Category: Emptiness
The Good Therapy Blog
May 2nd, 2012 |
A common experience for caregivers after a loss is a feeling of purposelessness.
After having one’s schedule tightly wrapped around the needs of an ailing partner, parent, child, friend, or patient, their death can leave one not only heartbroken but also searching for how to fill the days once again.
The background worry does not need to be there anymore. The routine of administering medications has vanished. The limitations of travel, vacation, and socializing with others have been lifted. Grocery shopping is a reminder of what favorite foods not to bring home. And one’s thoughts, feelings,... Read More
April 20th, 2012 |
Been lied to lately? Our natural tendencies to deceive are deeply embedded throughout our social experiences. Most of our lies are not geared toward outright deception (that's a different topic) but toward subtly exaggerating truths and opinions in our own favor. For those of us seeking more truth in our relationships, we are confronted with the near impossibility of measuring the honesty we offer others or desire from them. Our portrayal of self to others is a constantly moving target. No sooner do we post a status update to friends, than we are tasked with somehow hiding those words from friends... Read More
March 22nd, 2012 |
Magic is a way of living. If one has done one’s best to steer the chariot, and one then notices that a greater other is actually steering it, then magical operation takes place. --C. G. Jung (The Red Book, p. 315)
I always knew that I was two persons. One was the son of my parents…the other was…old…mistrustful, remote from the world of men, but close to nature, the earth, the sun, the moon…all living creatures…and above all close to the night, to dreams, and to whatever “God” worked directly in him. --C. G. Jung (Memories, Dream, and Reflections, pp. 44-45)
What Jung called... Read More
September 8th, 2011 |
Next in this series of different types of depression experiences is the Hopeless Type. Hopelessness can be a passing part of a depressive episode or even a normal brief aspect of grief after a big loss. But the hopelessness can also be a long-term pattern of thinking and feeling. People with this type of experience expect the worst from life, other people and themselves. They may expect to fail what they try, to lose what they have, and to have no chance to have what they want. If activities are suggested to them, they may experience them as too much effort, too little reward, or even as having... Read More
March 4th, 2011 |
During my career, I had the privilege of working with adults living with severe and persistent mental illness in an outpatient program at a local behavioral health center. Although frequently grouped together and labeled as “crazy” or “nuts” – as well as “dangerous” - in popular parlance, this was hardly a homogeneous population. There were people in their late teens, adults and senior citizens from many different cultural backgrounds, living with varying symptoms and in various stages of the “disease” process: from newly diagnosed to chronic. Among those I counseled were people... Read More
February 14th, 2011 |
Being single around Valentine's Day can kind of feel like getting picked last in gym class. The kid who gets picked last in gym class really lacks only athletic ability. Yet, as name after name is called on the playground, the kid whose name has yet to be called feels worse and worse about herself. By the time the team with the last pick finally has to take her, she feels like a totally worthless loser. Certainly, this kid is not a worthless loser. She’s just not a jock. Likewise, around Valentine's Day, single people who see bouquet after bouquet of flowers being delivered may feel worse and... Read More
February 2nd, 2011 |
It’s not uncommon to hear couples say, “I love my partner, but if he would just do___ we would be better off”, or “I love her, but if she would only do ____ I would be happy in this relationship.”
These are very real desires: If only my partner would do (something goes here), then we would have a perfect relationship. Well maybe not perfect, but the partners who are asking for their mate to change really believe the wished-for changes would fix the problems in the relationship. It’s a wishing pattern some couples exist in. Unfortunately, that position keeps the couple stagnant, each... Read More
January 31st, 2011 |
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Teenagers pose a greater risk of completed suicides because often they act impulsively without considering all of the consequences. Suicide affects the entire community in which it occurs family, friends, teachers, neighbors, acquaintances; everyone is touched by the loss of any one to suicide. Suicide can be preventable and with knowledge of signs, and symptoms and what to do, people’s lives can be saved. Currently more men die when attempting suicide but more women overall attempt suicide. In the United States, approximately 18 per... Read More
January 25th, 2011 |
Beginning in infancy, relationships, food and feeding become intertwined. Think about it: Baby cries and baby gets fed. Someone has to do that feeding, and that someone is usually holding the baby and relating to him or her. So, from our earliest memories, food and being fed is one of our first ways of connecting to one another. As we grow and develop, social events often revolve around mealtimes; whether it is family dinner or a social gathering with friends, we are enjoying the nurturing that food and company can provide.
With the eating-disordered population, however, the connection between... Read More
January 10th, 2011 |
Over at PsychCentral.com, Gabrielle Gawne-Kelnar has written a fantastic perspective on the value of negative emotions in our lives. Just as high tide and low tide render very different landscapes, happy times and sad times also let us explore different elements of ourselves. There are lessons to be learned from each, and neither is permanent. But when low tide starts sticking around for longer and longer, it could be a sign that depression is creeping in, commandeering the natural... Read More
© Copyright 2011 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Phoenix Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
January 10th, 2011 |
As we enter a new year, we cannot help but gather a new resolve to make changes in our lives. It is a phenomenon of our culture. It is also an expression of natural rhythms of life. Perhaps, even further, it is an indication of hope—if not faith—in something more.
We desire change for common reasons. We desire change in response to desperation in our lives, conflict or distance in relationships, or otherwise frustrated attempts gone unfulfilled. Perhaps our resolve is intended to restore a wholeness once known but nearly since forgotten or reawaken a misplaced passion somehow lost along... Read More
December 20th, 2010 |
By Marta Rocha, MHCI
Click here to contact Marta and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile
The holiday season is here. You see people decorating their houses, wrapping gifts and placing them under the Christmas the tree and you feel the warmth and the joy of having your family and friends close to you. The magic of the holidays bring people together and we look forward to this celebration all year long. However, for some of us, this season... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist New York Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
December 13th, 2010 |
Richard came to treatment feeling angry, sad and resentful. He was scared that the man he was living with was getting ready to dump him.
“That always happens,” he said. “Just when I feel my life turn around, I get dumped. What’s wrong with me? Why am I always the one who gets left? I think we were in love, he says he’ll never leave me, but in three months he’ll be gone and I’ll be a fool.”
This was the third serious relationship that was not working out. Richard is handsome, smart, funny. He would seem to be an ideal mate, but he has a fatal flaw. He is very controlling,... Read More
October 19th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
A new report has come out that sheds further light on the psychology of employment. Previous studies have shown that unemployed people experience more depression, stress, and anxiety than people who have jobs. This is hardly surprising: the financial burdens of unemployment provoke constant worry about feeding family members and making mortgage payments. But this new research, from the Centre for Mental Health Research at The Australian National University, suggests that a poor quality job... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist West Hollywood Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
