A reader asked if I could help “de-confuse” Internal Family Systems therapy. Doing so is very much part of the mission of these posts. IFS therapy, like most "branded" therapies, has developed its own set of constructs, and its explanations are, as is usual, self referential....

Dear readers, 

You may not be aware that the writings in this blog are based on ideas that could be considered radical. I want to clear up any misunderstanding so you are know what you are getting into. I recently re-submitted a slightly softened version of our 2017 paper, "The...

Psychiatry residents are required to learn three therapies, CBT, Psychodynamic therapy, and Supportive therapy. While the goal is to gain a broad knowledge, incompatibility among these therapies leads to a lot of confusion. It doesn’t have to be that way because they do the same things in...

Today’s writing comes after attending a blockbuster online conference* organized by Tian Dayton, a psychodramatist, who spent 90 minutes with each of five leading thinkers on trauma: Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, Stephen Porges, Ed Tronick, and Richard Schwartz. What made...

*Notice:  I would like to discuss therapist's most troublesome cases. Email or use the communication form.

The New YorkTimes recently published an article on the adolescent mental health crisis. They cited many factors but missed the center of the problem. Yes, puberty comes...

This post started out with curiosity about why fathers are often antagonistic towards their children. There isn’t much talk about this often unjustified anger, so why is it common? One important answer came when that observation connected with the way self-made successes tend to look upon...

In a way, this post is a follow-up on TIFT #48, in which I explored the power of needing to belong to one another. Here’s how it relates.

When couples seek help, the situation is almost always like this: Each partner is focused on “getting the other to…” And if...

We talk a lot these days about attachment, but there is a more pervasive and powerful influence on everyday behavior. Attachment is what counteracts the threat of existential aloneness. But in our daily lives, and in therapeutic relationships, the interplay between cozy closeness...