ISSUES IN PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOLOGY, Volume 40, 2018 Psychotherapists are bombarded with feelings from their patients. Every day in their office, they listen to traumatic memories or stories of abuse and neglect; at times, they become the object of negative transference, projections, displacements, or may struggle with their own negative countertransference. Navigating such burdensome feeling states […]
Are you frustrated with your weekly sessions and thinking of quitting therapy? Perhaps you have friends who gush about their therapist and brag about the progress that they are making. You wonder why you don’t share their excitement. (See “Is Your Therapist Helping You Enough?”) What do you do when therapy isn’t delivering results? When therapy […]
For generations, the field of psychotherapy has been locked in a contemptuous battle with religion. Psychotherapists bashed religion as magical thinking and labeled God an infantile wish for an ideal father. While religious leaders called psychotherapists blasphemous, burned their books and accused them of undermining sacred values. Yet, put aside their differing theoretical frameworks, and […]
Personality traits that every therapist needs. For nearly 25 years, people in my office have shared their secrets, their fears, and their hopes. They’ve confessed wrongs, explored love and relationships, worked through childhood traumas, explored dreams and nightmares; some lasted a few sessions, others stayed for years. Every now and then, a person asks me, […]
Freud wrote “Analysis is, in essence, a cure through love.” What did he mean? You share your dreams, fantasies, and longings; unearth your ambitions and passions, and spill your deepest, darkest secrets, while your therapist listens intently, captivated, hanging on your every sigh. After such cozy and intimate attention, many people are left wondering: “Are […]
Recently, I met up with one of my best pals. Like many old friends, we share a secret language, referring to events and situations with a single word or glance. A raised eyebrow, a sideways look, the phrase, “Tell me, are your bananas fresh?” and we erupt in fits of laughter as others look on […]
By Sean Grover, LCSW Last summer, I attended a concert by a famed singer-song writer. When he took command of the stage, you knew you were in the hands of an old pro; someone who had spent a lifetime in the spotlight. But as the concert unfolded, I started to feel distracted; his many bows […]
Beyond the Honeymoon with Your Therapist Is your weekly appointment just a time to vent? What do you do when your therapy seems to be going nowhere? Chances are you came to therapy because you wanted something – something you felt you couldn’t achieve on your own. You were unhappy or discouraged; maybe you felt […]
That tension you feel in your neck? It has more meaning that you think, It was a moment that changed my life. It was about twenty years ago, and I was a patient in a therapy group led by Dr. Louis Ormont, a pioneer of American group therapy. I was discussing the devastating death of […]
The Secret World of Emotions & Attunement When your radio’s tuned properly to your favorite station, the broadcast comes in loud and clear. Without any static or overlap of frequencies, you relax and enjoy the music or the program. When your favorite love song is played on a well-tuned instrument, you’re delighted. You listen without […]
