The Mind Hug Story

Why am I creating this community?

But first, who am I?

That’s me when I was slightly younger - using my dad as a transportation device. I have been solving problems for a while.

My name is Hassam Mahmood. I work as a psychotherapist, musician, and a freelance writer. I collect vintage fountain pens and use them almost daily!

I trained as a psychotherapist in the UK, along with advanced CBT training from the Feeling Good Institute in the USA. I completed additional postgraduate training in CBT from the University of Oxford. All the while, I battled quite a few personal demons!

I am passionate about crafting a unique therapeutic approach that brings together the best of two worlds: The collaborative empricism of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and the sublime compassion, understanding, and empathy championed by Carl Rogers.

As I undertake this journey, I mess up, learn, and continue to make (hopefully new) mistakes. And everyday, I gain meaningful therapeutic insights from my work with clients and personal experiences.

I am here to document and share this challenging but rewarding experience - warts and all! In this sharing is the promise of connecting with humanity at a deeply universal level, while paradoxically sharing the deeply personal.

The Mind Hug - What will it be about?

“What is most personal and unique in each one of us is probably the very element which would, if it were shared or expressed, speak most deeply to others.” - Carl Rogers

I am not alone in the way I see, feel, and understand certain aspects of life. You are not alone in the way you see, feel, and understand certain aspects of life. With The Mind Hug, one of my goals is to articulate observations, concepts, and perspectives that perhaps do not often see the light of day - and when they do, they are often a balm for tired souls: “Why have we not talked about this before!”.

Another one of my goals is to share mind hugs - ideas that have been helpful, illuminating, and therapeutically valuable. Many of these ideas have been the result of embracing a Socratic approach to life: questioning the obvious, the mundane, the taken-for-granted, the “of course it’s so”, and the “way things are”.

I will be sharing a monthly newsletter (a post every last Friday!) for free subscribers which would explore topics in mental health, personal learnings, actionable insights, cultural observations, and Socratic questioning of the world we live in! If you like my work and wish to support it, you can pledge to be a paid subscriber. In the future, paid subscribers would get an extra bonus hug each month! Or, you could continue reading the free content and spreading the word to support my work!

The Mind Hug Community

Photo by Duy Pham on Unsplash

With wit, humour, compassion, and authenticity, let’s question the world we live in!

There is a profound sense of excitement as I anticipate meeting, listening to, and learning from individuals who resonate with the content, raise questions, and bring new meaning to important topics in mental health, psychology, and philosophy. The universal, authentic, and deep human connection that can be fostered through shedding light on the personal struggles we face each day, is priceless - it is indeed the psychological equivalent of a physical caring embrace, a hug :)

I’d love to hear from you! Please comment with any questions, feedback, requests, or ideas that you may have!