An Unforgettable Patient An unforgettable patient was a child I will refer to as the “Meerkat Boy.” He was only 4 ½ years old. His father had mentioned to his own therapist that the child had rarely (if ever) spoken, was reclusive, and was defecating in the corners of rooms. The therapist recommended that … Continue reading An Unforgettable Patient: The “Meerkat Boy”
Thumb Sucking Thumb sucking can become a heated issue for parents. “How can I get my child to stop sucking her thumb?” is a common question asked by parents. And there are so many “remedies” on the market to help achieve this goal—bitter nail solutions, thumb wraps, children’s books to coax a child away from the … Continue reading Thumb Sucking: Orthodonture or Psychotherapy?
Identity Development I’ve learned much from both my favorite t-shirt and a ticklish gorilla about identity development, self-awareness, and building a life that’s likely to be fulfilling. First, for the t-shirt. My favorite t-shirt has a little label sewn on it that says, “Do what you like, like what you do.” I’ve thought a … Continue reading What a T-Shirt and Ticklish Gorilla Can Teach a Psychotherapist About Building a Life That’s True to the Self
Facing Big Projects We’ve all had to face that project that we’ve dreaded. A paper, a speech, preparing an event. Maybe we don’t feel that we have enough background or the skills needed to do the project well or even to do it at all. Or maybe it’s just that it’s so big—like a mountain we’ll … Continue reading Facing Dreaded Projects (How to Make a Mole Hill Out of a Mountain)
New Year’s Resolutions New Year’s Resolutions get a “bum rap.” They’re often derided as deluded wishful thinking and as rarely successful. But I think they provide us with a wonderful opportunity to reflect and reevaluate, to engage in self-forgiveness and acceptance, and to rekindle hope and commitment to important goals—and, if approached carefully, they can be … Continue reading New Year’s Resolutions Get a “Bum Rap”!
Happiness Can’t we simply choose happiness? As a psychologist and psychotherapist, I’ve spent the last 30 years listening to people struggle with anxieties, depression, and loneliness, in search of ways to alleviate unhappiness. And as a professor, I’ve spent as many years researching ways to build resilience—hoping to find ways to prevent people from … Continue reading Why Can’t We Simply Choose Happiness?
Consultation for Psychotherapists I tell my graduate students that beyond all the academic exercises of reading, writing, and research, the two most important skills for a competent psychotherapist to master are the capacities for being alone and the tolerance of not knowing. Ironically, even though a psychotherapist spends many … Continue reading The Importance of Consultation Among Psychotherapists
Psychiatric Medication Television advertising for psychiatric medications seems to have become as regular as commercials for automobiles, miracle cookware, or cosmetics. We are shown beautiful young men and women enjoying their friends and family, as we are also told that they have major depressions, bipolar moods, insomnia, and other potentially debilitating conditions. Certainly these ads … Continue reading A Commentary on the State of Mental Illness in Contemporary Society
Over Diagnosing Children I once read an article by Jordan Smoller called, “The Etiology and Treatment of Childhood.”[1] It was a satirical article that described childhood as a mental disorder. He noted that childhood is congenital, is characterized by temporary dwarfism, is marked by emotional instability and immaturity, and that children have knowledge deficits … Continue reading Are We Over Diagnosing Children With Mental Illnesses?
Psychological Determinism Perhaps the single most representative concept of psychoanalysis is that of psychological determinism. By this I mean a fundamental belief that human behavior, consciousness, and experience are determined or explainable. Freud followed in a scientific tradition that was dedicated to uncovering the laws and mysteries of life, hopefully to lead to a comprehensive theory … Continue reading Are There Really No Psychological Accidents?
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