Posts Tagged ‘Therapy’
Is Your Therapist Too Nice?
“I’ve met the greatest girl,” John said. He was beaming. “She’s really hot. She’s 27, super smart. This weekend I’m chartering a yacht for us! Isn’t that awesome?” I just looked at him. This was his third “greatest girl” in six months. Each was 20-plus years younger than him—and all three were following quickly on…
Should I or Shouldn’t I? Making Difficult Decisions
Ryan* was up at 3am again, dreading her upcoming trip to visit her family with her boyfriend. He understood her better than any other partner she’d had, the sex was good, they lived together well, but she was often disappointed. They had few common interests, he didn’t add much to the conversation when they got…
Surviving the Trumpocalypse: Thoughts from an Immigrant Therapist
I watched the inauguration of Barak Obama in 2009 from my living room in Cape Town, South Africa. In my memory it is daytime, and the late afternoon sunshine is coming in through the glass sliding doors. There is a seven-hour time difference between Cape Town and Washington – Cape Town is ahead. My ex-patriot…
How to Get Someone to Go to Therapy
I love it when people tell me they don’t think they need therapy, because often it’s the telltale sign that they do. You might have someone in your life that you KNOW needs therapy. They might insist, after their millionth angry outburst, or perhaps coolly rationally while you are confused and crazy, that they’re fine…
How Long Will Therapy Take?
It’s not infrequent that when I talk with people new to therapy they ask “How long will therapy take?” Not an unreasonable question, but almost always an unanswerable one. Pete Pearson of the Couples Institute gets credit for one of the best analogies I’ve heard, which is that the question “How long will therapy…
Is Stigma Keeping You From Therapy?
researchers found that stigma around seeking mental health services was greatly reduced by TALKING ABOUT IT.
Therapy as a Modern Rite of Passage – Part 1
Rites of Passage are as varied as cultures and have served an important role in bringing communities together to mark an ending and commemorate a new beginning. Therapy is like a ceremonial rite of passage.
The Golden Gate Bridge as a symbol of inner change
“This bridge needs neither praise, eulogy nor encomium. It speaks for itself. We who have labored long are grateful. What Nature rent asunder long ago, man has joined today.” J. Strauss on Opening Day of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1937 ‘Often the hands know how to solve a riddle which the intellect has wrestled in…
On choosing a psychotherapist (part 3 of 3)
In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the various licenses and certifications that psychotherapists hold and at some of the similarities and differences among them that are wise to consider when choosing a psychotherapist. In Part 2, we explored some of the best ways to find a psychotherapist. In this article, I will…
Poetry and Therapy
“Poetry has a way of helping poets and readers of poetry make meaning of their experience, and this helps us gain perspective, wisdom and clarity so we can move forward more freely, less encumbered by what Robert Bly calls the long invisible bag of the unconscious we drag behind us” Elizabeth Sullivan This week my…
Parent, Child & Our Emotional Lives: Finding Our Way Through Relationships
If you’ve ever tended to a child, you know what it’s like to watch someone fall apart and come back together again. A child is flexible; she has a tender heart; she falls in and out of joys and disappointments. She can go into the depths of feeling and return, sense of self and well-being…