Mark Gorkin

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The Four “R”s for a PROductive Relationship: Be Respectful, Real, Responsible and Responsive

The Stress Doc presents a four step, “Four 'R'” communicational guide for building successful “give and take” professional relationships. The Four “R”s are dramatically illustrated in his recent encounter with an ENT surgeon. Many of us “Boomers” grew up with an alliterative academic mantra as educational foundation, that is, the Four “R”s – Reading, Writing, Rithmetic and Religion. Let’s just say I focused more on the first two “R”s and sort of made a nominal wave at the latter.

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Discovering Your Passion Through Humble Practice and Outrageous Play

A playful challenge from an audience member helps bring to life the importance of searching for and developing your passion, whether in the face of skepticism, long periods of self-doubt and/or having to accept (even better, learn to play with and laugh at) your own flaws and foibles. Setting the stage for the dramatic close of my Practice Safe Stress program with the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Dentistry faculty and staff, I declared, "Find something you love to do, that you are truly passionate about.

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The Silent Wall of Shame

Recently writing about “Bully Types” resurrected an emotio I have grappled with much of my life: a) being part of a family, especially as a child and teen, riddled with mental illness and shrouded in family secrets, b) as a child and young teen, threatened and emotionally bullied by peers for too many years, c) as an oft underachieving student and, finally, d) as a financially vulnerable speaker/word artist. The emotion is “SHAME!” And the crown with the cross: The ability to harness shame for uncommon empathy as well as creative and inspiring performance.

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Individual and Collective Crisis/Trauma Intervention and Debriefing: Ten Steps & Strategies

In light of events fifteen miles away (Baltimore) to 10,000 miles from my doorstop (Nepal), this essay titled, "Individual and Collective Crisis/Trauma Intervention and Debriefing: Ten Steps & Strategies," clearly has immediate relevance and application. Actually, the impetus for the article occurred last week when a friend and colleague (originally from Nepal) asked me to talk briefly about stress and trauma on a strategic planning phone conference with other Nepali-bo individuals.

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Leading With Passion Power

Leading with “Passion Power” ™: A Four “P” Interactive Model for Expanding Personal Energy, Professional Creativity and Organizational Synergy – Part I Awhile back, preparing for a talk on “Becoming a Dynamic and Engaging Speaker,” I asked myself a fundamental question: what are the essential ...

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Laughing in the Face of Layoffs

"How can the person displaced or downsized see both the danger and opportunity in career change or disruption? Can we learn, even, to both cry and laugh at this career crisis turning point?" To be able to see the comic in the crisis requires two achievements. First we must embrace Charlie ...

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Critical Incident-Trauma-Grief Intervention & Debriefing: Train the Trainer/Caregiver Workshop -- Addendum

In a world where encounters with sources of aggression and violence, trauma and grief are all too common, understanding the dynamics of “critical incidents/hazardous events” – both for adults and/or children directly impacted and for those encountering second-hand effects – is vital. This “train the trainer/caregiver” workshop is for family members or close friends, colleagues, educators, religious or community leaders, emergency responders, or an array of helping professionals.

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Confronting Your Intimate FOE: Fear of Exposure

Confronting Your Intimate FOE: Transforming Fear of Exposure into the Fun of Embarrassment As a speaker and workshop leader, I’m always designing and experimenting with small group exercises that, hopefully, generate positive energy, emotional give and take and some knowing, if not hearty, ...

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Finding and Losing Inner Child Love: Mou ing to Morning and Back Again

Alas, the recent break-up of a nine year relationship was painful enough. But when my ex-partner’s daughter indefinitely suspended (if not permanently ended) weekly 3-5 minute Skypeing and my periodic visiting with her 3 ½ year old daughter (i.e., my ex’s grandchild), because the mother felt “confused” by the split (initiated by her mother) along with being “tired of saying ‘Yes’ when she wanted to say ‘No’”…well, the loss, pain, and grief go very, very deep.

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Courageous Resilience & Creative Risk-Taking (CR2): The ABCs of Designing Disorder

Notice the vertical letter pattern to the right of the first “Preamble” stanza. It’s the rhyme scheme: A-B-CC-A-B-CCC. This is the basic scheme throughout the poem. Also, it’s one reason the poem is subtitled, “The ABCs of Designing Disorder.”rn~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Courageous Resilience & Creative Risk-Taking (CR2): The ABCs of Designing Disorder Preamble Trio: 1) Weariness… 2) Uncertainty… 3) Failure A Resilience and Risk B The new “R & R” C Where effort and pluckr C With guidance and luckr A Help you stretch and stickr B To that rising starr

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Strengthening Stress Resiliency and Brain Agility with Humor and Natural SPEED

My participation as the “Stress Doc” ™ at the USPTO Health Fair reminded me of two basic facts: 1) people like to laugh, especially when they can share a gentle and knowing laugh at their own flaws and foibles and 2) especially in a high demand-production work environment and a “TNT – Time-Numbers-Technology – Driven- and Distracted World, many folks are hungry for concepts, tools, and strategies that will impact and improve the quality of daily life.

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Developing Your Passion Power: The Four “P” Path

A few years back, preparing for a talk on “How to Give Exciting and Engaging Presentations,” I asked myself a fundamental question: what are the essential qualities that I bring to a speaking program? In general, my goal is to help people become more FIT, that is, how can attendees have “Fun” ...

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Stress Doc Website

The award-winning 'Stress Doc' Website is a "workplace resource" (National Public Radio/NPR) featuring "Motivational Humor" speaking programs, books, training/marketing Kit and coaching services wide-ranging, syndicated essays archive of articles, videos and audios.

September 27, 2010

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Stress Doc WebSite

The Stress Doc WebSite is an archive of articles, videos, audios and information on the Doc's acclaimed speaking and training programs on Stress, Team Building, Managing Anger/Conflict, Managing Change, Passion Power/Soul-ar Power and Humor.

March 3, 2008

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The Stress Doc

September 23, 2007