Category: All
All essays publicly available.
Posted on July 16, 2023
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s journal entries, Fragrant Palm Leaves, is a gem of a little book providing so much insight and strangely enough also comfort. I say strange because the selected journal entries were penned from 1962 to 1966, right in the midst of the… Continue Reading “Fragrant Palm Leaves – Thích Nhất Hạnh”
Posted on March 14, 2023
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
In the pursuit of happiness we find ourselves chasing after many things: the right relationship partner, the dream job, the perfect home, the best vehicle, the latest tech gadget, but upon receipt of any of these things we merely find a short-lived excitement, a… Continue Reading “On the Nature of Happiness”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Emotions, Happiness, Impermanence, Inspiration, Introspective, Mental Health, Nature of Happiness, Pursuit of Contentment, Pursuit of Happiness
Posted on March 13, 2023
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
We’ve all seen it online and most of us have probably done it: committing a social faux pas in the comments section of social media posts, YouTube videos, news articles, and forums. Though we’ve had centuries of revolving lessons on an ever-evolving modern social… Continue Reading “Online Etiquette”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, Kephen's Commentary, Miscellaneous, TechnologyTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Comment Trolls, Cyber Behavior, Cyber Etiquette, Cyber Troll, Cyberspace, Emotional Regulation, Internet Troll, Mental Health, Online Behavior, Online Etiquette, Social Behavior, Social Media, Technology
Posted on December 25, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
This Book Could Save Your Life: Breaking the Silence Around the Mental Health Emergency It’s Christmas Day and I’ve been reading This Book Could Save Your Life, which I started the other day, it’s a very important book that should be in the hands… Continue Reading “Book Review: This Book Could Save Your Life”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Kephen's CommentaryTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Ben West, Book Review, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Illness, Sam West, Suicide, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, The Sam West Foundation, This Book Could Save Your Life
Posted on October 11, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
I have lived in Osage County, Missouri my whole life, my family has done so for generations. Many, if not most, of the people who live here would tell you that they feel like they can be themselves, live the life they want, that… Continue Reading “A Safe Place to Call Home: The Childhood Trauma of Growing Up LGBTQ+ in Small-Town America”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, LGBTQ+Tags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Growing Up LGBTQ+, LGBT, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Childhood Trauma, LGBTQ+ Safe Space, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Mental Health for LGBTQIA+, Mid-America LGBTQ+, Midwest LGBTQ+, Missouri LGBTQ+, National Coming Out Day
Posted on September 8, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
20 Years Later:A Letter to a Lost Teenager There is so much I wish that I could have told you, so much that I wish I could have done for you. If only I could travel through time to 2002 and be a part… Continue Reading “20 Years Later”
Category: All, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, A Letter to Myself, Compassion, Dying and Birthing, Growing Up, Introspective, Journaling, Letter to My Past Self, Life From Death, Mental Disorder, Mental Health Condition, Mental Health Disorder, Mental Illness, Metaphors, Reborn, Self-Reflection, Truth, Unbecoming, Wisdom
Posted on September 7, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
For many teens and adults who are facing sadness or are feeling down about a recent event or disappointing experience, or who may not be feeling as optimistic about life as they used to, or who are perhaps feeling heartache over an ended relationship… Continue Reading “Seeking Help for Depression”
Category: All, Behavioral HealthTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Depression, Getting Help, Major Depression, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health Condition, Mental Health Services, Mental Health Support, Mental Illness, Moderate to Severe Depression, National Recovery Month, National Suicide Prevention Month, Recovery, Recovery Support, Seeking Help, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention
Posted on September 1, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
For more than a decade I found myself at work witnessing, hearing about, or personally experiencing behavioral health challenges that were not effectively handled or addressed by management staff or by the employer as a whole. Not because no one cared, but because people… Continue Reading “Workplace Mental Health”
Category: All, Behavioral HealthTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Behavioral Health in Employment, Behavioral Health in the Workplace, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health in Employment, Mental Health in the Workplace, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Suicide Prevention Month, Workplace Behavioral Health, Workplace Mental Health
Posted on September 1, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
September is National Recovery Month, and while I have not been directly impacted by what is referred to as a substance use disorder, many people that I know personally have or still are struggling. Mental health conditions and substance use disorders may not be… Continue Reading “The Words We Choose to Use in Behavioral Health”
Category: All, Behavioral HealthTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health Language, Person-First Language, Substance Use, Substance Use Awareness, Substance Use Disorders, Substance Use Language
Posted on August 31, 2022
by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
My dear friend Ricardo “Ricky” Reyes of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, passed away tragically on August 20, 2022. He was born on June 21, 1987 and grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the son of Iris Gomez Lopez and the late Salvador Reyes. He graduated from… Continue Reading “In Memoriam: Ricardo “Ricky” Reyes”
Category: All, In Loving MemoryTags: *See All Posts, Bereaved, Bereavement, Cpl Ricardo Reyes, Dealing With Loss, Death of a Friend, Grief, In Loving Memory, In Memoriam, In Memory of, Loss, Loss of a Loved One, Loss of Loved Ones, Motorcycle Accident, Pain of Loss, Ricardo Reyes, Ricky, Ricky Reyes, Scars of Loss, Tragic Accident, Tragic Loss, U.S. Marine, U.S. Marine Corps, United States Marine Corps, USMC
Kēphen
The Ardent Axiom 
Fragrant Palm Leaves – Thích Nhất Hạnh
Posted on July 16, 2023 by Kēphen
Leave a Comment
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s journal entries, Fragrant Palm Leaves, is a gem of a little book providing so much insight and strangely enough also comfort. I say strange because the selected journal entries were penned from 1962 to 1966, right in the midst of the… Continue Reading “Fragrant Palm Leaves – Thích Nhất Hạnh”
Category: All, Atheism, Religion and Spirituality, Kephen's CommentaryTags: *See All Posts, Buddhism, Engaged Buddhism, Fragrant Palm Leaves, Mahayana, Thich Nhat Hanh