Thursday (Jeudi) July (Juillet) 9, 2026
Medicine Thursday • Jeudi Médecine
Coffee with Zack ☕🩺
Jeudi 9 Juillet 2026 — Bleu, Blanc, Rouge Edition 🇫🇷
What's up, everybody! Today is Thursday (Jeudi), July (Juillet) 9, 2026 — and we're celebrating the world of Medicine. Today's focus: raising awareness for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder support, Music Therapy, and Videogame Therapy. #VaccinesSaveLives, and let's keep the conversation on mental and physical wellbeing going.
EDS & HSD Awareness 🧬
Community Event
The Ehlers-Danlos Society is hosting its 2026 Global Learning Conference: Connecting the Stripes, a hybrid event running July 24–26, 2026 in Dallas, Texas and online, built for individuals and families living with EDS and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD), as well as the clinicians and caregivers who support them. If this touches your life or someone you love, it's worth a look — the EDS Listening Labs remain one of the best community resources out there.
The Ehlers-Danlos Society is hosting its 2026 Global Learning Conference: Connecting the Stripes, a hybrid event running July 24–26, 2026 in Dallas, Texas and online, built for individuals and families living with EDS and hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD), as well as the clinicians and caregivers who support them. If this touches your life or someone you love, it's worth a look — the EDS Listening Labs remain one of the best community resources out there.
Grounding Techniques for Restless Moments 🧘
A gentle reminder that when things feel overwhelming, a low-stress environment like a bookstore café can help you re-center: a quiet corner, a hot drink, and something calming playing softly can go a long way. A few grounding tools worth keeping in your back pocket:
- Shift the sensory input — soft instrumental music or white noise can dial down surrounding noise.
- Try box breathing: in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4 — a few rounds can settle a racing mind.
- Ease off caffeine in the moment — herbal tea or decaf over espresso if things feel keyed up.
- Let your attention settle on something light — a magazine, a poetry collection, or a graphic novel.
- Jotting down a simple plan for the rest of your day can help build a bit more structure and stability.
- If a space starts feeling too loud or crowded, a public library nearby offers a quieter, steadier alternative.
Music Therapy: Reaching Disconnected Teens 🎵
Middle school is a genuinely tough stretch — hormonal shifts, identity formation, and social pressure all at once, and behavior that reads as "acting out" is often really a defense mechanism. When traditional talk therapy hits a wall with a teen who won't open up, music therapy offers a side door in, meeting kids where they already live emotionally instead of asking them to perform vulnerability on demand.
A few of the core tools certified music therapists use: analyzing song lyrics so a teen can project their own feelings onto an artist's words rather than stating them directly; therapeutic songwriting, where turning chaotic feelings into a structured verse helps organize them; and hands-on instrument work — drums, guitar, a launchpad — that gives a teen a non-verbal outlet and a therapist a way to guide raw energy toward a calmer state.
The reported payoff spans real behavioral ground: better impulse control from the turn-taking built into group rhythm work, stronger peer connection from collaborating on a track, and better stress tolerance from learning to reach for music intentionally when triggered — all of which shows up as fewer classroom blowups, less isolation, and steadier days.
A few of the core tools certified music therapists use: analyzing song lyrics so a teen can project their own feelings onto an artist's words rather than stating them directly; therapeutic songwriting, where turning chaotic feelings into a structured verse helps organize them; and hands-on instrument work — drums, guitar, a launchpad — that gives a teen a non-verbal outlet and a therapist a way to guide raw energy toward a calmer state.
The reported payoff spans real behavioral ground: better impulse control from the turn-taking built into group rhythm work, stronger peer connection from collaborating on a track, and better stress tolerance from learning to reach for music intentionally when triggered — all of which shows up as fewer classroom blowups, less isolation, and steadier days.
Videogame Therapy Spotlight 🎮
Now Playing
Coffee Talk Tokyo (Toge Productions & Chorus Worldwide) casts you as a late-night barista in a cozy Tokyo café, where a mixed cast of humans and yōkai stop by and pour out their stories over a cup of coffee or tea. It's a quiet, reflective experience that leans into themes of grief, identity, and modern life — a great example of how a slow, narrative game can double as its own kind of emotional therapy. Check it out →
Coffee Talk Tokyo (Toge Productions & Chorus Worldwide) casts you as a late-night barista in a cozy Tokyo café, where a mixed cast of humans and yōkai stop by and pour out their stories over a cup of coffee or tea. It's a quiet, reflective experience that leans into themes of grief, identity, and modern life — a great example of how a slow, narrative game can double as its own kind of emotional therapy. Check it out →