about parenting."So...
News and Tools For Happiness, Love, and Wisdom; Self-Compassion in Daily Life
It was one of those mornings. The baby hadn't slept, Amy's husband was out of town, and three-year-old Sophie insisted on wearing her new tutu to nursery school as snowflakes began to pile up on the...