December 21, 2010: Hobbling Around and Taking a Closer Look

I’ve been less active, overall, since recovering from total hip replacement surgery on my right hip on December 6 (the left one was done in April, 2008, so I kind of know the drill). As I hobble around, walking with the aid of a cane for about the next two months while I undergo physical … Read more

December 16, 2010: The HIV ‘Cure’ and Never Say Never

With the news this week that a man has been declared officially “cured” of HIV by way of stem cell therapy (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/hiv-cure-berlin-patient_n_796521.html), I was heartened, to say the least. Immediately, my mind went to two things: one was about what this means for the immediate future of HIV eradication research, and how soon could something … Read more

December 3, 2010: Have You Been Naughty or Nice? Reviewing Personal Ethics

I was driving with the radio on the other day, and a holiday ad came on that started with, “Have you been naughty or nice this year?” My first reaction was, “Hmmmmm. Define ‘naughty’.” And then I got to thinking: Just how DO we assess our own personal ethics for the year? Have I been … Read more

Gay Men’s Career Confidence: Do You Have ‘Professional Self-Esteem’?

What is professional self-esteem? In recent years in my psychotherapy practice, I have noticed a dramatic increase in the demand for more “coaching”-style services, and I have been happy to develop this for my clients. There are personal coaching issues, to be sure, but what I find much more frequently is that clients need professional … Read more

November 3, 2010: On Twenty Years of Living with HIV

kh pp AIDS ribbon dollar photo

Living with HIV:   It was 20 years ago today, November 3rd, 1990, that  I was diagnosed with HIV.  Knowing this “anniversary” was coming up, I was thinking about how to write about it.  I had things in mind, like a bullet-pointed “highlights” of the challenges and even perhaps “rewarding” or at least “poignant” experiences … Read more

November 1, 2010: The Case of the Wandering Twink

Well, it’s Halloween season, and I suppose that requires some kind of scary story.  So, I have one for you.  It starts out scary, moves on to kinda sad, and ends being kinda scary.  Dim the lights, lock the doors, and here goes: Last Wednesday was a busy day.  I saw a whole slew of … Read more

October 22, 2010: Election Season and Gay Men’s Mental Health: Season of the ‘Wicked Witches’

My take on this election season is:  Hoo-whee!  There is a WHOLE lotta crazy goin’ on! From Christine O’Donnell, the senatorial candidate in Delaware, confusing witchcraft with Satanism (a common mistake, but annoying as hell (so to speak) to Wiccans/Pagans), to Vicky Hartzler, the venomously anti-gay House candidate in Missouri, to Sharron Angle, senatorial candidate … Read more

October 11, 2010: National Coming Out Day

In honor of National Coming Out Day, I offer a reprint of an essay I did for an AIDS Project Los Angeles publication a few years ago: Coming Out:  Again and Again  Many young gay men, in childhood and early adolescence, as they become aware that they are gay, often build an internal awareness of their gay … Read more

On Gay Men’s Birthdays, Self-Esteem, and the Meaning of Life

How many times in a year do I hear that there are people who “hate birthdays”?  Far too many.  For these people, any recognition of a birthday is somehow a validation of their fears of aging, or a reminder that they are “just getting older.”  What can I say about this, as a sophisticated licensed … Read more

October 2, 2010: On Bullying, Gay Suicides, and Healthy Anger

In case you haven’t been exposed to any news this week, it’s been a really “newsy” week — a really BAD newsy week, that is.  In the past weeks, there have been FIVE — that’s right, FIVE, an entire FIST — of suicides by gay boys and men that are as a result of vicious, … Read more