Religion and Psychotherapy
During one recent session with a new client, he wondered aloud if I would respect his fairly conservative religious beliefs or seek to impose my (presumably) more liberal values. A day or so later, one...
View ArticleShame and Indifference in the Hookup Era
Sunday’s New York Times ran an interesting article about the end of traditional dating in the so-called millennial generation. It confirmed what I’ve been hearing from my younger clients for some time...
View ArticleWho Are Your Heroes and Why?
As I work on the final section of my eBook about Greg Mortenson and Lance Armstrong (“The Hero as Narcissist”), I’ve been thinking about why the public so ready to believe the stories they invented...
View ArticleHeroes, Role Models and Idols
Now that I’ve gone through all the responses to my last post and done a little more reading on the subject, I feel clearer about heroes and what we expect of them. While a number of people made...
View ArticleHow Feelings of Helplessness May Give Rise to Destructive Violence
Reading about Adam Lanza, the Newtown shooter, in today’s New York Times brought to mind Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian mass murderer who set off bombs and murdered at least 76 people back in...
View ArticleSelf-Pity
“Being a victim is more palatable than having to recognize the intrinsic contradictions of one’s own governing philosophy.” – Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October “Self-pity is easily the most...
View ArticleMaternal vs Paternal Function: Is There a Difference?
Over the long holiday weekend, we drove cross-country to Colorado where we re-locate for the summer. Although the drive can be grueling (about 26 hours over two days) and it sometimes seems as if...
View ArticleShould Psychotherapy Be a Judgment-Free Zone?
Many years ago, back when I still lived in Los Angeles, I worked for a brief time with a client who was secretly draining his wife’s inheritance to support their family. He didn’t make personal use of...
View ArticleThe Everyday Narcissist Revisited
During the first year or so after I launched this site, my post about narcissistic behavior and the lost art of conversation was always a reader favorite. One of mine, too. I thought of it this past...
View ArticleBelonging
Last weekend, our friend and next-door neighbor Gayle invited us to go with her to hear some live music at a local venue here in Grand Lake. We arrived after the band had already started its set and we...
View ArticleThe Up-Regulation of Joy
My client Ari got married this past weekend. Given his family background, and in light of a gloomy prognosis for his future made by a former therapist, it was a major and moving event. And yet, in our...
View ArticleMy Idea of Friendship
One day many years ago, my friend Ann told me she had scheduled an appointment with a surgeon to discuss whether to undergo a hip replacement. She and her doctor would be evaluating the results of...
View ArticleCaitlyn Jenner and a Whole Lot of Questions
I don’t propose to wade into the Caitlyn Jenner controversy, especially since my views on the role of shame in transgender identification offend some people, but I’d like to share a few of my reactions...
View ArticleSelf-Pity
“Being a victim is more palatable than having to recognize the intrinsic contradictions of one’s own governing philosophy.” — Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October “Self-pity is easily the most...
View ArticleSelf-Pity
“Being a victim is more palatable than having to recognize the intrinsic contradictions of one’s own governing philosophy.†— Tom Clancy, The Hunt for Red October “Self-pity is easily the most...
View ArticleMaternal vs Paternal Function: Is There a Difference?
Over the long holiday weekend, we drove cross-country to Colorado where we re-locate for the summer. Although the drive can be grueling (about 26 hours over two days) and it sometimes seems as if...
View ArticleShould Psychotherapy Be a Judgment-Free Zone?
Many years ago, back when I still lived in Los Angeles, I worked for a brief time with a client who was secretly draining his wife’s inheritance to support their family. He didn’t make personal use of...
View ArticleThe Everyday Narcissist Revisited
During the first year or so after I launched this site, my post about narcissistic behavior and the lost art of conversation was always a reader favorite. One of mine, too. I thought of it this past...
View ArticleBelonging
Last weekend, our friend and next-door neighbor Gayle invited us to go with her to hear some live music at a local venue here in Grand Lake. We arrived after the band had already started its set and we...
View ArticleThe Up-Regulation of Joy
My client Ari got married this past weekend. Given his family background, and in light of a gloomy prognosis for his future made by a former therapist, it was a major and moving event. And yet, in our...
View Article