Category: Religious Issues
The Good Therapy Blog
December 18th, 2010 |
Getting treatment for an eating disorder often requires the joint care of a therapist or counselor as well as a medical physician, if the disorder has progressed enough to cause bodily harm. But among some communities, acknowledging eating disorders (and mental health concerns in general) is difficult to do. The Orthodox Jewish community is one example, according to several doctors and counselors who specialize in eating disorders; they say that Orthodox... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Newport Beach Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
December 13th, 2010 |
As the year draws to a close, I find myself reminiscing about the end of 2010 and the end of the first decade of the 21st century. For me, the year feels like it has gone by quickly. I know that in reality one year is the same as the next in terms of the actual passage of time, but it is a truism that our perception of how much and how quickly time has passed changes as we age, with our circumstances and with our sense of satisfaction and fulfillment.
Personally, the year has been one of change and greater fulfillment, understanding and satisfaction. I have experienced changes in my relationships,... Read More
December 10th, 2010 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Summary
Many people are so unhappy that they find a therapist or counselor to work through their struggles. Plenty more people are content enough with their lives. But some are truly happy. Where does that happiness come from? Does money buy it? Self-confidence? Safety? Support systems? A fulfilling job? Pets? Everyone’s combination of life experience is different, but repeated studies have identified that some groups tend to be happier than others. Recent studies have looked a bit closer at the happiness quotient of two specific (though very different) groups: people... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist San Antonio Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
September 24th, 2010 |
A new article published by the American Psychological Association looks a numerous studies, published between 1964 and 2008, focused on the mental health and psychological well-being of Holocaust survivors. Most living survivors were children during World War II, and the report finds notable differences in their long term well being based on where they lived after the war. Jewish Holocaust survivors living in Israel had consistently lower levels of PTSD, anxiety, and emotional stress and higher levels of... Read More
© Copyright 2010 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Lafayette Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
August 11th, 2010 |
At times during the past decade in my Spiritual Psychotherapy practice, I’ve advised a skeptical patient to have faith in the process. This is usually in response to a question about how and when he/she will know whether or not the therapy is working.
When I think of my response, it really is a paradox, considering that many if not most people who come to me for help have lost faith – in themselves, in their parents long ago and sometimes in the God of their understanding.
To deal with this paradox, what I generally do is first acknowledge the person’s doubts (and in reality fears... Read More
May 19th, 2010 |
For thousands of years, people have expected their children to marry within their family faith and culture. Family life, in its largest sense, is easier this way. Marriage partners are easier to find among shared communities like synagogues, mosques, parochial schools or parishes; families know more about each other and often form smoother in-law relationships. Religious rituals bind partners to preceding generations as well as to their future children and to one another. All the thousand small, nearly invisible connections shared faith creates helps to enable more stable marriages and thicker,... Read More
April 27th, 2010 |
Unfortunately, many people have survived the devastating experience of sexual assault by a trusted authority figure- a priest, a nun, a teacher, a minister. Most of these victims never speak of the abuse, even after many years have passed. The shame that really belongs to the perpetrator is carried by the victim, and the shame they carry inside leaves them with feelings of self-hatred, guilt, difficulty trusting, impotent rage, and perhaps most devastating, the loss of their sense of safety in the world. “If someone so trusted could do this to me, then whom can I trust?” they might think.... Read More
April 7th, 2010 |
This article is a meditation on the third step of Alcoholics Anonymous (and all other 12-step programs). The third step says: “We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.” In some versions of the step I have come across, the step reads “…as we understood God.”
Rather than focusing on the gender of God (or Higher Power), I’d like to talk about what makes turning it over so difficult for so many people, regardless of whether or not they are in recovery for addiction. Read More
February 9th, 2010 |
What prompted this article was something I read recently in AARP Magazine. (I guess I’m dating myself with that one!).
“The older you are, the more likely you are to value religion, says a new Pew Research Center survey, ‘Growing Old in America.’ Do religious folks outlive their secular age-mates? Maybe. Earlier research indicates that people who worship regularly follow a healthier lifestyle and share a life-lengthening social network. And for some, faith grows with age: a third of those 65-plus said religion became more important over the course of their lives.” (AARP Magazine,... Read More
