Two statements from the Dalai Lama suggest a conflict between the approach of Buddhist meditation and the type of self-awareness we develop in psychotherapy. The first statement has fascinated and puzzled me for decades. A friend, who meditates regularly, repeated to me that the Dalai Lama had said the following in conversation with an American psychiatrist: “When someone has been shot with an arrow you psychologists ask how the arrow got there, who shot it, how long ago, with what…
Michael Lambert on Preventing Treatment Failures (and Why You’re Not as Good as You Think)
Dr. Michael Lambert's groundbreaking work on tracking client outcomes has revealed a huge blindspot for psychotherapists: We don't notice when our patients are getting worse. But he's got the solution if you're willing to try something new.
The God of Psychoanalysis
A psychotherapist shares the agonies and ecstasies of being in psychoanalytic group therapy and asks: Is psychoanalysis a religion after all?
The “L” Word
Lisa hefts herself heavily up the stairs to my office. She must come up two feet to a stair, like a small child. She is breathless by the time she gets to my office and has to take a few moments to collect herself. As she settles in, I realize she has gained even more weight in the few weeks since I last saw her. She is huge, solemn, powerful, inert. Once she is seated, nothing moves but her head and…
Seeing Medusa in Every Client
Anger management expert, Christian Conte, PhD, who works with the most violent offenders, uses the Greek tragedy of Medusa to illustrate the necessity for compassion and open-minded inquiry when working with those on the margins of society.
Christian Conte on Anger Management
Christian Conte, PhD, shares his passion for counseling violent offenders, the radical empathy techniques that help him overcome judgment, and his unique tools for working with some of the most marginalized people in our society.
The Tao of Anger Management: A Yield Theory Approach
Anger management expert, Christian Conte, PhD, describes his unique and highly effective approach to teaching and counseling violent offenders.
Treating a Couple After an Affair
The couple in my office is connected mostly by the spaces they hold between them. Sitting on the loveseat in my office, they do not touch, although their arms, legs, and elbows and hands shift in an unconscious echo of each other’s movements. They are not so much mirroring each other as performing an elaborate dance of avoidance and retreat, their bodies’ dialogue spoken even through their many silences. On a larger scale, the same thing happens where they live:…
Why Its Time to Take Mobile Seriously
I was looking over my Google Analytics stats last month, and was shocked to see that 19% of my clicks in Google AdWords for psychotherapy searches were done on smartphones. People of all ages are now looking for a therapist on their phones, with almost all of the searches being done on iPhone and Android devices. And while Google owns about 2/3 of the search results on desktops and laptops, they command an astonishing 97% of all searches on mobile…
True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart
Clinical Psychologist and Buddhism expert Tara Brach, PhD, shares her insights about working with pain and suffering, meeting our edge and softening, and the simple but profound technique she uses with clients to bring mindful awareness into their daily lives.