doreen dodgen-magee, psy.d.

doreen dodgen-magee, psy.d. author | speaker | psychologist
https://linktr.ee/drdoreendm

10/15/2025

I have fought with myself and the world about the word “cute” for the entirety of my life.

As a person who has longed to be experienced as capable, smart, wise, & radically present, being referred to as cute always stings a bit.

I know it’s because I associate the word/state of being as opposed to that which I so hope to be.

Yesterday, a white man, a bit older than me, referred to me as “Pumpkin” at the store.

I was instantly enraged.

When I got home, I realized that the sticker from the pumpkin I was purchasing was stuck on my jacket like a name tag & he was simply playing along with a game I wasn’t yet aware of.

I wanted to laugh & cry at the same time about the energy I’d wasted being mad.

As I reach into this new season of life, I’m trying to come to terms with how little I can control in terms of how people experience me. This is both freeing and tiring.

Can you all help me out?

What does the word “cute” mean to you when you use it about people? What feelings & associations lie under and in it?

Seriously, please weigh in here.

10/09/2025

Small actions can have huge payoffs when it comes to our mental health.

This one is huge. Make it easy to resist mindless scrolling by placing a list of things that are healthier on your screen saver.

Mental health is health. Take yours seriously.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and I’m deeply grateful to and for the opportunity to honor my beloved s...
10/02/2025

October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and I’m deeply grateful to and for the opportunity to honor my beloved sister in law and nieces in this powerful piece.

The presence of a firearm in a situation of intimate partner violence makes it 5 times more likely that an abuser will kill their partner.

Extreme Risk Protection Orders provide a powerful and rational way of lessening this risk for women.

I’ll link the entire article in my Linkt.ree as well as some information on Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

If you are a therapist, teacher, religious leader, librarian, or anyone, really, who works with the public, knowing about these life saving laws is important.

As Su***de Awareness month comes to a close, I share some more important things I’ve learned since Gage died.If you have...
09/30/2025

As Su***de Awareness month comes to a close, I share some more important things I’ve learned since Gage died.

If you have more to add, please do so in the comments.

Together, we can work to remove the stigma around depression and su***de.

To all of you impacted, I feel you and I care!

Seek out part 1 of this series in my feed from earlier this month.

***deawarness ***deawarenessprevention ***deawareness

09/22/2025

(CW Su***de) Su***de Awareness Month, Part 3.

When we are hopeless, stressed, depressed, or generally overwhelmed, the ability to pause is a super power.

Sadly, we don’t develop this ability without practicing it.

What about prating right now?

Put your phone down (it’ll still be there when you’ve finished). Take a few deep breaths. Stretch your arms up high. Sway back and forth.

Come back to your self.

Then set an alarm on your phone (right now) for tomorrow and the days ahead. When it goes off, take 3 minutes to come back to yourself.

The world is hard and we need healthy practices to survive it.

In case you’d benefit from hearing the other things I’ve learned since su***de touched my life, I’ve put a link to this entire talk (from Su***de Awareness Week at Belmont University) in the Linkt.ree in my bio.

09/20/2025

(CW: Su***de) Su***de Awareness Month, Part 2

It’s no wonder to me that it’s hard to stay alive when we are immersed in a culture that tell us that exactly how we should look, post, be, and live.

Grind culture encourages us to be on at all times.

For me, this meant caring for everyone in my circle but never turning that care toward myself.

I think that Gage lived with a similar burden.

Being who you truly are (truly, as in TRULY) is a radical act of resistance to grind culture.

I’m working hard to be who I am (since it’s the only me I can genuinely be).

I invite you to do the same.

While you’re doing so, check in on those you love who may be struggling. And, if you are the one struggling, call 988. Whoever answers genuinely cares. I’m not kidding. I know them and they do.

***deawarenessmonth

09/18/2025

(CW: Su***de) September is Su***de Awareness Month and, last year, I was honored to be the keynote speaker for Belmont University’s Su***de Awareness Week.

My chosen son’s su***de changed almost everything about me.

It also made me want to shatter all the stigmas that say we shouldn’t talk about bone deep depression, unrealistic expectations, the pressure of grind & fitting in culture, & su***de, itself.

In my opening talk, I addressed all the ways in which Gage’s death changed me in the hopes that Gage & my humanity might help others feel less alone. That there might be some comfort in naming the unnamable so that a little bit of light might shine in through a tiny crack.

I’m going to share some clips from this talk over the next few days & invite you to take some deep breaths & consider who you might check in on or reach out to.

Su***de is a reality & we all need to talk about it, from all angles, more.

This is your invitation.

***deawarenessmonth ***deawarenessprevention ***depreventionmonth

As I helped my friend harvest the final tomatoes & zucchini at her farm, I was hit by how the seemingly boring task of t...
09/18/2025

As I helped my friend harvest the final tomatoes & zucchini at her farm, I was hit by how the seemingly boring task of tending to growing things was actually the perfect thing to quiet my mind.

Even if all you've got is a small square of dirt or grass, at some point today, go touch it with your feet or hands.

Really feel the energy of the earth that sustains us.

As you approach the earth, as much as you can, leave all your to-do lists, reactive feelings, & tension behind.

For 2 to 5 minutes just breathe. Imagine pulling nutrients up from the earth just like plants do. Let whatever tiny or huge bit of nature hold your entire being & attention.

Exercises like this, when practiced with frequency, can truly transform our mental health. Let's get committed to doing them.

Hi! Welcome to this little space of radical welcome in a place that takes a toll on us. Come on in!There are a lot of ne...
09/16/2025

Hi! Welcome to this little space of radical welcome in a place that takes a toll on us. Come on in!

There are a lot of new folks here so it seems fitting to re-introduce myself.

I’m a psychologist, author, & speaker who is mostly just a human being.

I have two books out in the world, love guesting on podcasts, & adore making people feel uncomfortable by telling them how wonderful & important they are.

I think, write, & speak about how to stay emotionally, intellectually, & physically healthy in a digitally demanding and “always on” world.

Helping folks develop:

🧘🏼‍♀️ emotional regulation skills

🧎🏼‍♀️‍➡️tolerance for boredom & awkward moments

🫀the ability to know & believe that they are important & beloved for being exactly who they are

are what is important to me.

I’m so glad you’re here & hope to be a safe place to land on days when you’re mindlessly scrolling & feeling stressed.

I’d love to know what you’d like to see, read, or hear here. Please weigh in in the comments.

09/11/2025

(CW: Homicide) If guns made us more safe, America would be the safest place in the world.

This is not true.

My family was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. The students in school shootings weren’t either. Neither was Charlie Kirk.

No place is free from the potential of gun violence in America when easy, unfettered access to fi****ms is the primary goal.

There are a million ways to end gun violence, specifically, and violence in all forms, universally.

Find your way and let’s get to it.

Today is World Su***de Prevention Day.In my experience, the most effective way of preventing su***de is to start talking...
09/10/2025

Today is World Su***de Prevention Day.

In my experience, the most effective way of preventing su***de is to start talking more honestly, loudly, and frequently about how hard it is to be (and stay) alive.

Being human in a hurting world is no small feat and is not for the faint of heart.

Throughout this month (su***de awareness month), I'm going to be sharing what I've learned since our beloved Gage died by su***de.

I'd love for this to be a safe space for you to share what you have to share as well.

The world is better with your wildest version of your self in it (not whatever version you feel like should be) and to be this person, you need places to lean.

This can be that place.

(In addition, if you'd like to have some conversations with your community or work group about this topic, I'm ready to facilitate. We need to be talking about this whole living thing everywhere.)

Yesterday I completed my 60th spin around the sun. For years, I’ve planned that, on that day, I’d go have a picture take...
09/08/2025

Yesterday I completed my 60th spin around the sun.

For years, I’ve planned that, on that day, I’d go have a picture taken under the “Since 1965” neon at I love that we’ve both been around since 1965 & that, when I walk into the restaurant, I feel its longevity & specific wonder….the staid yet totally alive feeling of a place with roots and wide wide branches.

I want to be that kind of presence.

I’m committing to this energy for the next chapter of this wild, messy, complex, risky, beautiful, & boring chapter.

I’m fully leaning in to all the years that have shaped, broken, & repaired me & also striving toward new levels of radical care of self & others.

Thank you for being part of my actual, real life even though we’re here in social media. I appreciate the large & small ways you support & inform my life & my work.

I have big offerings to make in the coming months & years & am excited to involve you all in the process of living & writing & speaking in the year of our Lord 2025 & beyond.

Here’s to wrinkles & wisdom & entirely mysterious new things that can only come because we are where we are!

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