Category: Elements of Good Therapy
The Good Therapy Blog
September 9th, 2010 |
“It feels heavy right here,” Rebecca* said, crying and touching her chest, “like a huge rock is sitting on me. It’s like that old cartoon, where a boulder would fall off a cliff and pin the roadrunner to the ground – it feels like I can’t move.” Rebecca had come to see me last year, a 32 year-old successful marketing professional, whose older sister had recently been diagnosed with a psychotic condition. She seemed lost in grief. Fluctuating bewilderment, sadness, fear, anger, tenderness, and love were tying knots in every part of her.
I thought that untying some of the knots in... Read More
September 3rd, 2010 |
Just Bow
Putting my right and left hands together as one,
I bow.
Just bow to become one with Buddha and God.
Just bow to become one with everything I encounter.
Just bow to become one with all myriad things.
Just bow as life becomes life.
~Uchiyama Roshi's death poem
There are many ways of interpreting, understanding, categorizing peace. What might be helpful, however, is dropping all ideas about peace and looking for its actual reality. This means that we drop our philosophies and theories about peace and “just bow as life becomes life.” In other words, there is a kind of existence... Read More
September 3rd, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Two recently published items illustrate the need for greater cultural sensitivity, awareness, and customized attention with the realm of psychological care. One, a report from Britain’s Royal College of Psychiatrists, found that young, black women were at an increased risk of self-harm over other segments of the population. The second article, also from England, details how a new social intervention program is attempting to help... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Hollywood Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 31st, 2010 |
Standing in line a few weeks ago at my local Whole Foods market, Time magazine caught my eye. Its cover had an idyllic full page picture of a young boy skipping stones on a pond with the headline “THE CASE AGAINST SUMMER VACATION”. I caught my breath and groaned shaking my head in dismay. The sub title read our children are falling behind and loose even more after summer break.
I have since read the article. Some of the concern is directed to lower income children who as the article states are often 3 grade levels behind their more affluent peers. I certainly agree that more enrichment... Read More
August 24th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
“The shortage of mental health services in Portland is well documented,” notes Mike Sherbun of Cedar Hills Hospital. Now, a new program at that hospital is offering a range of much-needed services to help one portion of the population in particular: women. Named “Exclusively Women,” the program provides a number of different therapy strategies to help women overcome a number of different psychological and behavioral health issues. The program utilizes a number of mental health professionals... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Sacramento Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
July 15th, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update
One of the principle ideals behind the concept of good therapy is that it should be non-pathologizing; that is, difficulties faced by clients should not be seen as intrinsic, inescapable diseases, nor should treatment focus on “healing” an issue in such a way. There are many reasons why a departure from pathologizing therapy is beneficial, both for the client and for the mental health professional (not to mention the field at large). But recently, psychotherapist Tammie Fowles published an... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Columbia Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
July 1st, 2008 |
We named our organization GoodTherapy.org for a handful of reasons. First among them, good therapy is what most therapists are striving to provide. Regardless of orientation, nearly all therapists can be included in the group of dedicated and caring folks who strive to “do no harm” in the healing process. Secondly, we want to express, in the title of our organization, the importance we place on quality in the psychotherapy process. Thirdly, “good therapy” is catchy. The expression, “I (or he or she) could use some good therapy,”... Read More
April 24th, 2008 |
When we were scratching around wondering what to call our counseling practice we coined and rejected a lot of possibilities. Some names we considered were obscure, some taken, some boring, and a few were just plain silly. Then we took a look at what it is we actually do, and what we don't do. The main thing that separates us from most alcohol rehab programs is the fact that we don't have a "program." What we do have is a lot of experience and research into what works for different people.... Read More
September 17th, 2007 |
Dear Friends,
GoodTherapy.org received an email today from a therapist concerned about one of the principles of good therapy: collaboration. I was surprised at first, but after reading her email I could see the validity of her concern and how she could be led to it by the way the definition was written. She was concerned that working collaboratively might re-traumatize a person. I believe she was equating collaboration with total non-direction. I wrote back to her to clarify. I thought I would copy my email here so others with similar concerns could be reassured, and so we could have a forum... Read More
May 14th, 2007 |
It’s easy to find a counselor but perhaps more difficult to know if you’ve found one who is right for you. There are a number of questions you can ask that will help you to choose a counselor. This short article outlines 14 of these questions, in no particular order (please note, the words “therapist” and “counselor” are used interchangeably). Thanks to the GoodTherapy.org members who contributed their ideas for this article! If there are other important questions to ask or things you’d like to add to this list, please post a comment below.
1. What does it feel like for you to... Read More
© Copyright 2007 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Fort Lauderdale Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
March 19th, 2007 |
Is there an element of good therapy that is not described on our Elements of Good Therapy page? If so, please feel free to suggest it to us so we can consider adding it! You can make your suggestion by commenting to this post in the 'Leave a Reply' box at the bottom of this page. Please remember that your suggestions will be viewed publicly. I'll respond to you in this blog, so check back if you're interested. Thanks for helping!
Noah :)
Noah Rubinstein, LMFT
Founder... Read More
© Copyright 2007 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Houston Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
March 7th, 2007 |
We are limited. We greet our clients with great hope. We have spent countless hours studying our trade, doing our own inner work, mastering our technique, and learning to “Be” with our clients. We have parts of ourselves that want to do good work. We are compelled to help others release burdens and cope with suffering because we know how good it feels to do so. Yet, there are times when we can’t. We believe a good therapist never gives up hope that a person can heal in this lifetime, but also recognizes that he or she may not be the one to help, that... Read More
© Copyright 2007 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Diego Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
February 15th, 2007 |
Have you ever felt upset about something and just wanted somebody to listen to you? I know my dear wife has asked me on a number of occasions to “just listen.” Even I, as a therapist who helps and guides others to listen to each other day in and day out, can find it hard to relax the impulse to do something about it. Yes, part of it is because I care. But moreover it's because it can be hard to sit with how I feel to see another suffer…. And trust me, I intimately know the misunderstood feeling I have when someone’s... Read More
© Copyright 2007 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Denver Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
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