GoodTherapy.org Featured Column written by Judith Barr, MA, LMHC

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March is here.
March is Women’s History Month*… a month created to celebrate the gift that women are to our world and our civilization.

But just a few weeks ago, on February 7, not long before Women’s History Month . . .
Right out in the open, we saw misogyny in action in Super Bowl commercials.
Misogyny: hatred of women! In very expensive Super Bowl commercials. Read the rest of this entry

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

One of the most common marital issues that brings clients to marriage counseling, infidelity can have a significant impact on relationships, and identifying how and why people cheat may help improve the quality of marriages for many couples. A recent study performed at the London School of Economics and Political Science found that men with a higher IQ score tend to place a greater value on monogamy. The researchers suggest that the tendency is an evolutionary function, and note that women involved in the study did not exhibit the same trend.

© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Los Angeles Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Summary

In many ways, eating behavioral concerns such as anorexia and bulimia are treated as issues that affect females. Many clinics and programs are marketed specifically towards women, and even some diagnostic criteria involves female physiology without providing any equivalency for males. But as awareness about eating issues becomes greater and National Eating Disorder Awareness Week takes place, a greater attention to the difficulties faced specifically by men is emerging among professionals and clients alike.

Men often must confront particular issues when suffering from the mental, emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms of eating concerns, including a higher prevalence of nutritional supplement abuse and increased stigmas surrounding the acknowledgment of the concern and the seeking of treatment. As men are typically expected to have a muscular, toned form, suggest some experts, taking muscle-building pills and other substances aimed at helping men obtain a certain look can be a tempting and compulsive habit. Some industry professionals note that because men with eating concerns may not present an especially thin look as is the case with many females, diagnosis can be difficult. Read the rest of this entry

© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Encino Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

A GoodTherapy.org News Headline

There are many positive steps that people can take to encourage optimal mental health, but some may be less obvious than others in their precise relationships. While industry professionals have long associated community involvement and artistic expression with positive thoughts and feelings, a study produced at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has found that in particular, men experience significant benefits by participating in cultural and creative activities, such as painting or playing a musical instrument. The researchers note that their findings may encourage lawmakers to gain new perspectives on the possibilities of promoting good health.

© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Columbia Bureau - All Rights Reserved.

By Roni Weisberg-Ross, L.M.F.T., Abuse Topic Expert Contributor

When we think of children who have been sexually abused, we think of fear, anger and violence. Most sexual abuse survivors talk of the terror and disassociation surrounding the abuse. Many still feel that way as adults and don’t enjoy sex now, even in a loving relationship. But there are those who have a more complicated story to tell. These survivors may have hated their abusers but experience an unspeakable shame over the fact that their bodies responded sexually to the abuse. They cannot live with the knowledge that they were sexually stimulated even as they were being raped. Now they are not only healing from the abuse but from the additional belief that they were partially responsible for the abuse – and that they may even have deserved it.

While adult survivors can intellectually understand that as children they were victims of their abuse, they don’t always feel that way. And they certainly can’t accept that fact if they responded sexually. Many of them can’t imagine how a child could respond sexually. So they believe that not only are they dirty, but that they are freaks as well. Yet children do have sexual feelings. Toddlers can sexually arouse themselves. And as they get older, many of them experiment and discover that their bodies respond. The myth that hormonal changes occurring at adolescence are the beginning of sexual feelings is just that, a myth. Read the rest of this entry