Category: Grief, Loss, & Bereavement
The Good Therapy Blog
November 8th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Perceptions of therapy and counseling are not without stereotype, and one of the most common misconceptions is that therapists will always blame an issue on the patients’ parents. While this is certainly an over-reach, it’s well documented that things we experience in our childhood do impact how we experience the world from there forward. This includes positive influences such as hobbies and values, but also includes psychological baggage from particularly traumatic experiences. Understanding the connections between childhood trauma and adult mental health... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Antonio Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
October 29th, 2010 |
This is the third in a series of articles on the Scapegoat and how Voice Dialogue can help heal this ancient phenomenon that continues to occur within all human communities and within certain sensitive and susceptible individuals. The first two articles explored the Shadow, the phenomenon called projection, and the history of the Scapegoat in human communities. See the first two articles at: http://www.goodtherapy.org/voice-dialogue-article.html.
"For years it lay in an iron box buried so deep inside me that I was never... Read More
October 29th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Military suicides have been increasing in recent years, which has prompted the U.S. Army to re-assess the effectiveness of its mental health programs in understanding the support soldiers need, says a recent article published by NPR. With increased awareness of returning soldiers’ struggles with PTSD, one might think that more combat time and more time away from family makes soldiers increasingly vulnerable to mental health issues. But the Army has discovered that PTSD and suicide have... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Diego Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
October 23rd, 2010 |
Often, in the context of cultivating mindfulness, I heard people emphasize – “I don’t want to become a Pollyanna”. As someone who grew up loving Pollyanna – a child heroine of U.S. novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter1 - I want to clear her name and claim that there is a lot to learn from her character in our efforts to be mindful.
The term Pollyanna is typically used as: unreasonably or illogically optimistic or an excessively or blindly optimistic person. If you read the book though2, you will find that Pollyanna developed a character, behaviors and an approach to life that touch on many... Read More
October 7th, 2010 |
Sometimes, when people experience a terrible loss, especially if it’s a traumatic loss, they make a life-changing decision in the middle of the intense emotional pain, often without even realizing it or remembering it. This decision can potentially affect them for the rest of their lives, and can cause chronic depression. People do this as a way of coping with the loss. In the shock of loss, people focus very narrowly on getting through each excruciating moment. Thoughts like “I’ll never love again” or I’ll never trust again” seem at the time like ways to avoid ever feeling this... Read More
October 1st, 2010 |
Byron tried hard to please but his anger got in the way
Byron’s anger terrified him. He did everything he could to avoid feeling it and showing it when it washed over him. He wanted to die of shame every time he saw his girlfriend’s fear and distress. He didn’t intend to hurt or scare her. She was the one good thing in his life and he would do anything to keep her. Byron’s anger was inexplicable to him. He didn’t feel it coming on and by the time it was evident, it was too late. Beverly was already anticipating something awful. Anger turned to shame and self-castigation. Byron flogged... Read More
September 25th, 2010 |
Physical touch is a powerful thing, and it affects our emotions and perceptions of the world more than we might realize. New research indicates that clasping your own hand can help reduce acute pain and that human connection often starts with a friendly touch. One previous study even showed that textures we touch influence whether we view others positively or negatively.... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Santa Rosa Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
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
June 18th, 2010 |
With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, many people are making plans to spend time with their dad. But for those whose fathers have passed away, the holiday is a heavy one. Parent-specific holidays, say most therapists, are even more difficult than other holidays. They bring back memories, but are not likely to grow new traditions, and thus become days of looking backward. Social worker Jill FitzGerald founded the Grief Resource Center in Glen Allen, Virginia, and she recommends giving grief its space by starting new traditions:... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Oakland Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
May 26th, 2010 |
Physical or sensory impairment or the onset of disabling illness often entails multiple concurrent losses which can lead to complicated grief processes, including depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Most obviously, people who acquire a disability or disabling disease lose a part of their bodies and/or the functionality of parts of their bodies. Additionally, they may lose physical comfort, vigor, mobility, spontaneity, the ability to engage in certain activities, aspects of their previous lifestyles, privacy, a sense of dignity, a sense of control, a sense of efficacy/agency, a degree... Read More
December 31st, 2009 |
Though mental health difficulties are able to affect a wide number of people of many different types of lifestyles, a significant number of people facing mental health challenges are also confronted by issues of alcoholism, and their friends and family members may be unsure about how or where to obtain help. The National Institute for Alcohol Recovery recently announced that its popular “Restore” program will now be launched in a digital format suitable for mobile devices, providing... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Scottsdale Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
December 1st, 2009 |
Lewis Carroll chose to close his renowned work Through The Looking Glass with a poem. One stanza reads:
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Buddhist note that as we walk our path through life that suffering is inevitable, the root of all suffering is attachment and that everyone, everything changes.
In his book The Forgiving Self psychologist Robert Karen Ph.D. notes that "all lives are rent with losses from the very beginning." The list of authors addressing this fact is very, very long. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' classic book On Death... Read More
September 3rd, 2009 |
The death of a parent is the most elemental loss that a child can experience. Many in our culture believe that children cannot understand death and lack the capacity to grieve. Because of this misconception, coupled with confusion and anxiety in communicating with children about death, children are often told that the dead parent has simply “gone away.” Shielding children from death deprives them of the ability to grieve and ultimately heal.
The age and stage of development of a child at the time of his or her parent’s... Read More
June 10th, 2009 |
According to a new research study, couples who lose a premature baby and communicate their personal grief with each other fare better than couples who don't. The researchers indicate that couples who don't communicate with each other about their bereavement frequently believe that the other person cares less or not all. They point out that women... Read More
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