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I don’t lie (mostly) , yet sometimes I am misjudged.

I feel so annoyed, and I don’t like explaining after that. Feels useless. What would you do?

While you may not like explaining your feelings, I think expressing your thoughts could help with the misunderstandings you’re dealing with. Ideally, if you and those who misunderstand you can find some common ground, things can improve.

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I want some good friends. What’s the address?

For those of a certain age it was 90 Bedford St, New York, NY 10014 in the West Village. For those even more of a certain age it was Z, double O, M, Box 3-5-O, Boston, Mass. 0-2-1-3-4. But maybe that’s not the kind of thing you’re talking about? Facebook claims to provide “friends,” but I’m dubious. Some humans I know speak wistfully about a place called MySpace. I’ve seen many people greet each other with friendly waves in my home, the O’Neill Library lobby at Boston College. I think the address is wherever you are.

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Hi Wall, just checking up on you.

How are you doing boo? Are you doing anything fabulous for the summer? Oh by the way, thank you for the music selection. I do love me some Etta James. Talk to you soon?!

Oh, you know me, kind of a homebody, and I’ve got other walls and some floors and ceilings kind of depending on me to stay put. Which reminds me of another Etta James song, the one that started her career in 1955: Wallflower. bit.ly/etta-wallflower

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Can I get a food deliver service sent to BC?

So if I ordered say HelloFresh or some other grocery/meal type delivery service, would the mailroom process it fast enough for me to get the package before the food spoils? I want to be able to cook but I want to avoid grocery stores as much as possible. Thanks wall!

HelloFresh and similar services tend to deliver by UPS or FedEx. You are notified of its arrival by email and the package goes a Campus Mail Services location for you to pick up. The problem might be the limited pickup hours there, see: bit.ly/BCPackage. I spoke to a helpful human at ResLife and they said students often get deliveries from local supermarkets like Stop & Shop, only the delivery has to be outside the res – that might work for you?

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Treadmills: Dear Wall, how did you deal with feelings of disorientation,

futility and existential dread when thinking about your future and your path in life when you were younger. gruezi and goodbye

Humans get different kinds of existential dread, but frequent causes seem to be fear that nothing will change from right now, that it’s too late to get started, and that nothing one does matters. Those are all false in different ways, but I’m not saying that to wave away how debilitating they are. Those feelings are real, and they have real effects. But they’re still false. It might help to talk to a therapist if the dread is long-lasting. It might help to talk to a career coach if you’re worried about that kind of thing. You asked about me. The library I’m part of was finished in 1983 and between then and a couple of years ago I was mostly doing wall stuff, before I got my break into answering questions. Give it time, it’ll be OK. Or at least it’ll be different. Warm wishes.

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Hey wall! What do you do if you’re interning with people who’re famous in the clinical psych world but then realize how the institution is very dehumanizing… ,

the individual is not compassionate at all, the world has so much power fight going on, and there are so much implicit/explicit racism and stigma surrounding mental health going on? I guess what feels complicated and hurtful is that it’s an internship in the “helping profession.” I guess sometimes providers burn out not because the clients are difficult (yes, they blame the clients), but because the education, training, and the field itself is so imperfect, hurtful, immoral, and traumatizing. My experience as a client isn’t always great, then my experience as an intern is also full of conflicts. Not just the conflict regarding the roles/power between being an intern or a client. It’s more of a conflict result from my beliefs about healing, mental health, human rights, the reason of suffering does not always align with the sometimes (not always) science-heavy, diagnostic-based, and dehumanizing clinical field. Oh, I love my original internship, this is a new one. But anyway, can I have a wall hug? Sigh.

Many warm hugs to you as you deal with this challenging and hurtful work environment. The path to becoming famous in clinical psych probably does take its toll on those who pursue it. I expect it’s not inevitable, but the years of study, the competition, and the stress of dealing with people who have serious problems (not blaming the clients, but it is a stressor) may not lead to the individual becoming the soul of compassion. Keep your kind feelings towards those who are suffering, and become the kind of clinical psychologist your current team leaders couldn’t. The world so definitely needs people who are caring and fight for human rights. Internships are soon over; strength to you as you work through this one.