I have spent a great deal of time lately working on a grant proposal to get VISTA volunteers for ATN. I absolutely hate anything business related and would far, far prefer to be doing the service side of things than the business side of things. Must be why they finally figured out towards the end of my time in vet school that it would be wise to teach vets to be business managers as well… it isn’t necessarily an inherent ability.

Anyway, as I was writing up the section on “Community Needs” I needed some statistics.... more

The other night when Beth returned from swim practice, she informed me, “A lady in the bleachers said I was a really good swimmer!”

“You ARE a really good swimmer!” I replied.

“How would YOU know? You never watch me!”

Busted!! But the truth is, they discourage parents from watching regularly. And I watch her year round during three different meet seasons. But… here I sit tonight, watching her…

I brought my laptop for the repetitive times and was contemplating what to write about tonight. I also... more

On my recent vacation I enjoyed a moonlight horseback trail ride and found myself visiting with the pretty blond wrangler who was riding along beside me. We found ourselves discussing adoption and she happily informed me she was adopted. She was very appreciative of her life circumstances and loved her parents very much. She is also a newlywed and very much loves her husband.

So I am not at all sure what prompted me to ask her, “Do you have trust issues?”

She looked at me with wide eyes and said, “Funny you should ask me... more

I hinted in my last blog that although I was successful in not thinking about attachment or trauma issues in children for the majority of my recent vacation time, there were a few exceptions. The most notable time was the night all the cowgirls and two guides headed out for our moonlight ride.

Because my horse, Dillon, had developed quite an attitude about being in the middle of the pack and potentially getting kicked, we were always relegated... more

I received a call from the high school guidance counselor who has been working with Amy this past year. I have thought several times about calling her, but have resisted the temptation. Because I can see online the status of Amy’s grades and attendance at school, I have known for a couple of weeks that things were going south. I debated calling the counselor, but what would I say? What could I possibly say or do that would change anything? The counselor already thinks negatively about me… I have gotten the vibes. She “sort of”... more

My friend Julie has become quite the expert on the inner workings of the brain. She has been to neuropyschiatrist Daniel Amen’s clinic and has an incredible working knowledge of various parts of the brain and how they function. While I loved neurology in veterinary school, we didn’t get much into “executive functions” of the brain (prefrontal cortex) or the limbic system (emotional center of the brain.) While I am certain there... more

Continuing on with some thoughts on what creates a violent person who has no hesitation when it comes to committing mass murder…

I mentioned previously that the Newsweek article describes mass murderers as consumed with “misery, hatred, resentment and anger.” The article postulated that examining the killer’s childhood would be a reasonable place to start in an effort to discern where all that venom originated.

The theory... more

I want to address a few more thoughts from the Newsweek article before I close this interesting but scary and depressing topic. The article quotes numerous “folks in the know” who label mass killers as “paranoid”. I didn’t get that at first, as I have met a few kids I thought might grow up to be like Cho, but I wouldn’t have labeled them as paranoid. Of course, I’m not a p-doc (psychiatrist) either. But I understand more of what they mean now, because the article... more

The Anatomy of Violence article in Newsweek is an exploration of the various factors that contribute to the formation of an individual who is capable of doing what Cho, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, Kip Kinkel and other young mass murderers have done. It asks the question… Is there a genetic basis for sociopathy? One study thought it had found a link… but it didn’t pan out. Is it related to our gun culture? Not exclusively, for not everyone who has access to guns... more

My friend Julie sent me this link today… an extensive article in Newsweek about the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho. It is a long and sad read. There are many companion articles, one of which describes the victims. It seems like much more than a week ago that this tragedy occurred. So many families are still in a state of shock, not yet able to grasp the unexpected and violent death that befell their loved... more