As a mom to two boys, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where our boys “go” when they feel they don’t belong.

Watching Stand By Me a few months ago with my almost 13-year-old son, I was struck by how the woods once served as a sanctuary for boys to process trauma through connection. Today, that sanctuary has largely been replaced by the “traumasphere”—digital spaces where influencers trade on isolation and performative power.

My piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer, From the Woods to the Web: ‘Stand By Me’ and the traumasphere explores how we can help this generation reclaim authentic connection before the digital echo chamber becomes the only place they have left.

This phenomenon isn’t happening in a vacuum; the rise of the “alpha” masculinity retreats recently chronicled in the New Yorker highlights the same profound sociological and psychological shift.

I believe mental health professionals have important contributions to make to this conversation, and I’m glad to be part of it in order to make the world a place where everyone has a space to belong.