Often people come to therapy searching for tools. Couples come because they are fighting a lot and wish to acquire tools to help deescalate the intensity and reduce the frequency of their arguments. Individuals come because they are overly anxious or feeling depressed and wish to have tools to decrease their symptoms. Or perhaps a […]
The human infant is well endowed to struggle with the vicissitudes of his internal and environmental stresses. What is important for us is to be able to identify in the clinical process what effects this struggle has left and how it has shaped the adult character – M. Masud R. Khan What do trees, the […]
Our Curse is an Oscar-nominated film (Documentary Short) that, as the NY Times caption puts it, shows a young couples struggle “to overcome every new parent’s worst nightmare: a child born with a life-threatening illness.” The movie was made by Tomasz Śliwiński, who lives in Warsaw, where he is a student at the Warsaw Film […]
On the way to work this morning, I heard a radio ad, I think it was for some headphone, and the tag line was “Listen to the truth.” That really caught my ear and attention, given that I have lately been reading the very thought-provoking and influential psychoanalytic thinker, Wilfred Bion. Bion writes a lot […]
Sometimes people come into therapy looking for tools. Sometimes they are experiencing depression or intense levels of anxiety; sometimes they are having problems in relationships of all kinds. And while there is something to be said for deep breathing and relaxation techniques, I am not a therapist who provides instruction in those things. I don’t […]
The New York Times features a blog column about the experience of psychotherapy called “Couch.” Recently, they published a very intimately written and because of that intimacy fascinating account of one person’s journey into psychotherapy. The piece, written by Said Sayrafiezadeh, who is himself a writer, is a very personal account of the obstacles he […]
To honor the memory of Robin Williams, who died tragically this week by suicide, I thought I would repost a blog piece I wrote about depression and add some comments. In response to the utter shock and horror of Mr. Williams’s death, there has been a more open discussion and examination of depression in the […]
Tony Kushner’s play, “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures,” like its title is sprawling, broad in its reach and immensely thought provoking. I was fortunate to see it at Berkeley Rep (playing till the end of June). There is a lot that one can say about it. […]
This morning while driving to the office, I heard a radio commercial for yet another energy drink on the market. This one is guaranteed to give one energy and vitality. And I thought to myself about psychotherapy and how it too provides energy and vitality to one’s life, only with many fewer calories and no […]
I am fond of blogging about the wisdom that clients share with me. There is not a day that goes by without someone saying something that is so wise, so truthful, particularly about the psychotherapeutic process, the process of healing. Such a comment came just the other day. A client talked about the slow process […]
