The Fight or Flight Response: When Anxiety is Your Friend

The Emotion Valve

When someone is friendly, capable, and well-liked yet can't seem to make a relationship work, the answer may lie not in who they are today, but in who they had to become in childhood.

Grief Before Courage: What the Story of Esther Teaches Us

This post reflects on a women’s moon circle held during the Hebrew month of Adar, using the story of Esther as a framework for exploring passivity, purpose, and courageous action. Through discussion, journaling, and music, we examined the difference between emotional awareness and meaningful movement. The piece also explores how unprocessed grief can delay necessary conversations and growth. 

Embracing Transitions: Finding the MAGIC PAUSE Moment

Autumn is the season of change.  I grew up in the Midwest, Chicago.    First there…

Seen, Heard, Felt: Why AI Falls Short in the Therapy Room

Thinking of using an AI app for mental health? It might offer tips, but it can't replace a therapist. AI lacks intuition, can't read the room, and doesn't understand complex human nuance like a trained professional does. Learn why the human connection is still essential for navigating your mental well-being effectively.

Fundamentals of Trauma Recovery, Part 6

In building muscle, you will literally build your container to bear it all. When your container is fortified, recovery will be easier.

Understanding Group Therapy: Benefits, Core Principles, and Distinctions 

Therapists often discuss the need for their clients to have supplemental support and another avenue for self-growth and reflection. Group Therapy, also known as a Process Group is more than support. It is a social microcosm where personal struggles are discussed in the here-and-now. While sharing similar benefits as other group models,  it becomes a living family dynamic where members can support, challenge and model healthy interactions with guidance of the therapist group leader.

Communicating for Connection

A key task for couples is learning to express their needs explicitly, rather than expecting their spouse to read between the lines.

Is Anxiety Killing Your Chances of Finding Love?

Anna, a 35-year old, slim, petite and attractive brunette woman from Miami Beach had been…

Can You FIX her?

The short answer? You cannot "fix" your wife. But you don't need to. You need something else a whole lot better...

Beginnings & Endings: Making Sense of Life Changes

The holiday season has ended, the parties and festivities subsided, and we come back to…

10 Ways to Improve a Marriage

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were just 10 do it yourself fix it solutions…

My Unorthodox life: Exploring Differences of Opinion in Couplehood

When I work with couples through dealing with differences, whether it be religious or any other practice or want, I help the couple explore their deeper feelings around their differences of opinion and differences of practice. Couples deal with all kinds of differences. Some examples are issues around health and fitness, what kinds of food enters the home, what kinds of media are allowed, how to use finances, what dress represents members of the home, places to hang out and where not to go, how much time to spend together, what to do with the time they spend together, where to go on vacation, to name but a few.

Earth, Water, Air, and Fire

The four classical elements are channels through which we make contact with the present moment reality, and engage our uniquely human mind – a mind capable of creativity, of connecting to others, of faith and spirituality.  I offer you these four elements as resources in moments of stress, panic, fear, or any other overwhelming experience.

Why Grownups Should Play Too

…as we get older, we stop playing. We feel the need to be productive or we feel so tired from our productive lives that we pursue mindless ways to relax and shut down, like watching TV, but watching TV is not playing, and playing is more important than you think.

Fundamentals of Trauma Recovery, Part 3

While extremely distressing, flashbacks are actually memories. Registering what is a memory, and what is happening now, is essential.

Simcha Guilt

A therapist reflects on his sleeplessness on the eve of his son's wedding.

To Be Mindful Or Not To Be

So, I encourage mindfulness.  I invite my clients to be mindful: to attend, without judgment, to the present moment. I invite them to notice themselves, and use that awareness to inform their next move.

Taking a U Turn From Thought: A Mindful Pathway Out of Trance

“Who is your enemy?” said the Buddha. “Mind is your enemy. Not one can harm you more than a mind untrained. Who is your friend? No one can assist you and care for you better than your mind well-trained. Not even the most loving mother or father.”

Separation Anxiety

When we hear the term “Separation Anxiety,” we often think of young children off to pre-school, crying because they don’t want their parents to leave. But Separation Anxiety can come any time your child leaves the nest — especially at college age. And it’s not just limited to the child — parents can also experience Separation Anxiety when their child leaves them.