Psychotherapy Blog

Often when I “terminate” with a client (what a horrendous term for the conclusion of a meaningful human encounter) I let them know that I don’t see therapy as some kind of permanent cure to the concerns that brought them in to see me. At best it offers some meaningful relief, and some expanded awareness and resources that they may draw on when they inevitably face future challenges. I usually tell them I’d be happy to be of help in the...

One of the joys of running Psychotherapy.net is my interactions with customers. But of all the correspondence I’ve had over the years, this a recent exchange I’ve had has been perhaps the most intriguing. It began with this email describing our videos: Good evening Victor, I have enjoyed the almost freakishness of Albert Ellis telling it like it is, he was a man to be respected by the way he wanted the patient to come clean, and at the same time to...

I was just on the phone with Peter Levine discussing a new video we are making  using his Somatic Experiencing approach to working with pain. I started to tell him that want to release the video next year….and I caught myself as I realized that next year is now this year. Hello 2017! I still remember my kindergarten teacher writing 1964 on the board after our Christmas vacation, and I was so surprised. How could it be a new year? What...

It’s been twenty-plus years now of returning from some sort of summer vacation to resume seeing clients.  I wake up this morning, still unsettled from my dream life, reminded that my own anxiety, seemingly under wraps, is not too far from the surface. As I mentally ready myself to go back to work, images and memories seep in from prior years: early in my career nervously wondering whether any clients would return; other times eagerly anticipating seeing a specific client or...