Psychotherapy
Pin Numbers for People over 40!
November 2, 2011 | 
Author
I've had it. I give up.
It's utterly impossible.
I have more than fifty, maybe even one hundred different so-called "accounts"–linkedin, huffington post, twitter, cable, phone, internet, website administrator, google, yahoo–the list has become a ten-page typewritten list of account names, numbers, passwords, and pin numbers.
I can't remember any of them.
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Posted in Hudson Valley Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy | 
Tags: computers, memory, memory loss, pin numbers | 
3 Comments »
Detachment or Avoidance?
The other day I went into a store to buy some wine. I got three bottles and what I believe was an unprovoked sermon on detachment. I use the word “unprovoked” with deliberation.
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Posted in Faith-based Counseling, Holistic Psychotherapy, Hudson Valley Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy, Verbal First Aid | Tags: animals, attachment, committment, detachment, dogs, family, primates | 8 Comments »
The Separation Question: Who's More Afraid, Parent or Child?
Recently I found out that a beloved niece — one with whom I lived until she was about two years old — was pregnant. And suddenly, everything I had learned to let go of as she became a toddler, then again as a school-age child, then a teenager, then a young adult, then a married woman, had flown out the window. I had grabbed hold of that life-long chain of release, release and re-release and pulled it back to me and rolled it into a big knot. Then, I found out that she (in her last trimester) and her husband were going to visit the wild, wonderful world of Mickey Mouse in the height of summer. Every adrenal-driven, hormone-based horror came rushing out like a hot flash. I thought of every ride that could make her sick, every long drive that could give her a blood clot, every soda that would push her blood sugar into a snit. What if X and what if Y? And did you talk to your doctor? And how will you ever be able to stand on line?
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Posted in Blog, Holistic Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy | Tags: babies, children, fears, letting go, parenting, separation, toddlers | No Comments »
Emotional Twinkies
As it appeared in Huffington Post this past week:
I know a woman struggling with having an affair. Not the actual "having", but the idea of it. She ruminates about the man in question day and night. Should she, shouldn't she. She is married, has a daughter and the man she is fantasizing about is also married, though apparently he has made it clear that he is more than interested in her. The attraction is mutual, and there are all sorts of innuendos and near-misses — a brush against the hand, a bump in the hallway — all day at work.
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Posted in Faith-based Counseling, Holistic Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy | Tags: addiction, American culture, dope, emotional, entitlement, fast food culture, twinkies | No Comments »
Comment on Huffington Post: Praise or Parenting
On that recent article, I got the most interesting comment from username "Jeffyskate," who graciously allowed me to republish it here.
I welcome comments on his story. It begs a discussion.
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Posted in Psychotherapy, Verbal First Aid | Tags: Huffington Post, Oedipal, parenting, praise, praising | 4 Comments »
Praise or Parenting?
Do You Substitute Praise for Parenting?
Now in Huffington Post…
I was at the dog park recently and watched as a middle-aged man played with his young son and their dog. They were throwing around a ball and running back and forth. The dog and the kid returned back to dad, each with the same expression, awaiting the same response: "Great job!" And they got it every time no matter what they did.
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Posted in Psychotherapy | Tags: children, narcissism, parenting, praising, The Cat in the Hat, University of North Carolina, Verbal First Aid | No Comments »
Against Our Natures: When Good People Do Bad Things.
It is an archetypal scenario: innocent knave falls victim to the chicanery of a malevolent, urbane and –most importantly — seemingly innocuous predator.
The archetype of the black widow seizing on the hapless victim has been in literature for thousands of years, but perhaps one of the most famous manipulators is Lady Macbeth, who tricks the irresolute Macbeth into killing Duncan. Convincing Macbeth that she is a victim and that he would in fact be doing something important, righteous and courageous, her implied promise is that he would also be bonding himself to her forever and protecting their monarchy.
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Posted in Blog, Psychotherapy, The Next Osama | Tags: human nature, manipulated, narcissism | No Comments »
The Next Osama Syndrome
For the first time in Huffington Post, you can read more about the idea behind The Next Osama! This is one of the most important things I've ever done and I hope I can share it with all of you. It dovetails perfectly with all the things Verbal First Aid stands for, but takes a look at it from the cultural angle rather than the personal and psychological one.
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Posted in Blog, Keynote Speaker, Psychotherapy, The Next Osama, Verbal First Aid | Tags: Culture, Fear, Huffington Post, Media, The Next Osama, Verbal First Aid | 5 Comments »
On Real Parenting
This is meant for all parents who need just that small amount of recognition and encouragement to really help their children.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/judith-acosta-lisw-cht/limit-setting-and-parenti_b_682565.html
Posted in Faith-based Counseling, Psychotherapy, Verbal First Aid | Tags: authority, parenting, Psychotherapy, Verbal First Aid | No Comments »
Getting Sober the Old Fashioned Way: Fear
Some people need rehabs. Some people need one-on-one psychotherapy. Some people need consequences. Dire ones.
Everyone is different when it comes to their addictions.
There was one woman who needed surgery.
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Posted in Blog, Holistic Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy | Tags: addiction, Fear, Psychotherapy, sober | No Comments »