Articles
Thoughts on Counseling and Therapy
Seeing Stress in Perspective
A few days ago, a client was telling me about having an especially challenging week; the kind where her toddler was more difficult than usual, work threw in some surprise stress, and managing the household was a struggle. She felt exhausted, overwhelmed, and alone....
Why Won’t My Partner Read My Mind?
"I want him to read my mind." Of course, she knew this was impossible, but she was being completely honest. That is what she wanted. Her husband’s eyes widened, recognizing he was just set up for failure in his marriage. This conversation happened ten years ago,...
S A D and the Dead of Winter
It started last week… Over the years I have noticed that there are three or four weeks every winter when people seem to feel extraordinarily low; and we are now in the midst of them. During the last couple of weeks of January folks always start to come into my office...
The Only Cure for Grief is Action
Over the years, as a Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist, I have heard many stories about all kinds of dads – some wonderful, some absent, some mediocre, some abusive. As a daughter, I know I have never stopped longing for my dad’s approval. I truly...
What Parents Need to Remember when their Kids are Coping with Divorce or Separation
Divorce and/or separation is one of the most challenging things for families to navigate as life for everyone drastically changes. Its important that no matter the circumstances surrounding the divorce or separation, that we keep in mind what children are going...
Signs that You May Be in an Enmeshed Relationship
To me, nothing is better on a Friday night than a nice drive, rolling the car windows down, and playing music. The other day on my ride home, I turned on my jazz playlist to an overwhelming volume, put the car in drive, and began filling the cabin with new, fall air....
How to Help a Partner Who’s Been Sexually Assaulted
As a Clinical Psychologist I am deeply committed to the idea that talking things through can help us heal. This healing effect is not limited to therapy. Most of us have experienced the positive, connected, feeling we get from a deep, intimate conversation. It’s easy...
Talking About Sexual Assault
If the offices of GR TherapyGroup are at all representative of an average therapy practice, I have to believe therapists all over America spent the week listening to stories of sexual assault occurring in their patients' past. It is not hard to understand why this...
Mindfulness and Play: Find Your Tire Swing
I was a child of the 1970’s. The shag carpet in my bedroom was olive green. I recall that the building blocks had to be carefully placed in order to not tip over in the depth of the turf. One was a cylindrical shape, another a rectangle and yet another was an arch...
Parenting: Five Tips for Giving Good Consequences
One thing I do almost every morning is to scan the "stories to read" feed on my smart-phone. I enjoy having quick access to my favorite news sites that cover a broad spectrum of political opinions, psychological topics, and the fluff I read for enjoyment. In my...