psych tips

The New York Times magazine ran a chilling article yesterday about psychopathic children, and how the features that lead to anti-social personality disorder and sociopathy may be identified as early as age five. If you haven’t already seen it, I … Continue reading →

I dozed off for about ten seconds during a session today. Over the last 30 years, this has happened to me three times that I recall. The first time was with an elderly client, benignly psychotic but disengaged from the … Continue reading →

Last week, I decided to withdraw from my contract with New Harbinger for the publication of my book on defense mechanisms. If you’ve read my earlier post where I discussed what this book deal meant to me, you’ll understand this … Continue reading →

When an anti-Islamic loner explodes a bomb outside a government building, killing eight people, then travels to a nearby island where he guns down 69 more, we naturally view that man as a dangerous lunatic. His paranoid tirades against multi-culturalism … Continue reading →

In a very early post on this site, I described people who view the world in terms of winners and losers, where one person will shore up his own self-image by triumphing over someone else, usually by demonstrating that he’s … Continue reading →

I’ve now uploaded the third installation in my series on psychodynamic psychotherapy, which you can access through the video frame below. This one covers early manifestations of the transference and includes a lot of examples from recent sessions in my … Continue reading →

Last night, we were out at our favorite restaurant, celebrating my daughter Emma’s birthday. After a fine meal, we came home and sat up late, discussing, as we often do, the fact that she seems more like 26 than 14 … Continue reading →

This is the second installment in my video series about what to expect in psychodynamic psychotherapy, focusing on what happens during the early weeks. In addition to developing a deeper understanding of the client’s past and current emotional issues, these … Continue reading →

For the last 12 years, I’ve belonged to a writer’s group that meets every Thursday afternoon for two hours. We read our works-in-progress, giving support and constructive criticism to each other; we spend years reading and listening to different drafts … Continue reading →

When people find out I’m a therapist, they usually assume I chose my profession because I want to help others. While I derive a deep sense of satisfaction from doing just that, I mostly chose to become a therapist because … Continue reading →

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions for future videos. I think I’ve settled on a series of lectures about the process of psychodynamic psychotherapy and what to expect from the process. I think this overall subject will allow me to … Continue reading →

A visitor to the site submitted several questions about transference in response to an earlier post, and I thought they were so interesting and useful, they deserved a lengthy reply — hence today’s post. As a prelude, I’d like to … Continue reading →

For anyone who’s interested, here’s the radio interview I did last week with Deb Scott on her program The Best People We Know. I felt completely at ease this time, and that experience has convinced me I need to speak … Continue reading →

I’d like to continue making videos for my YouTube channel; I want to do a series of lectures or talks that would be easier and faster to produce, without all the editing involved in using film clips. I’ve got some … Continue reading →

Before I decided to stop writing my ‘Movies and Mental Health’ blog, I had intended to do a video about the narcissistic mother as portrayed in two different films, Black Swan and The Fighter; in this post, I’ll be referring … Continue reading →

Clients often react to their therapists' vacation breaks as a kind of "abandonment", responding in ways that shed light on their feelings about neediness and dependency. Continue reading →

If psychotherapy is to be effective, the client must to a degree become emotionally dependent upon the therapist. Continue reading →

When artists use their medium as an attempt to escape from internal "ugliness", performance anxiety may reflect the fear of being exposed, their true damaged self becoming visible to the audience. Continue reading →

Envy is a normal human emotion; when coupled with a basic and profound sense of personal shame, it becomes toxic. Continue reading →

A reconsideration of Alan Sroufe's article in the New York Times about ADHD symptoms, as well as the rebuttals and reactions from Harold S. Koplewicz and Judth Warner. Continue reading →