The first session I ever had with a psychiatrist proved to me that I could achieve a real change through psychotherapy. While in college, I had been immobilized by panic attacks and was desperate to get help. I spent three hours with a psychiatrist deeply engaged in the confusing mass of experience I needed to […]
Psychotherapy
Fear of Change in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
One of the interesting things about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is that you can’t think about it too much. You have to do it. Hence the acronym ACT, to be spoken as the word. If you try to understand it with your mind alone, you’ll get stuck because the mind has too many blinders. I […]
Waking Up a Depressed Partner
I remember years ago talking with a friend about his recent divorce and remarriage and mentioning the stressful time my wife and I had been having at that time. He bluntly suggested: Well, why don’t you leave? I told him I wouldn’t do that since I thought the problems were as much on my side […]
Achieving Profound Change with Coherence Therapy
Psychotherapists can help us make breakthroughs in dealing with depression, but often the insights gained during a session don’t lead to permanent change. Why is it that we can’t always put the new insight into daily use and sometimes forget it as soon as we’re out of the room? That’s the problem that a new […]
Couples Therapy and Relationships: Hedy Schleifer
In the world of couples therapy, there seem to be a few people who are known world-wide as masters of the trade. Hedy Schleifer is one of them. You may not have heard of her before, since she hasn’t written any books about her approach. I was introduced to her work through a video interview […]
Russ Harris on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Dr. Russ Harris, a physician and psychotherapist, has written several books (The Happiness Trap, ACT Made Simple) to explain Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to the general public. These short videos are excerpts from an interview he did with the Australian TV personality, Zara. The two of them improvise some brief demonstrations of key techniques you […]
Starting a New Series on Acceptance
Is it possible to learn to live well using an acceptance approach to depression rather than the strategy of trying to suppress or avoid it? That’s the question I’ve been exploring. Most of the treatments for depression I’ve used have been based on avoidance. Reduce stress, overcome depression, control anxiety, conquer anger. Get rid of […]
How Hypnotherapy Works
The more I learn about hypnosis in therapy the more I have to abandon all the preconceptions I grew up with. Hypnotherapy is not about manipulating people or directing them to do things they wouldn’t normally do, act without the usual inhibitions of social behavior – as in all the theatrical stunts we’ve seen in […]
