Therapy

University of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert was called out by ESPN for punching, kicking, shoving, and throwing elbows against opponents after her team fell behind in a conference tournament game. In her most blatant attack, she yanked back an opponent's ponytail, ripping her to the ground.  She says she deeply regrets the incident.  Do you believe her? Read More

I've recently come to the conclusion that cognitive behavioral therapy, the empirically-demonstrated gold standard for treating depression and a host of other problems, necessitates a belief in existentialism, a philosophy holding that we live in a meaningless universe.  Read More

The difference between the autumn term of this academic year and that of last year seems to embody my recovery more fully and vividly than anything else. But my thesis still remains an insidious thread connecting the two. Read More

For more than a decade I've taught a seminar in dynamic psychotherapy to psychiatry residents. One tricky issue that arises every year is the apparent choice between conducting a "supportive" psychotherapy, versus an "analytic" or "insight-oriented" one. I developed a sailing analogy to clarify this issue, and to teach an important point about it.

Read More

Overlooked children may not be the apple of their parents' eyes, but these kids can be driven to be valued. Ted Kennedy is an example of an overlooked child whose life was driven by his desire to make his father proud, to carry on the family legacy of excellence. Kennedy worked hard to keep up with his revered siblings, bringing this ethos to his life in the Senate. Our nation is better for that. Read More

If we are all potentially as wise, awake, and compassionate as the man who became known as the Buddha, why don't we experience ourselves that way? If our nature is "brilliant sanity," why are we often so confused, distressed, anxious, depressed, or angry? What gets in the way? Read More

Mental illness often results from excess emotion. The overflow of emotion doesn't just drive mood disorders like Depression but fuels most psychological problems which are not strictly organic: phobias, anxiety, trauma, hoarding, obsessiveness, borderline personality disorder, and drug and alcohol abuse. Read More

Sacramento Street is a pleasant east-west boulevard that runs north of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  One section of Sacramento, together with adjoining side streets, forms a neighborhood in which many of the city's private-practice psychiatry offices have been located for generations, many fashioned from subdivided and re-purposed Victorian homes. Read More

Greetings! This is the first post on "Make Your Life a Blessing."

What does "Make Your Life A Blessing have to do with your work or life? Isn't it religious? What if you do not believe in God? Or do not believe that blessings (as you may have known them) have anything to do with reality. Let me explain a bit... Read More