Question: What is your favorite thing about your job?

Stephen Baillargeon answered on 13 Jun 2018:

My favourite thing about my job is that I have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the world. This is true for all of my jobs. In group homes and working with kids, I do so one person at a time and make sure that everyone I work with, at the very least, feels understood. With kids this is especially rewarding because it’s so much easier to prevent mental illness than it is to recover from it. This means that my efforts are spent much more efficiently by working with mentally healthy children.

My research has the most potential. It may be the case that self compassion and art can reduce bias and promote mental health in those who practice them. If so, my research could help people decide how to make public education more efficient so that kids are given the tools needed to become smarter and better at making decisions before they need to use them. This could not only prevent suicide, but it could influence the outcomes of elections by making people vote more rationally. That would be great.