By Benjamin Marr, M.A., M.B.C. Dedication I dedicate this article to my mother, who always encouraged me to use my assets, although they had their limitations due to my disabilities. She motivated me to use my remaining skills to develop my intellect to an even higher level, never to perceive myself as handicapped (“cap-in-hand”), but…
Are you finding that your relationship is defined by pain, bitterness and anger? Are you and your partner so stuck in the negativity of the past and so pessimistic about the future that you often fail to nurture the positive things that happen in the present? Is it becoming difficult to remember why you chose…
The end of the school year is around the corner and it is that time of year again – it’s Finals time. Your teenagers are probably very stressed or getting stressed. There is a lot of things going on right now, Junior Prom, Senior Ball and other end of the year activities. As I stated…
A common argument I hear daily in my office is how much time should an adolescent be spending on their laptop or their smart phone. Parents typically believe that their adolescents are spending too much time on their cell phones and laptops. Of course adolescents feel that their parents are being unfair and not allowing…
Many kids, despite what they say, really enjoy school. They like seeing their friends, their teacher and learning. However, some kids are not as excited and even worried about going to school. Many of these kids were bullied last year and they are afraid of being bullied again this year. Often when a child is…
Many of the teenagers that I see for psychotherapy come to therapy believing that no one loves them. They tell me their parents don’t love them, their siblings don’t care about them and no one at school cares about them. They feel they are unloveable and no one cares if they live or die. Because…
Caregivers, similar to crisis medical and mental health professionals, are not immune to compassion fatigue, which is the result of chronic or acute second-hand or vicarious trauma observed or heard from the sufferings experienced by others. Many of you know that caregiver fatigue is associated with increased anxiety and depression, but you should also consider that…
See more recent blog entries on my website featuring Trauma, Coping with Stress, Why We Cry, and more… Is your partner “screwing around” on the Internet? February 21, 2012 It’s important for therapists to keep up to date. The trouble is, one indicator of the vast literature on “couple therapy” produced over 300,000 hits today.…
Practice-base studies show that cognitive-behavioral techniques are effective in the treatment of children’s mental health problems such as depression, generalized anxiety, school refusal, social phobias, specific phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), trauma and sexual abuse, and eating disorders. Two phases of CBT treatment in children includes: 1) Psycho-education, where children learn to recognize…
Purchase: Emotional Wound First Aid Kit If you answered YES to more than one of these questions, there is reason to suspect that an emotional injury, wound or pain is present in your life. I often suppress my feelings. I choose to keep hurtful events a secret. I hold anger or resentment. I have trouble trusting…