Contact Me
Insurance Information

Psychotherapy

Verbal First Aid in the Real World

I got this lovely letter from a reader at the Huffington Post, who has graciously given permission to reprint it here.

Hi Jude,

Your point about children tending to "interpret things literally, think magically, and respond viscerally" to heal right away, I observed when my daughter, known then as the "Little Princess", crawled atop a chair and "unintentionally" dove into the edge of a coffee table. Contact point: right eyebrow, which accommodated her explosion of kinetic energy with a half inch gash.

Read more on Verbal First Aid in the Real World…

Modern Medicine: Healing or Stealing?

About a year ago I heard a sermon about two brothers, Cosmas and Damian, both of whom were doctors.  Trained in Syria they practiced as physicians in the seaport Ægea, now Ayash, on the Gulf of Iskandrun in Cilica.

Read more on Modern Medicine: Healing or Stealing?…

Kid Whispering!

Teaching Children Safety With Verbal First Aid

According to a growing number of experts, a human's need–and search–for safety starts at conception. Studies have shown that mothers who do not want or are overwhelmed by their pregnancies induce the production of stress hormones in their newly forming babies.

Read more on Kid Whispering!…

Attachment and Verbal First Aid for Children

Verbal First Aid as an Attachment Aid

Babies come into the world crying, cooing and clinging. They need—food, warmth, love, and safety.

They are born with the innate capacity to feel fully, scream for us, hold onto us.

Read more on Attachment and Verbal First Aid for Children…

Kid-Whispering: Verbal First Aid

In a radio interview this past weekend with Mimi Stoneburner at KTIP-AM, we got to the topic of dogs as we discussed Verbal First Aid. We were on the topic of leadership and how Verbal First Aid helps parents develop rapport so they can give their children therapeutic suggestion to help them stay calm and heal faster.

Read more on Kid-Whispering: Verbal First Aid…

The Trauma of Betrayal

When people talk about infidelity­—whether in marriage or in committed relationships—they talk about trauma.

I recently met a man whose wife cheated on him repeatedly. As he told me the long and circuitous story of suspicion, denial and revelation, he moved through a snake pit of emotional confusion—anger, hurt, longing, disbelief, shock. And as I watched him weep, rant, deflate in despair only to bound back in self-reproach (“how could I have been so stupid?!”), I saw that he was still in shock, in the trance of his own disappointment. He was only bodily in the office with me. Most of him was lost in the torment of his recent past and his fear about the future.

Read more on The Trauma of Betrayal…

Psychotherapy and Boundaries: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

Holistic Psychotherapy With A Heart

The other day a patient told a story of how she got her first kitten. It wasn’t anything like what one might expect—found a litter in the alley behind the house, or a stray wound up on their porch. Her family doctor was over for dinner with his wife and he had found a kitten.

“Your doctor came over for dinner?” I asked.

Read more on Psychotherapy and Boundaries: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner….

First Press – Verbal First Aid

Holding the first copy in my hand.

Hard to believe!

For more information, go to: www.verbalfirstaidthebook.com

Also go to www.radicalparenting.com. Very hip.

Nursery Children in China: Verbal First Aid in the Face of the Unspeakable.

Verbal First Aid With Children

This morning I woke up and it was snowing! I don’t usually watch the news (morning or evening) because it is so filled with madness and fear, but today I wanted to hear what was going on with the weather. Unfortunately, I first had to hear all about the gruesome BP oil spill in the Gulf, the Goldman Sachs debacle and finally an insane, unpredicted, and vicious attack on nursery children in China.

Read more on Nursery Children in China: Verbal First Aid in the Face of the Unspeakable….

Shocked by Suffering

In a recent episode of Bones, the psychiatrist on staff, Sweets, is on a train with a kid who’s just received a text. He looks like he’s crying, so Sweets leans over and asks him if everything’s all right. The kid is weeping and excitedly recounts for Sweets how he’s had lymphoma for years and has finally been declared cancer-free. He tells Sweets all the things he’s going to do with his new lease on life. The kid is obviously overjoyed and Sweets is clearly moved by the good news. Because it’s a dramatic series, as the Producers would have it, an earthquake rattles the train, turns the cars up and over, and throws the delighted kid into a pole, killing him instantly.

Read more on Shocked by Suffering…