Welcome to The Dose on Substack!

There is no health without mental health.

Hi! Welcome to The new and improved Dose on Substack. For those of you who have been following for the last few years, please know how grateful I am for your support. I am excited about the new features available on Substack and look forward to growing our community here.

The good news is that if you are receiving this email, you are already subscribed! You will continue to receive a free newsletter from me once a week, nothing new here. To ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle (otherwise known as Spam or Promotions) it might be helpful to add me to your contacts.

I’m also excited to share new ways to support and interact with The Dose, but first…

Allow me to (re)introduce myself…

Hi! I’m Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York City based “positive” psychiatrist who is committed to fixing what’s wrong and building what’s strong. Historically, psychiatry has focused on the diagnosis of disease and the treatment of individuals with mental illness. Positive psychiatry takes a more expansive approach, focusing on the promotion of wellbeing and the creation of health. Based on 15 years of experience, I help clients find strength within stress and wellness within illness.

What is The Dose?

My free weekly newsletter, The Dose, provides science-backed actionable advice for countering stress and cultivating wellbeing. It combines my years of training in medical school and psychiatry with my studies in the field of positive psychology. I share practical and achievable strategies that are life-enhancing and resilience-building. No smiley faces. No rainbows. No unicorns. I promise. The content is never finger wagging or guilt-inducing. The word “should” is not in my vocabulary. 

If you’re interested in feeling better than ‘air-quote fine’ — Here are three ways to join the community:

In addition to the weekly newsletter, paying subscribers get access to additional newsletters where I’ll dive deeper on previously covered topics and share my apothecary of positive prescriptions. Once a month you can count on receiving The Shrink Is In, where I answer reader questions. (As always, all submissions will be completely anonymous.) There are so many different content options on Substack (audio, video, subscriber chat, etc.) and I’m so excited to try them all out.

And you can always follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

You can also check out the “Gift a Subscription” option if you have some last minute holiday shopping to do.

Let me distill the research on wellbeing for you and deliver it to your inbox. You have my word that The Dose will never be more than a 5-minute read because I know you have other things to do!

Stress, burnout, and anxiety are at an all time high. While there isn’t a magic wand to eliminate these ongoing challenges, it is possible to fortify yourself in the face of daily stress.

Please submit ideas, ask questions, and provide suggestions. I look forward to connecting with you and learning from you.

I wish you all the best,

Dr. Samantha Boardman

A little more about me...

I received my B.A. from Harvard University, an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, and an M.A. in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. My work has been published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Translational Neuroscience, Frontiers in Psychiatry, and International Psychogeriatrics.

I have been featured in The New York Times, on the Today Show and Good Day New York and am a regular contributor to Psychology Today, The Wall Street Journal, and Thrive Global.

I am the founder of Positive Prescription, a website that combines my training in medicine and psychiatry with positive psychology.

My book, Everyday Vitality, is about cultivating vitality--the positive feeling of aliveness and energy that lies at the core of wellbeing and at the heart of a good day. In the book, I share strategies to override counterproductive responses to the onslaught of daily hassles and respond with flexibility and fortitude instead of fear and rumination.