Travis Pashak

Viktor Frankl on Humor as a Lifeline to Sanity and Survival “Humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds.”

Viktor Frankl, shortly after his release from the concentration camps, on humor as a lifeline to sanity and survival even, and especially, amid the most unsurvivable circumstances www.themarginalian.org/2019/08/19/v...

Invited to speak on a panel today re: mental health leadership at a student convention on campus.

Got prompts about burn-out, self-care, stigma, etc. I think audience prob expected to hear about mindfulness and whatnot.

Panel argued need for systemic change and to fight oppression. Love to see it.

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took at university.

1. Polish
2. Ice Ages
3. Marching Band
4. Physics of Music
5. Sociology of Family

(Plus loads of psych, but that goes without saying. These seemed the five most interesting to mention in retrospect.)

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This is my impression of an owl in academia.

(Who, 2026)

Cover of an ebook reads "Teaching Tips: A Compendium on Conference Presentations on Teaching, 2024-2025" from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Abstract title reads "Bolstering meaningful learning experiences in undergraduate clinical topics by applying existential-dynamic principles."

The new "Teaching Tips" ebook is available now from @stpteachpsych.bsky.social! Happy to have a note on my roundtable meeting included, it was a great time. Link here:
teachpsych.org/ebooks/teach...

Looking forward to more connections and shared ideas this April in Chicago for MPA!

My syllabi for this semester all say “Winer 2026” at the top.

Best time to catch that is definitely the second day of class, after they’ve been printed and handed out to everyone. Yup.

Things are going great.

The final title of this piece is:

“Confronting Crisis and Reclaiming Purpose in Psychological Science”

with @lluaces.bsky.social @sheilacrowell.bsky.social @junegruber.bsky.social @tinaboisseau.bsky.social @anthonyperillo.bsky.social @jenperillo.bsky.social

Now in press at Nature Mental Health

BlueSky shoutout on Abbot Elementary!

A hastily cut piece of paper features the words “Travis, I am leaving because I have had enough of your fucking nonsense” as well as a crudely drawn male figure exiting a room while naked.

My former clinic director (wonderful human being and mentor of mine the past decade), has now retired after a gradual handoff of several months to the new director.

Today she left me this, uhm, goodbye card?

I will cherish its chaotic hilarity forever.

It’s okay to not be okay

Beautiful episode, glad that it’s become an annual tradition for the show to revisit. Kudos to Marina Alessandri and Sean Illing for the existentially acute and emotionally vulnerable conversation.

“It’s ok not to be ok” on #TheGrayArea

open.spotify.com/episode/12g5...

It's Festivus, so I'm going to air some grievances.

1. If you're going to write a year end story about how scientists responded to authoritarianism and *NOT* include @standupforscience.bsky.social in the write up or cite that the photo you used as your header is from one of our rallies...that's bs.

Every Tuesday I have lunch with Garry, a fellow therapist at my clinic.

I’m 39, he’s 67. I see adults, he sees kids. We talk theory and cases, or politics and personal life, or just bullshit and puns. I offer my radishes and he always refuses.

We laugh. It’s great.
I recommend finding your Garry.

I showed my bluesky account to my psychiatrist and she said I could pick whatever medication I want

Psychology is not ‘Woke’: Examining claims of liberal bias | BPS Brian M. Hughes with the argument from his book, ‘Psychology’s Quiet Conservatism: How a Supposedly Woke Science Promotes Capitalism and Protects Privilege’.

Here's a piece I wrote on the myth of liberal bias in psychology

As featured in @psychmag.bsky.social with thanks to @jonsutton.bsky.social

#psychology #politics #CultureWars

The Age of Acronyms "Little by little and letter by letter, acronyms obscure the essence of psychotherapy." Stephanie Foster

A therapeutic brand for every human nook and cranny is the profession chasing its own tail. Rather than collecting tools for every situation, we should focus on fundamentals that work in most situations.

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/the-age-of...

Concisely, his six suggestions for DSM-6:

1) Offer "disorder" clarity.
2) Specify disorder validity.
3) Justify diagnostic thresholds.
4) Acknowledge descriptive gaps.
5) Include dimensional approaches.
6) Free public accessibility/transparency.

::immediately adds to next week's lecture slides::

6 Suggestions for DSM-6 Making the next DSM look less like a house of mirrors

@awaisaftab.bsky.social is amazing, as usual. Loving this post.

Regarding DSM diagnostic criteria: "A best guess is fine as a starting point, but it cannot be treated as something special or sacred..." as it is basically a "pulled-out-of-the-ass threshold"

www.psychiatrymargins.com/p/6-suggesti...

A tool built on the stolen labor of others will not liberate you as a worker.

A tool built on the stolen ideas of others will not liberate you as a thinker.

You are not using AI; AI is using you.

Stop it.

Yup. We should have daylight savings year round.

My dept is hiring!

Specialty area flexible. Applied sub-fields like forensic or I/O psych especially appealing. But a social/personality, quant/stats psych, or other 'generalist' would also fit well.

Teaching-focused, undergrad only. Life in MI is great!

svsu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Extern...

Update! The authors got back to me and were willing to share. If it seems like a useful tool for anyone else (or there is desire for collaboration) please reach out.

So often it seems the therapeutic thing to do is get the hell out of the way while they talk.

Image shows the cover of the book “How Thin The Veil: A Memoir of 45 Days in the Traverse City State Hospital” by Jack Kerkhoff.

“After years of keeping it inside me, I had finally got it out. Perhaps I should have told it to the doctor, but it would have been difficult. Yet I could tell Suzy. Because she didn’t try to analyze it; she simply let the little boy talk.”
(Kerkhoff, 1952, p. 178)

Marcus Aurelius - Stoic Philosopher
Marcus Ohreallyus - Skeptic Philosopher

Hey Caz! I’m Travis.

Located in Michigan. Small private practice therapist on Tuesdays. Clinical psych prof the rest of my work days.

Nice to meet ya, thanks for inviting levity and connection.

a close up of a rock with the words `` who 's there ? i see u '' written on it . ALT: a close up of a rock with the words `` who 's there ? i see u '' written on it .

Would love to get to know therapists much more on this platform. I miss the everyday chat I used to get on X/Twitter!

I’m Caz-a private practitioner,based in London working full-time with clients first&foremost (I’m also an author). Where are you/what do you do?!

#TherapistsConnect
#therapistsky

New music this month from Motion City Soundtrack, Silverstein, Punchline, and Dance Gavin Dance.

My little emo / screamo / weirdo heart is full.

The world is a complete mess but mannn the soundtrack slaps.

Just submitted a comment and I hope you will too. Speak up to protect #PSLF!