Dr. Tatkin discusses the goals and methods of a psychobiological approach to couples therapy, including its foundations in attachment theory and developmental neurobiology, and its emphasis on arousal regulation as a dyadic interaction.
Psychotherapy Training on Steroids: Remote Live Supervision
Note to readers: This blog is dedicated to exploring new training tools and techniques to help us become better therapists. May we all become “supershrinks”!
Learning a psychotherapy technique can be like a romantic tragedy. You go to the workshop, fall in love with the technique (and occasionally the presenter), and go home with fantasies of all your therapy cases getting unstuck. On Monday morning in your office, however, everything falls apart: …
Rules for a Good Relationship
1. Never go to bed angry.
Stay up all night yelling and screaming. After the way your partner behaved, he doesn’t deserve to sleep.
2. Don’t jump in to help when your partner is telling a joke
–unless, of course, you can tell it much better.
3. When fighting, take a time out.
That will give you a chance to come up with more devastating putdowns.
4. Don’t interrupt your partner.
You need to have all the facts in order to show her how totally wrong she is.
Alan Marlatt on Harm Reduction Therapy
The founder of Harm Reduction Therapy talks about meditation, college drinking, 12-step programs, and the limitations of abstinence-only interventions.
Trusting the Client as the Agent of Change
Reflections on the client's capacity for change, including a case study of a successful single-session therapeutic intervention.
Suicide During the Holidays . . . Not So Much!
We’ve all heard it on a local or national television or radio station, “And when we return after the weather, we’ll examine the tremendous increase in suicide during the winter holiday season.”
Well that’s great, except for one small thing: It doesn’t exist. In fact, the direct opposite is true. The suicide rate generally hits a peak during April and May. The National Center for Health Statistics placed November and December as the months with the lowest daily rates of…
It’s Over Now: Termination and Countertransference
A therapist explores the complex feelings that arise when a client terminates abruptly.
Nancy McWilliams on Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
The prolific psychoanalyst and psychologist discusses contemporary psychoanalytic practice, the state of the academy, and the importance for therapists to contribute to the greater community.
What if Its All Been a Big Fat Psychotherapeutic Lie?
In the early 90s I developed a classroom exercise to teach my students an important academic lesson. This is one of those experiential exercises where the professor feels holier- than- thou because he or sheknows the outcome in advance.
First, I placed the students in groups of twos and asked one of the students to play the part of the helper while the other played the part of the client who tells a real or fictitious problem.Next I pulled…
Bids for Emotional Connection in Couples Therapy
John Gottman’s concept, “bids for emotional connection,” is practically a complete theory of relationships in itself. Hearing the word “bids,” we picture partners reaching out to each other in a variety of ways. Gary Chapman, in his book, The Five Love Languages, lists five such ways: words of affirmation (“That situation was delicate and you really handled it beautifully”), touch (“How about a hug?”), quality time (“Let’s get a babysitter and make a reservation at Chez Alouette”), gifts (“This scarf…