Keep it in the Light
“Keep things in the light” my therapist use to say. This phrase has stuck with me over the years and has taken on a more robust meaning over time. “Keeping things in the light” means a couple of things to me now. One, the importance of being honest with myself. If you are anything like […]
Why We Become Symptomatic in Relationships
Our goal since the moment we gasp our first breath is to connect and attach to the people waiting to care for us. We are quite literally born into relationships and we depend upon those relationships for survival. As infants, we learn very quickly what causes our caregivers to withdraw or worse get upset, even […]
Don’t wait until its worse. Call a Psychologist.
Life is upside down. The pandemic is a perfect recipe for adverse mental health – isolation, loss of purpose and meaning, and stress (relationally, financially, emotionally). There is a reason solitary confinement drives anyone to insanity. We are locked up without our usual routines, many are resorting to unhealthy behaviors to cope and all of […]
Screen Time in Quarantine: Advice for Parents
As you may have noticed your kids like to be in front of a screen. Many parents thought they knew how much their teen loved their devices but had no idea until now. Here is some advice on how to navigate parenting amidst the lockdown turned device addiction. First, check in with them. Build your […]
Understanding Narcissism
Narcissism and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) are among the most complex and difficult mental health issues individuals and couples face. But what exactly is narcissism, and how does someone become “narcissistic”? Freud coined the term after the Greek myth of Narcissus, a young man who fell in love with his own reflection and wasted away, […]
The Power of Therapy
Take a moment to think about the context in which your next decision will occur: you did not pick your parents or the time and place of your birth. You didn’t choose your race, gender, or your life experiences. You had no control whatsoever over your genome or the development of your brain. And now […]
Getting Unstuck: The Challenge of Change
Although most enter therapy insisting that they want change, more often than not, what they really want is to remain the same and to get the therapist to make them feel better. What I have noticed is those who get the most out of therapy come in with an attitude of openness, curiosity about themselves/others, […]
Consult Your Own Death
We all have important decisions to make every day. Some large, some small. Choices that seem to move our lives in one direction and away from another. Saying “Yes” always also means saying “No.” Many struggle at the crossroads of decisions- suffering to find the “right” answer but without a clear compass in decision making. […]
Anger
Anger is one of the trickiest emotions we experience. There is nothing that pulls stronger for action than that chest-tightening, face reddening, jaw clenching feeling of anger. So what gives? How come it tends to get the best of us? And – is there way out? Our brains are built upon layers – to grossly […]
Trauma and Psychotherapy
We hear a lot about trauma and traumatic experiences, but what actually is an experience to be considered truly traumatic? When your Starbucks order is 11 minutes late? A bad breakup? A car accident? War combat? The phrase “That was traumatic!” Seems to be thrown around all the time. Maybe it’s lost its valence – […]
