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Rachel Vaughn

Based in Dublin, Rachel Vaughn is an applied-psychology writer who translates peer-reviewed findings into practical micro-habits. She holds an M.A. in Applied Positive Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, is a Certified Mental-Health First Aider, and an associate member of the British Psychological Society. Rachel’s research briefs appear in the subscriber-only Positive Psychology Practitioner Bulletin and she regularly delivers evidence-based resilience workshops for Irish mental-health NGOs. At DMNews she distils complex studies into Direct Messages that help readers convert small mindset shifts into lasting change.

Why some people can’t accept help without immediately offering something in return

How the way someone introduces you tells you exactly where you stand with them

The slow erosion of disagreement as a healthy communication tool and what replaced it when nobody was watching

When being “the calm one” in a conflict is its own form of aggression

What AI-generated sympathy is doing to human grief

What you silently forward to your friend late at night is often the closest thing to a diary entry most people will ever share online

If you find it easier to be honest with an AI than with most people you know, psychology says you’re not developing an unhealthy relationship with technology — you’re identifying a gap in your human relationships that the AI didn’t create

The reason your group chat has 47 members but only 3 people ever talk isn’t about introversion — it’s a real-time map of who holds social power and who’s learned it’s safer to watch

If you get your money advice from these 7 sources, psychology says you’ll never actually build wealth

A New Year provides the ideal chance for people considering new career goals to reflect and consider which path to take in the future.

I stopped setting goals and started doing this instead—it changed everything in 6 months

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