The Novel Perspective

Life as a work in progress
by Kim Schneiderman, LCSW

The Moment of Truth: Do I Practice What I Preach?

For years, I had been helping people reclaim the authorship rights of their life stories. But after a series of family deaths, my ideas were put to the test. Could I turn a family tragedy into a story of love and redemption? Read More

The Truth About Transitions

As we age, we are often measured by our gains, not our losses, our stability, not our vulnerability. That's why so many people are devastated when the temple of their familiar world is shaken. Yet change doesn't have to be scary. Understanding the three stages of transition can help us navigate life's twists and turns. Read More

The You Behind Your Resume

While there's nothing wrong with taking pride in one's hard-earned status and credentials, glomming on to titles that complete sentences like "I am a ________________" (stockbroker, lawyer, etc.) can trigger an identity crisis when confronted with precarious life circumstances like, say, a recession. Read More

Emotional Yoga: Why Flexibility Is Good for Relationships

Like an asana, a healthy relationship requires flexibility, commitment, and alignment with our internal sources of vitality and well-being—loving ourselves unconditionally, for example—even while enduring periods of discomfort. Making yourself a little uncomfortable for someone you love can stretch the relationship into new levels of health and vitality. Read More

The Difference Between a Monologue and a Dialogue

Conversations between two parties who are not really listening to each other are essentially monologues masquerading as dialogues. One of the hardest things we can ever do is to put aside our own agendas and really listen to another person. Read More

Are You the Star of Your Own Story?

Whether we care to admit it or not, we are all the stars of our stories....and there's nothing wrong with that. Read More

Character Development: The Heart of Any Story Worth Living

Once we accept that the difficult chapters in our lives have something valuable to teach us, we can begin to mine the gems of any situation whether or not the story unfolds to our liking. Read More

Feeling Stuck? Step Out of Your Story and Check Out the Landscape

Studies show that imagining yourself as a character in a story can improve your self esteem and outlook on life. Read More

Triumph or Tragedy: How You Tell Your Story Matters

How we tell our stories not only matters, but also it can mean the difference between whether we see our lives as meaningless nightmares or enriching experiences that leave us all the wiser. Read More

Spells and Charms: Harry Potter and the Power of Positive Thinking

Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling was not only a genius of fantasy fiction, but also a sorceress of pop psychology. Read More

Who's Writing Your Script? You May Be Surprised

Stranger than Fiction: By reclaiming the authorship rights to our own life stories, we discover that the most important conversation we'll ever have is with ourselves. Read More

Cyberspying and Defriending: How Facebook is Finding its Way to the Therapy Couch

By pronouncing precisely who likes who and who is doing what, Facebook tells us in black and white letters and full-color photos what we might otherwise read between the lines and wish we could ignore. Read More

Kim Schneiderman, LCSW

Kim Schneiderman, L.C.S.W., is a psychotherapist in private practice on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

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