Even before starting medical school, I had the opportunity to learn to meditate: to sit quietly and watch what the human mind is doing. From this, I learned that awareness of my thought-patterns, impulses, likes and dislikes could be helpful in responding to life's challenges. Early in my career, this interest in helping others through understanding of the mind led me to train in psychoanalysis. Psychodynamic psychotherapy remains an important part of my practice as well as my teaching and supervision of Child Psychiatry Fellows. Yet the crises arising in my practice so often involved suicidal and self-injuring teens, that I was compelled to train in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. From this training, I learned how the apparently opposite approaches of acceptance and behavioral change could work together to address human suffering. As my training in behavioral therapy enriched my approach to treatment, I learned how parents themselves could be the most effective agents of therapeutic change with young children. Inspired to train in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, I now take delight in coaching parents to help their distressed children learn to cope with challenges and to enjoy their improved relationships with others. Throughout my career, I have been privileged to teach and supervise Child Psychiatry Fellows, from whom I continue to learn.