I have worked as a psychiatrist and executive coach for decades, helping clients around the world bring the truths about their lives into focus and to use those truths to become more knowing and more powerful. I believe the same lens I have used to spark transformational insights can be trained on our culture, to kindle realizations that will move human beings toward bold thought and action. I reject the notion that counselors, therapists, life coaches, psychoanalysts and psychiatrists should only listen. I think we have a lot to say, given all we have been privileged to hear. If only, I have thought in lighthearted moments, I could write prescriptions prompting those who receive them to reflect deeply—the way people so eagerly swallow medicines—then perhaps many people could be coaxed closer to living with passion and purpose.

PROJECT PRESCRIPTION is my way of harnessing the power of prescription writing and the power of art and media to make people think, make them debate (even with themselves) and bring them closer to their heartfelt beliefs, whether those beliefs are in perfect agreement with the prescriptions I have written, or in direct opposition to them.  

These prescriptions don’t get hidden in a pocket or wallet or handbag.  They don’t get turned over to a pharmacist, in exchange for a bottle of pills to kill your pain or put you to sleep. They get put on display.  They’re based on big ideas and ideals, and they’re meant to be seen, so they can change lives—including yours.

 

Dr. Keith Ablow