My Blog

Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD to Be Represented by the Authors -magnet- at the 2026 ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois • June 25–29, 2026

I’m honored to share that I will be represented and in attendance at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois, from June 25th through June 29th, 2026. This year’s conference will proudly feature and display three of my published works:

It Takes A Nation of Millions to Fight the Power: Vol. 1
It Takes A Nation of Millions to Fight the Power: Vol. 2
A Son’s Reckoning With Family

These titles rooted in truth-telling, historical clarity, and communal healing will be showcased among the nation’s leading literary voices, educators, librarians, and cultural institutions. I look forward to engaging with readers, professionals, and partners who are committed to expanding access, deepening understanding, and elevating stories that matter.

Chicago, I’ll see you in June.

Stepping Into 2026: Leaving 2025 Behind and Moving Forward With Intention

The turning of the year is more than a date shift. It is a threshold a moment where we stand between what shaped us and what is calling us forward. As we close the chapter on 2025, we honor both the weight and the wisdom it carried. This past year asked us to stretch, to grieve, to grow, and to confront truths we could no longer outrun. It was a year of breakthroughs and heartbreaks, clarity and complexity, endings and beginnings.

And now, 2026 rises before us with its own invitation.
Every year leaves fingerprints on our lives, but 2025 left its mark in ways we will carry for a long time. It was a year of deep emotional excavation personally, professionally, and collectively. Many of us navigated loss, transition, and the quiet work of rebuilding. We learned to sit with discomfort, to name our needs, and to honor our limits.
But 2025 also brought triumphs. It brought moments of alignment, purpose, and unexpected joy. It reminded us that resilience is not about pushing through it’s about returning to ourselves with honesty and compassion.
We leave 2025 not with regret, but with reverence.
The new year is not asking us to reinvent ourselves. It is asking us to move forward with intention. To carry the lessons without carrying the weight. To release what no longer serves our becoming. To step into the next chapter with clarity, courage, and a deeper understanding of who we are.

2026 is a year for:
Purposeful movement
Aligned decisions
Emotional honesty
Community and connection
Creative expansion
Healing that honors pace, not pressure

This is a year to build what we’ve been preparing for quietly, faithfully, and sometimes painfully in the years behind us.
As an author, clinician, and storyteller, I believe deeply in the power of new chapters. Not because they erase the old ones, but because they allow us to write differently. To imagine differently. To live differently.
2026 invites us to become more of ourselves not the version shaped by survival, but the version shaped by truth.
May 2026 meet you with gentleness.
May it offer clarity where there was confusion.
May it bring restoration where there was depletion.
May it open doors you once thought were closed. May it remind you that you are still becoming and that becoming is sacred work.

Here’s to a new year rooted in intention, courage, and the quiet power of moving forward.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD

2025: Final Thoughts.

This year held more than I ever expected. I walked through struggles that shook my foundation, including the heartbreaking loss of my beloved Aunt Sandra whose love, wisdom, and presence helped shape so much of who I am. Grief became a quiet companion, reminding me of the fragility of life and the power of legacy.

And yet, in the midst of that heaviness, 2025 also became a year of becoming. I earned my PhD. I published two books. I pushed through doubt, exhaustion, and the weight everything I was carrying. And somehow, grace kept showing up nudging me forward, reminding me that purpose doesn’t pause for pain.

Two more books are on the way, and I step into the new year with gratitude, humility, and a deeper understanding of what it means to persevere.

This year taught me that triumph and tribulation often walk side by side, and both have shaped me into someone stronger, clearer, and more aligned.

Here’s to honoring what we lost, celebrating what we built, and welcoming what’s still unfolding.

Here’s to honoring what we lost, celebrating what we built, and welcoming what’s still unfolding.

2026, I’m ready are you??

Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD

Welcome to the Official Website of Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD

Founder of Increasing Life Chances 4 You

Welcome. I’m honored you’re here.
This platform was built to be more than a website it’s a space for connection, truth-telling, and transformation. Whether you’re here for the books, the practice, or the movement, you’ve arrived at a place designed to uplift, inform, and engage.
Explore the Books
Here, you’ll find updates and reflections on my published and upcoming works:
• A Son’s Reckoning published by Front Line Publishing, this book explores abandonment, emotional literacy, and personal healing. Available on all major book platforms.
• It Takes a Nation of Millions to Fight the Power: Vol. 1 self-published and available worldwide, this foundational work offers a trauma-informed critique of the War on Drugs and its impact on Black and brown communities.
• It Takes a Nation of Millions to Fight the Power: Vol. 2 now available from Miramax Publishing, this follow-up deepens the abolitionist lens and centers care for the younger generation.
• The Table: Conversations Across Time also coming soon, this philosophical fiction gathers nine iconic thinkers across time for a ritual of awakening, dialogue, and vision.
About My Practice
I’m the founder of Increasing Life Chances 4 You, a trauma-informed mental health and coaching practice committed to emotional safety, cultural responsiveness, and systemic healing. Through telehealth, trainings, and community partnerships, I support individuals and institutions in building environments where people can thrive.
This site bridges my literary work and clinical mission offering tools, reflections, and engagement across disciplines.
What You’ll Find Here
This platform is designed for community, education, and empowerment. You’ll be able to:
• Engage directly with me through blog comments, I personally respond to every message.
• Buy merchandise that reflects our values and supports our mission. • Access podcasts, interviews, and media content that explore mental health, social justice, and community care.
• Stay updated on book releases, trainings, events, and public appearances
• Join conversations around Black male vulnerability, generational healing, youth empowerment, and systemic change
Let’s Build Together
This is a space for showing up, learning, healing, and acting. Whether you’re a reader, a clinician, a student, a parent, or a community leader, your voice matters here.

Let’s increase life chances together.

In truth and purpose,
Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD
Founder | Author | Therapist | Advocate | Coach | Consultant

A Son's Reckoning With Family, A Powerful New Release from Front Line Publishing

I am thrilled to announce my forthcoming release of A Son's Reckoning With Family, the latest title from Front Line Publishing, available now globally across all major book purchasing platforms. This deeply personal and emotionally resonant work explores the complexities of family, identity, and forgiveness through the eyes of a son confronting the truths of his past. With unflinching honesty and lyrical prose, I invite readers into a journey of reconciliation that is as raw as it is redemptive.
Available Worldwide
Whether you're in New York, Nairobi, or New Delhi, A Son's Reckoning With Family is available now for purchase on:
• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Apple Books
• Kobo
• Google Play Books
• And other major retailers
This is one story you won’t want to miss.
Spread the Word
Help me share this powerful new release with readers around the world. Follow me at #DrCarlYoung.Author, #Increasing Life Chances 4 You, #DrCarYoungPhd and #Front Line Publishing on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and launch events.

Expanding the Reach of Tanisha’s Journey: Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD Partners with Miramax Book Publishing

I am thrilled to announce my forthcoming release of A Son's Reckoning With Family, the latest title from Front Line Publishing, set to launch globally across all major book purchasing platforms. We’re honored to announce that Dr. Carl L. Young, PhD has partnered with Miramax Book Publishing for the release of It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Fight The Power, Vol. 2. This powerful continuation of Tanisha’s journey marks a major milestone in bringing her story to readers around the world. Following the success of Vol. 1, which was self-published and embraced by a passionate community of readers, this new partnership opens the door to a global marketing campaign led by Miramax. They will be handling all promotional efforts to ensure Tanisha’s voice reaches wider audiences across cultures and continents.
What’s Next: The Table: Conversations Across Time
Soon after the release of Vol. 2, readers will be invited into a radically different literary experience: The Table: Conversations Across Time. This ceremonial work of philosophical fiction stages a timeless gathering of nine iconic thinkers—Angela Davis, James Baldwin, Marcus Aurelius, Jane Elliott, Huey P. Newton, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Stokely Carmichael—summoned to a Library beyond time.

Structured in twelve ritualized chapters, the book unfolds through layered dialogue, symbolic silence, and emotionally charged inquiry. These voices do not debate—they listen, challenge, and speak across centuries, confronting themes of justice, power, pedagogy, identity, and repair. At the center of it all is the tenth chair: empty, intentional, and waiting—for the reader.

The Table is not a personal account. It is a blueprint. A literary offering for a world in search of repair.

Thank You for Walking With Me!!

To everyone who has purchased A Son’s Reckoning thank you. Your support means more than words can say.
This memoir was not written to sit quietly on a shelf. It was written to stir, to speak, to heal to inspire, to encourage. And now, because of you, it’s beginning to do just that.
Whether you found yourself in the silence, the struggle, or the ceremony, I invite you to stay in conversation. Reach out. Share your reflections. Let me know what moved you, challenged you, or stayed with you long after the final page.
Your voice matters. Your story matters. And together, we can build something deeper than a book we can build a community of reckoning, repair, and truth-telling.
Feel free to leave a comment, send a message, or tag Increasing Life Chances 4 You on social media. I read every word. I carry them with me.
With gratitude and solidarity,

Dr. Carl L. Young
Author, Therapist, Founder, Increasing Life Chances 4 You

The Necessary Friction of Growth

Reflections from A Son’s Reckoning

Growth is not always graceful. It doesn’t always look like blooming—it often feels like breaking.

In A Son’s Reckoning, I wrote about the kind of growth that scorches before it soothes.
The kind that disrupts family systems, unsettles relationships, and forces us to confront the parts of ourselves we were taught to hide.
That’s the necessary friction of growth..

Internal Friction: When the Self Shifts

We often flinch at our own evolution. Why? Because growth threatens the stories we’ve told ourselves to survive.

• Challenging BeliefsIn the memoir, I had to unlearn inherited silences and adopt a language of emotional truth. That wasn’t easy it was disorienting.
• Learning New Skills: Emotional literacy, like any skill, begins in awkwardness. I fumbled through vulnerability before I could speak it fluently.
• Setting Boundaries: Saying “no” to dysfunction meant saying “yes” to myself. That boundary work was sacred and terrifying.
This is the sound of your comfort zone cracking. It’s the soul stretching toward its own liberation.

External Friction: When Others Flinch
What You’ll Find Here
In A Son’s Reckoning, growth didn’t just disrupt me it disrupted the people around me. When you change, you change the room.
• Engage directly with me through blog comments, I personally respond to every message.
• Shifting DynamicsMy refusal to play the role of the silent son unsettled those who benefited from my silence.
• The Mirror Effect: My healing journey became a mirror some weren’t ready to look into.
• Fear of Loss: As I grew, some feared I’d leave them behind. And in some ways, I did—but not out of abandonment. Out of necessity.
This resistance isn’t always rooted in malice. Sometimes, it’s grief. Sometimes, it’s fear. Sometimes, it’s love that doesn’t yet know how to stretch.

Don’t Run from the Friction
It’s tempting to shrink back. To apologize for your light. To make yourself small enough to fit the version of you others are comfortable with.

But that’s not healing. That’s hiding.
Keep Moving Forward
Growth is a contact sport. It bruises. It burns. But it also builds.

Here’s how to stay the course:
1. Acknowledge the Discomfort in yourself and others. It’s okay that this is hard.
2. Communicate Your “Why” not to justify, but to invite understanding.
3. Hold Your Ground with Kindness boundaries don’t require cruelty.
4. Stay Focused on Your Path those meant to walk with you will adjust or bless your journey from afar.
In A Son’s Reckoning, I didn’t just write about pain I wrote about what it means to grow through it. To let the friction refine you, not define you.

So if you’re feeling the heat, the tension, the resistance good. That means you’re moving. That means you’re becoming.

Keep going.
Keep growing.
The friction is proof you’re alive.

In solidarity and fire,
Dr. Carl L. Young
Author | Therapist/Coach | Founder | Advocate – Increasing Life Chances 4 You

Stop Existing. Start Living.

Reflections from A Son’s Reckoning
There comes a moment quiet, piercing, undeniable when you realize you’ve been surviving your life, not living it.
In A Son’s Reckoning, I wrote about the cost of silence. The weight of performing peace while your soul screams for truth. The ache of shrinking yourself to soothe someone else’s discomfort. That’s not living. That’s emotional exile.

Are You Living or Just Existing?
Existing is passive. It’s waking up and slipping into roles that no longer fit. It’s compromising your truth to avoid someone else’s reaction. It’s asking yourself, “Will they be okay with this?” before asking, “Am I okay with this?”
Living is active. It’s choosing yourself. It’s speaking your truth even when your voice trembles. It’s refusing to betray your soul for the sake of someone else’s comfort.
The Cost of Compromise
People are leaving this world every day angry, resentful, unfulfilled. Not because they didn’t love others, but because they didn’t love themselves enough to live fully. They swallowed their truth. They postponed their joy. They made themselves small to keep the peace.

Stop Shrinking
If you’re still compromising how you feel to placate others, it’s time to stop.
If you’re still tiptoeing around your truth to avoid someone else’s discomfort, it’s time to stop.
If you’re still living for their reaction instead of your liberation, it’s time to stop.

Start Living
To truly live, you must claim yourself for yourself. Not for applause. Not for validation. Not for permission.

Here’s what that looks like:
• Say what you mean even if it’s messy.
• Choose what heals you even if it’s inconvenient.
• Be who you are even if it unsettles the room.
Your life is yours. Not theirs.
Your joy is yours. Not theirs.
Your truth is yours. Not theirs.

In A Son’s Reckoning, I didn’t just write about trauma or regret I wrote about reclamation. About the sacred act of choosing yourself. About the fire that comes when you stop existing and start living.
So if you’re ready to stop compromising and start living do it boldly. Do it loudly. Do it now.
Because your life is not a rehearsal.
It’s the real thing.
And it’s waiting for you.

In truth and fire, Dr. Carl L. Young
Author, Therapist, Founder, Increasing Life Chances 4 You