At Relational Ground, Dominick explores how men’s health, relationships, and societal change intersect through stories, research, and global perspectives. This work examines how cultural norms and systemic barriers shape men’s experiences with reproductive health, family planning, and emotional well-being. From global fertility trends to fathers’ roles in sexual health and the NFL’s platform for men’s health, Relational Ground challenges outdated narratives and offers practical solutions. Its relational approach emphasizes connection—between partners, families, communities, and health systems—as a catalyst for stronger public health and healthier lives. Click the link to visit the Relational Ground Substack. Exemplary blogs are shared below. 
The Collapse of Workplace Friendship
For many men, work quietly provided the conditions that made friendship possible: repeated interaction, shared purpose, and low-stakes proximity. As remote work, turnover, and hustle culture thin those conditions, connection doesn’t disappear overnight. It becomes harder to start and easier to lose. What we’re calling a loneliness crisis is, in part, the collapse of work as a place to belong.
Swipe Fatigue and the Friendship Gap: Why Dating Apps Don’t Fix Men’s Loneliness
Dating apps are not failing because men are broken. They are failing because they are being asked to solve a problem they were never designed to address. Access without infrastructure does not produce connection. If we want to reduce men’s loneliness, we must rebuild the friendship markets that make durable relationships possible.
Relational Masculinity in Public
Taken together, Talarico models a form of masculinity that is accountable rather than authoritarian, humble rather than domineering, and rooted in relationship rather than fear. What makes this posture especially relevant is not its theological specificity or political context, but its implications for men’s health and belonging.
The Testosterone Economy and the Appeal of Simple Answers
Men aren’t chasing testosterone. They’re chasing certainty. In a health system that often says “wait and see,” the testosterone economy offers a clear label, a defined pathway, and a sense of legitimacy—revealing not a failure of men, but a failure of care design.
Individualism Under Constraint
Childlessness in the United States is increasingly common, but rarely experienced the same way. Drawing on national surveys, demographic research, and studies of permanent contraception, this essay examines how Americans are navigating fertility, identity, and permanence in an era shaped by economic insecurity, delayed independence, and policy uncertainty.
Friendship Markets and the Quiet Crisis of Men’s Connection
This essay explores the idea of “friendship markets” — the social environments that make connection possible — and why those markets collapse for many men in adulthood. Drawing on cultural analysis rather than self-help advice, it argues that men’s loneliness is less about personal failure and more about structural design: workplaces, norms, and institutions that discourage connection. The piece examines how friendship forms through identity, transition, and shared purpose, and highlights legitimate on-ramps into belonging such as training groups, fatherhood cohorts, service teams, and recovery circles. The result is a reframing of men’s isolation as a cultural and infrastructural challenge, not an individual flaw.
General Who? What White Christmas Teaches Us About Men, Aging, and Being Loved
A Thanksgiving ritual, a 1954 musical, and an unexpected lesson about masculinity. What White Christmas teaches us about men, aging, and saying “I love you” out loud—without embarrassment.
From Talk to Transfer
By consolidating ten male-engagement curricula into an implementation-ready learning sequence (RAST) with explicit safeguards, artifacts, and service linkages, this paper moves the field from attitude change to behavioral transfer. It operationalizes men’s own health-seeking—especially in SRH—through rehearsable micro-skills and measurable clinic pathways, yielding generalizable design standards that enhance effectiveness, external validity, and participant safety (autonomy, confidentiality, GBV risk mitigation).
Men’s Holiday Check-In Guide
The holidays can be a meaningful time to reconnect—but also a time when some men struggle quietly. This guide offers a relational, low-pressure way to check in with the men in your life through everyday moments and casual conversations. Simple prompts, small gestures, and gentle follow-ups can make the season feel more connected and supportive.
Infographic: Insights on Young Men’s Connection and Belonging
• “Up to 40% of young men now belong to no organized group. Belonging is breaking down—and the data shows why.”
• “Digital spaces aren’t replacing community for young men. They’re the only community many have left.”
• “Peer invitations work. Adult outreach doesn’t. Recruitment is relational—not institutional.”
• “The least connected young men aren’t disinterested—they’re under-supported. Context, not character.”
• “To rebuild belonging, start small: peers doing something together.”
Growing Up in the Gray Area of Need
This essay looks back at the “gray area of need” I grew up in—where food assistance programs kept us afloat, but stigma shaped my identity. It’s a story about SNAP, shame, and how childhood poverty continues to shape my work in men’s health and relational masculinity.
BB Guns & Lessons About Health Seeking
That sentence, spoken through fear, was the earliest echo of a pattern I’ve seen in myself and in many men: the reflex to minimize, to endure, to avoid vulnerability. These traits can be helpful in certain situations, but sometimes they are just stupid. Especially when they limit men or boys from getting the care they need.
Reclaiming the Scroll
When a young man opens YouTube or TikTok, he’s not just scrolling; he’s being socialized. … The content we see, the outrage that keeps us scrolling, and the reinforcement of identity-based narratives all operate inside a black box.
The Perception Gap: What Men Get Wrong about Each Other and Health
Men don’t reject care—they hesitate because they’ve learned that vulnerability feels dangerous. That hesitation, multiplied across millions of interactions, becomes a cultural pattern.
From Bowling Alone to Digital Belonging
A generation after Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone warned of civic decline, Gen Z is rebuilding belonging online. From Discord servers to Reddit micro-communities, young people are finding new forms of connection that mirror yesterday’s bowling leagues—while facing new risks of isolation. This blog explores how digital micro-spaces can help young men and women foster purpose, vulnerability, and mentorship in a disconnected age.
Personal Fouls and Personal Growth
Thinking about how this would play out in the most widely accepted violent context of our culture is an exercise for our own lives, too.
Finding Home in the Music David Byrne and the Talking Heads
David Byrne's music has been the backdrop of my life, carrying me through airports, long trips abroad, and pivotal life moments. His 2025 tour revealed how songs about home, curiosity, and connection can challenge traditional masculinity and celebrate joy as a form of resistance.
Peacemaker: A Superhero’s Struggle as a Mirror for Men Today
Beneath the surface, Peacemaker reflects the complexities of modern masculinity—torn between bravado and the longing for real connection.
Being Conrad!
The people we grow closest to are often those we encounter repeatedly, in spaces where familiarity builds and trust grows. Proximity shapes who we connect with and how these relationships develop over time—especially for men, who often have fewer close friendships as they age.
Why Gestalt Psychology and the Relational Ground?
Gestalt psychology reminds us that we don’t experience life as fragmented pieces but as unified, meaningful wholes. In our relational lives, this means that connection, belonging, and emotional resonance aren’t extras — they are foundational. When we pay attention to how people perceive each other, group through shared values and proximity, and feel a sense of closure in our interactions, we begin to heal the disconnection that often isolates us. Reconnection isn’t just possible — it’s built into the way we’re wired.