It’s really trendy to talk about the mind-body connection these days. But, what does that really mean? Sure, it sounds good, but how do you make it happen in a counseling session? For me, as a psychotherapist, I like to use the techniques of Bioenergetic…
I was inspired to write this column after recently seeing an ad in a very trendy magazine. The ad began with three words – and question marks – in a very large font: “Fat? Old? Ugly?” Nice, huh? So helpful and encouraging. It was an ad…
I didn’t make this up. I was reading a professional journal and this was mentioned in an article on counseling couples. They didn’t explain why, so I did a little research of my own to see if they just put this in the article to…
Why do we numb ourselves? What is it we don’t want to feel? Is it so bad to “take the edge off”? Of course not, but how do you get there? Do you need something external (drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping) to make you feel better,…
For lots of people, December is the month from hell: this time of year often brings crazy-scary sets of expectations and dread. We are bombarded with media images encouraging us to buy stuff and to be happy…and if we don’t, we’re failures. This is a…
Do you feel like you’re always judging/critiquing/ evaluating yourself? Are you afraid to do something you may not be good at? Are you afraid to take risks? Congratulations! You’re probably a perfectionist. The good news: perfectionists are made, not born. It is a learned set…
For lots of people, December is the month from hell: this time of year often brings crazy-scary sets of expectations and dread. We are bombarded with media images encouraging us to buy stuff and to be happy…and if we don’t, we’re failures. This is a…
While I am not a member of a 12 step program, I find the 12 steps are useful for anyone struggling with an addictiion. In reality, most of us have some kind of addictive or compulsive behavior that interferes with our happiness. In his book…
This is not the column I expected to write this week. I did not expect to awaken with dread the morning after the recent election. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t want to face a world where Donald Trump was the…
In the world of psychology, PTSD – post-traumatic stress disorder – is how doctors describe the experience of recovering from trauma. This term was created in1980 and was used to describe soldiers coming back from war: these men and women had often killed people and…
