David Nathan, PsyD PLLC

10/31/2025

New blog post for Halloween. Should we be scared?

Should Psychologists be worried about the rise of AI?

10/30/2025

Thanks MPR for having me on to discuss the transition from having children in the home to being an empty nester.

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about the emotional mix of pride, grief, and rediscovery that comes with an empty nest — and how to find balance and meaning in this new stage of life.

10/30/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KD8wYiMRC/

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09/27/2025

Amazon just paid a $2.5 billion fine to the FTC this week for its use of Dark Patterns; techniques found everywhere these days to get us to spend money and become addicted to online content. This inspired my blog post today about Dark Patterns, what they are, how they work, and how they are even more dangerous for folks with ADHD or ASD.

Dark Patterns, tricks game, website and online store designers use to get us hooked and spend more than we mean to, are everwhere. This week, Amazong paid a $2.5 BILLION dollar fine to the Federal Trade Commission due to decieving people into joining Amazon Prime and then intentionally making ending

07/02/2025

Self-acceptance can be difficult to achieve for anyone, but it is especially difficult for individuals with ADHD. Here are some strategies that can help cultivate self-acceptance, regardless of our struggles.

Self-Acceptance can be difficult to achieve for anyone, but is especially difficult for individuals with ADHD. Here are some strategies that can be used to help cultivate self-acceptance regardless of our struggles.

06/30/2025

Thank you Erin Hassanzadeh, Jeff Wagner and the WCCO 4 TV team for allowing me to come on and discuss ways for parents to recognize when their children's screen use (and their own screen use!) has ventured into unsafe territory. I very much appreciate how dedicated WCCO 4 TV is to covering mental health.

Dr. David Nathan, a psychologist at Allina Health, share new data and advice to parents struggling to limit screen time.

06/03/2025

This is a tragedy. I had the opportunity to spend a year as a mental health intern at the St. Paul Job Corps during my doctoral training. Job Corps takes older teens and younger 20-somethings from difficult backgrounds and trains them to be painters and chiefs and carpenters and nurses. It is an outstanding program that has helped countless young people turn their lives around and get skills to have good jobs. It isn't perfect, but there is no doubt in my mind that the Job Corps programs (there were 1-2 in every state) ends up creating far more economic value than it could ever cost us. Shutting down this program is a huge loss for St. Paul and for our nation.

Leaders of Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps say a newly announced federal "pause" will bring an abrupt end to a 44-year mission to provide stability, job training.

05/31/2025

Task Avoidance is a common part of living with ADHD. It isn't that someone is lazy; it's that their brain has run out of energy and needs to recharge before it can take on something else. Read my post to learn more about how to recognize task avoidance, what causes it, and what can be done about it.

Why It Happens and How to Handle It

04/29/2025

Thank you, Minnesota Psychological Association, for the 2025 MPA Presidential Citation for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Psychology. I am deeply grateful for this honor and recognition.

04/23/2025

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is asking the National Institute of Health to create a vast database of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Last week at his first press conference, he stated, "These are kids [with Autism] who will never pay taxes. They'll never hold a job. They'll never play baseball. They'll never write a poem. They'll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted."

This is slanderous and untrue. Notable great Americans who are or were also on the Autism Spectrum include Bill Gates, Temple Grandin, Albert Einstein, Heather Kuzmich, and Minnesota's own Eva Erickson. Saying someone with Autism will never be able to do these things is utterly ridiculous and harmful. Below is a video with recommendations for individuals concerned about their safety and privacy in the wake of Secretary Kennedy's frankly terrifying plans.

Stigmas and biases against individuals because they are part of a larger group are always wrong. Individuals with Autism deserve the same respect as everyone else. Shame on Secretary Kennedy for being so ignorant and hurtful.

🧠 Autism, Medical Data & RFK Jr.'s New Study — What You Need to KnowIn this video, I speak directly to our autistic community about the new national autism ...

03/23/2025

You are tougher than you think you are. How do I know? Read more to find out.

02/11/2025

https://lnkd.in/gUeNX_SG (link to story)

Thank you, Jana Shortal, for allowing me to discuss how the film Wicked appropriately models two people with very different perspectives becoming friends and how this positively improves the lives of each. We should never allow people who are harmful to come into our lives, but we also need to be able to interact smoothly with those with different perspectives. And data indicates that having friends and family with different views than us makes our lives and their lives rich and more fulfilling.