Consider becoming a Psychiatric Social Worker with an MSW, and full minors (or a second major) in nutrition and physical education. This is a pretty conventional program, true, but I think there are more and more psychotherapists who would welcome your ideas. With a "conventional" credential, I think you would ultimately have more success in finding a great group practice where you'd fit in extremely well. Please look into it -- including the various state licensing requirements, and what sorts of things they authorize you to do using your own professional judgment once you're licensed.

I was coming here to say this. Excellent advice, if I do say so myself.

I think that what Diane Schuler did is horrific and if she had survived the accident she would rightfully be facing murder charges. But the, ah, vigor with which some of the commenters are condemning her makes me queasy. I don't like angry mobs, no matter how deserving their targets.

Privateice, I see your situation as being different in important ways than what was expressed in the Modern Love column. You obviously love and respect your husband, and had compassion for what he was going through in his career. By contrast, the woman who wrote the NY Times column seemed to have contempt for her husband. She outright says that she is treating his as a child throwing a tantrum and that she encouraged her husband to go to Nepal or buy a motorcycle. Translation: you're a typical man going through midlife crisis and I don't take you seriously at all. Even if that was true, treating your husband with contempt is not a recipe for a happy marriage, even if you manage to avoid a divorce.

I agree that people should work harder to stay together, especially when children are involved. But simply staying together shouldn't be the goal. If your relationship isn't based on mutual respect and regard (notice I'm not talking about sexual passion or romantic love here) then you can't call it a success.

^^^ Totally agree with the above.

If they won't do combination testing, why can't they just be spaced out more? Not given to newborns right away, wait until their immune systems are a bit more developed?

Because the longer you wait, the higher the chance that the infant will be infected with the disease before the vaccine is administered, with all the attendant risks. Also, there isn't any evidence that administering vaccines on a modified schedule makes them safer.

Dr Parikh, thank you so much for this article. It saddens me to see how gullible liberals can be when it comes to alternative medicine. I've used acupuncture and Feldenkrais to treat my back pain so I'm not anti-alternative medicine, but some of the alt treatments are downright dangerous (no one needs regular colonics, y'all). And the anti-vaxers are truly frightening. My kid is nearing school age and I shudder to think of him being in school with a bunch of unvaccinated kids.

What I recall was a situation where just about every source of information was shouting out that crazy loans were THE way to buy houses, that anyone who did buy a house was guaranteed to make a pile of money, and that nothing could possibly go wrong. The few people who dared to say otherwise were subject to a storm of scorn and ridicule.

That's not true. I remember very clearly reading an article in San Francisco magazine about how there was a huge housing bubble and that no one could believe the market was still rising. This was in 2004. Also, the NY Times ran several articles in 2005-2006 on renting vs. buying that concluded renting was the better deal. There were also many bloggers writing about the bubble and pointing out very clearly that it was unsustainable.

As for me, I looked into buying a condo, but when I looked at traditional affordability guidelines (20% down, house price no more than 3X your income), I knew there was no way I could afford it. So I remained a renter and it's worked out. My husband and I are completely debt-free (no credit card debt, no car payments, no student loans) and we plan to buy next year when prices have completely deflated.

For those who wanted to see it, there was plenty of information out there arguing against buying, but the majority of people chose to disregard it in favor of the real estate boosters. Why? I'm not sure. I guess people are just prone to get caught up in manias.

Everyone I know who went to Harvard undergrad was miserable for four years. It's huge and impersonal. the pressure to achieve is insane, and if you complain about it you're treated as a pariah because after all, it's a tremendous privilege to go to Harvard.

There's nothing wrong with realizing it's not the place for you and moving on. People behave as though dropping out of Harvard is a calamity, but that's bullshit (ask Bill Gates). The west coast has fantastic schools and you will indeed have that writing career you want if you're willing to pursue it--no Ivy degree necessary.

Another thing to consider: everyone who goes to Harvard or any other elite school ranked in the top 1 percent of their high school class. But the most people who get into those elite schools find that they are no longer the top dogs--instead they are little fish in a big pond. It's a huge adjustment to have to go from being hot shit to just average (or at least average in that environment). That's why it's important to establish an identity outside of your academic achievements.