As one not shy about current events I often get asked how I handle patients sharing their political views in session. Despite our hyper-partisan times I’ve never had a problem in my private practice with a patient’s politics. How is … Read more
We could easily say our modern world is rife with problems. And we could just as easily say we’re obsessed with fixing those problems. This shows up in therapy. After all, the patient and therapist meet to solve a problem … Read more
Perhaps it’s because I watch too much Cesar Milan, or because I need to correct my own dog after he’s spent several days with my ex, but it seems far too many people struggle with their dogs. On any given … Read more
There’s a common belief that guilt—the feeling of having done something wrong—serves a needed function, that as a “prosocial emotion” it pushes those in its grips to mend the harm caused to another. While this sometimes occurs, my work in … Read more
Most patients come to therapy carrying unbearable pain. This pain is kept hidden from others. It is also kept hidden from the self by acts of splitting, i.e., by removing them from consciousness. So the patient lives in a state … Read more
With a mix of pride and shame I confess to having clocked hundreds of hours playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Like my all-time favorite video game, Witcher 3, I most enjoy moving my character through open worlds, exploring vast territories … Read more
Therapy has been trending. From athletes to school systems to social media it’s hard to go anywhere without seeing some mention of mental health. And while awareness of mental health may be a good thing, we do run the risk of diluting … Read more
From the merely mundane to the release of rubble buried in the unconscious, therapists focus on what is said during a session. This is for good reason. But psychodynamic therapy is not merely talk therapy, it’s relational therapy. And as … Read more
I’m not an anxious person, but I do get anxious. And few things make me more anxious than my “smartphone.” While there’s emerging research on this, plus a recent report that Apple plans to do something about it, I would … Read more
We hear it now as a truism: These are uncertain times. Uncertainty gets attached to big events climate change and war, both existent and future, but its most depleting manifestations may be those in our daily lives, or what we … Read more
