Archive for February, 2009
The Good Therapy Blog
February 28th, 2009 |
February 22-29 has been declared "National Eating Disorder Awareness Week." Major media outlets including MSNBC, USA Today and the Washington Post have provided coverage of related events and offer important information for people with eating disorders, their families and friends, and the general public.
Eating disorders are sometimes considered among the deadliest of mental health issues, accounting for about half-a-million deaths each year - a mortality rate of 20%, higher than any other disorder. Eating disorders affect mostly women; 9 of ten people diagnosed are female.
Despite an apparent... Read More
February 27th, 2009 |
A new British study - with results that may mimic American trends to a significant degree, if past, similar research if any indication - found mental illness to be a stronger taboo than any of the other qualities studied, including homosexuality, bankruptcy, and alcoholism (in itself a mental illness, but considered as a separate condition by this survey and in much of the popular culture).
The survey of 2,000 people was commissioned by the charity coalition "Time to Change" in collaboration with the British Institute of Psychiatry. Just under one third of respondents reported they would find... Read More
February 26th, 2009 |
For many years, I felt uncomfortable when someone started talking about another person’s "attitude." It always seemed as if the speaker was simply angry and wanted to make the other person change, often using their own negative attitude. When the angry party exploded with "I don't like your attitude," it was as if they fully expected the other person to magically manifest a better one. This did not make sense to me. As a result, I've done a lot of thinking... Read More
February 25th, 2009 |
When I was a little girl,
A grown up told me that if you would dig
all the way through the earth to the other side,
you would come out ... and be in China.
I don't know generally about the wisdom of telling that to a child.
What I do know ...
it was an inspiration to me.
It taught me that no matter how hard the ground.
no matter how deep you have to go.
if you keep digging ...
you will come out on the other side.
Metaphorically, transformationally,
that person gave me a great gift...
one I carry in my own heart and cells and hold
as I work with people individually and in groups.
Descending... Read More
February 22nd, 2009 |
Address your stress reactions to the recession now, especially if you feel very stressed and have for days on end. That's basically the advice of an article in the Chicago Tribune by reporter, Barbara Mahany. Psychotherapy and medications can help. The reporter interviewed a neuroscientist, a clinical psychologist, a clinical social worker, a rabbi-psychotherapist and an associate professor of psychiatry and... Read More
February 21st, 2009 |
Though violence in Iraq has greatly diminished since the peak of the recent war, greatly traumatic events still take place on a regular basis and many Iraqis are left with not only physical, but emotional scars and remain in need of assistance. Unfortunately, the difficulty in securing modern medicine and health care is separated by a magnitude of ease in comparison to locating a properly trained psychotherapist. Yet with the efforts of a team from Switzerland's Zurich University, and the power of the Internet, many suffering Iraqis... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Rolling Hills Estates Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
February 20th, 2009 |
The recent passage of the Obama administration's stimulus bill, or, if you prefer, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, holds a significant amount of promise in the quest to invigorate the national economy and to help people more comfortably wade through the fallout of the financial crisis. But thanks to the work of a few legislators as well as the historical importance of the issue and those who have fought for their rights in the past, the bill is also set to invigorate a topic close to the heart of meaningful psychotherapy:... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Culver City Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
February 18th, 2009 |
“We never have sex anymore.” “He wants it all the time.” “I think my wife is seeing someone.” These are some of the common opening lines I hear from couples who have landed in my consultation office. Certainly, sex is not the most important component of a happy and healthy marriage. Yet it remains one of the primary signs of an unhappy or failing marriage. Some of the most common problems in the bedroom include infrequent or absent sex, extramarital affairs and addictive cybersex. The presence of any of these will,... Read More
February 17th, 2009 |
At times I can be didactic and preachy with clients. I fall into believing that I have some special knowledge about life. I believe that I’m expected to pass along little gems of wisdom in sessions as if I know what life is really about. My client and I collude in forgetting that this is my first life too, what do I know? Outside the consulting room I am not always so wise. I can lose my soft-spoken reflective stance and be as reactive and unreasonable as the next person. I would say it’s worse for therapists when this happens - we have the extra layer of shame that comes from feeling we should... Read More
February 16th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Whether it's a bad back, achy knees, or a site of previous physical trauma, chronic pain is a problem endured by scores of people, many of whom find themselves debilitated or unable to enjoy a previous lifestyle as a result. While prescription painkillers and other medications are often given to those who suffer from chronic pain, serious addictions as well as... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Lafayette Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
February 13th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update:
Anyone with even an amateur interest in psychology will quickly be able to impart that the brain is a fascinating organ. The prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that allows us to consider past memories and ponder what the future holds, as well as to perform complex reasoning, is also responsible for enabling us to over-analyze and to hold onto emotional responses well past the point at which they're actually useful. Paradoxically, the same part of the brain that has bestowed us with the means to think more has also given us the opportunity to blunder, worry,... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Antonio Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
February 10th, 2009 |
I, like you, am witnessing the events in our country and our world. I see the crises we are facing, among them the financial crisis. And like you, I have seen in clients the effects of ancient feelings and wounds on their attitudes, emotional states, and behaviors in relation to the present economic situation.
I know people are afraid. I know some of the fear is here and now, and some of it is from long ago. To help you tease the two apart so you can respond better to today's needs – both your own and those of your clients –... Read More
February 9th, 2009 |
Just another diet book? It seems unlikely that the book, “The Complete Beck Diet for Life: The Five-Stage Program for Weight Loss” (Oxmoor House, 2008) can be dismissed so easily. After all, the author is Judith Beck, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Her father, Dr. Aaron Beck, developed what is now a well-researched psychotherapy for depression, cognitive therapy, commonly referred to as cognitive... Read More
February 7th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
For millions of Americans and people around the world, social anxiety is a debilitating condition that can lead to depression and other symptoms, as well as detracting from overall quality of life. Given the tumultuous years of adolescence and young adulthood thereafter, it comes as little surprise that a high percentage of those with social anxiety disorder are under the age of twenty five. A litany of treatments from cognitive... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Berkeley Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
