Dan Lannin

On bro

Can confirm. Didn’t feel anything and went back to sleep

Episode 30: What Matters Most in Teaching Psychology? In this episode of Psychology Life Lessons, Dan talks with distinguished professor and Brewer Award winner Eric Landrum about teaching, career development, and what sustains a life in academia. Eric shares how his approach to teaching evolved over more than 3 decades—including why he stopped giving tests—and reflects on the challenges psychology majors face when planning for life after graduation. They also discuss his podcast Psych Sessions, the role of improv in the classroom, and what Eric has learned about balancing professional ambition with personal well-being.

What do students actually remember years later?Distinguished professor Eric Landrum on what psychology students really need—and what professors can do about it.

These are gold

Cool study!

That’s wonderful! What a great experience for that student

Slide text reads: How well is your workplace: Preventing harm to employee mental health? Promoting aspects of work that are beneficial for employee mental health? Providing support to employees with known mental health needs?

It's #worldmentalhealthday2025 (10.10.25)
A great day to ask about what your organisation is doing to integrate different approaches to supporting employee mental health -- and to push forward on whatever is the next top priority!
#mentalhealth #safety #wellbeing #leadership

Can AI really help solve the loneliness epidemic? Advances in artificial intelligence offer an enticing solution to a global problem: perhaps interacting with large language models (LLMs) can help all…

Great piece in @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social on why AI won't solve the loneliness epidemic:

"presenting AI as a scalable solution to the loneliness epidemic risks overlooking the structural and societal roots of the problem and may allow us to abdicate our responsibility as a society."

our dept is hiring!

📢 We are hiring!

The Department of Psychology & Neuroscience at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is inviting applications for two tenure-track positions in

Counseling Psychology:
Assistant Professor
Assistant or Associate Professor

Apply here 👉 apply.interfolio.com/172545

I'm reviewing applications for the University of Washington's PhD program this fall.

Applicants interested in the Clinical Psychology, Social-Personality (emphasis on personality), or Quantitative programs are welcome to apply.

More information here: sites.google.com/uw.edu/radla...

Episode 29: Existential Therapy: The Paradoxes and Passions of Living In this episode of Psychology Life Lessons, Dan talks with existential therapist and author Emmy van Deurzen about what it means to live authentically in the face of life’s challenges. Emmy reflects on her journey from the Netherlands to France and eventually the UK, where she became a leading voice in existential therapy and education. She shares how philosophy and psychology can work together to help us navigate freedom, responsibility, and the anxieties that come with uncertainty. Together, they explore why anxiety can be seen as a sign of possibility and what it takes to embrace life’s paradoxes with passion. Emmy’s insights blend decades of clinical work, philosophical reflection, and cultural critique, offering a fresh perspective on human resilience and authenticity.

Episode 29: Existential Therapy: The Paradoxes and Passions of Living

In this episode of Psychology Life Lessons, Dan talks with existential therapist and author Emmy van Deurzen about what it means to live authentically in the face of life’s challenges. Emmy reflects on her journey from the…

Episode 28: How to Fall in Love with Questions In this episode of Psychology Life Lessons, Dr. Dan Lannin talks with author Elizabeth Weingarten about how to navigate life’s most uncertain moments. Drawing from her new book How to Fall in Love with Questions, Weingarten explores how big, unanswerable questions about purpose, relationships, and identity can be sources of growth rather than anxiety. She discusses how binary questions and societal “charlatans of certainty” can trap us into seeking fast answers instead of meaningful clarity. Through science, storytelling, and personal reflection, she shares tools for developing a “questions practice” to live more intentionally and patiently. Together, they unpack the cultural roots of impatience, the influence of identity and power on question-asking, and how cultivating courage can help us thrive in the unknown. It’s a powerful reminder that the right questions—not quick answers—can often be a the liberating force we need.

Some questions don’t have easy answers, and that doesn’t mean we should avoid them. I talked with Elizabeth Weingarten about what it means to sit with uncertainty, rethink binary choices, and develop a practice of asking better questions when life feels unclear.

Episode 27: Start Making Sense In this episode of Psychology Life Lessons, Dr. Steven Heine joins Dr. Dan Lannin to explore the psychology of meaning in an increasingly fragmented world. Drawing on decades of work in cultural an…

What I Learned from Dr. Steven Heine About Meaning, Culture, and Why Everything Feels Off Lately

Spoiler alert: meaning is all about connections—to people, to purpose, to communities, to something bigger than yourself.

Listen here: psychologylifelessons.com/2025/07/09/e...

Promoted to Professor, effective August 16th.

Grateful for the students, mentors, colleagues—and my amazing family—for helping me get here.

I can tell I am well into middle age because an increasingly important part of my day is seeing which birds are coming to the birdfeeder.

Great way to make these large numbers more understandable. Kudos to the person who made this website.

Our offices on the south side are little greenhouses

Oh wow, this is strangely prophetic

This is absolutely disgusting. America can do better than this.

I’d much rather listen to that than people crunching on potato chips or tapping the kitchen table with long nails.

Also, UCLA is looking good

Unmonitored Online Exams: Valid Assessment or Score Inflation? - Daniel G. Lannin, Taylor Flinn, Alexandra Ilie, Dan Ispas, 2025 Background The validity of unmonitored online exams has raised concerns about academic integrity and grade inflation, especially given the rise of artificial in...

Check out our new study in Teaching of Psychology. In the age of easy access to LLMs, do unmonitored online exams measure knowledge or just search skills? Something else?
#HigherEd #AcademicIntegrity

Episode 26: The Art and Science of Helping In this episode of "Psychology Life Lessons," Dr. Yi Du takes over hosting duties to interview Dr. Dan Lannin about their co-authored book, "The Art and Science of Helping." After introducing Dr. Lannin's background in psychology, research, and helping behavior, they discuss how effective helping requires both artistic creativity and scientific evidence. Dr. Lannin shares the powerful "help maze" metaphor from his camp counselor days, where blindfolded children walking in circles could only exit by raising their hand for help—illustrating how seeking assistance is often the crucial first step toward healing. They explore how self-stigma creates additional suffering and prevents help-seeking, while previous negative experiences with vulnerability can further discourage people from reaching out. Both psychologists note a societal "empathy shortage," attributing it partly to our culture of convenience and immediate gratification. Throughout their conversation, they emphasize that becoming an effective helper requires self-knowledge and intentional practice, while highlighting human resilience symbolized by their book's cover image of a flower growing through concrete.

Super excited to share this episode. My wonderful coauthor Dr. Yi Du stepped into the interviewer's seat and asked me questions about The Art and Science of Helping. I hope you enjoy listening to this one.

super fun to talk about some of my fav lil words ✨🥰

Psychological skills and strategies enhance athlete performance under pressure Athletes who excel under pressure rely on both robust psychological traits and specific cognitive-behavioral techniques.

Athletes who excel under pressure rely on both robust psychological traits and specific cognitive-behavioral techniques.

Exciting news! My new textbook, The Art and Science of Helping, is officially out. If you’re teaching (or learning) helping skills, this book is packed with practical tools, research-backed insights, and real-world applications.

My mom was born in 1937 in east Berlin. Her grandfather helped his Jewish boss escape Germany and as a post war gift of thanks, he gave him a painting that hung up in my family’s house. The messages about the evilness of nazis started earlier than I can remember.

This is great! We call these minimal encouragers in the counseling literature. Our masters students practice them. Good times. I like lil words.

There is a very good chance that next year tens of thousands of people will be dead because of an ideological opposition by the Trump administration to doing the basics of governing