Ask Your Therapist: How Do We Heal?
If you are looking for a therapist, ask them, “How do we heal?” It is important to find out their theory of healing before you enter their counseling room. Unfortunately, this isn’t the question potential clients ask me—they want to know if their insurance will pay the bill. I ask you to decide one of two things: to do it the cheap way or the proper way. And, in fact, the proper way can...Learn More
The American Dream (Nightmare)
Why do people seek therapy? For many, they suffer from depression, anxiety, or debilitating mood swings. People mostly seek treatment for substance use issues. As of late, it is something more disturbing. The majority of people showing up for treatment as of recent times are there to deal with the issues they face in this country and the world. One young adult confessed to having...Learn More
“I Don’t Believe in Therapy”
Yes, not one but two people this week entered therapy and blurted out, “I don’t believe in therapy, but my spouse made me.” I chuckled. This wasn’t the first time I had heard this, nor probably will it be the last, but this reminded me of me in 1989 when I attended my first counseling session. For me, I went to therapy due to debilitating anxiety and not wanting to take the medication...Learn More
The Number One Healing Tool
As an advocate of Spiritual Psychology, sometimes I feel like a lone wolf in the wilderness. In a world where CBT and DBT get much of the attention, I’ve seen each approach not get the results that are desired, giving psychotherapy a bad rap. If you are in acute distress, behaving a certain way, thinking a certain way, or using anger as a defense will lead to poor results. Then maybe it is...Learn More
Trauma Treatment
Trauma treatment needs to be handled carefully, or a person can be re-traumatized again and again. This has been happening to a person I am treating in family therapy, by their personal counselor. The old models of healing trauma can cause more trauma because, in an approach named Gestalt therapy, a patient is asked to relive the situation from as many angles as possible. Regression is a...Learn More
Music Therapy
Years ago, I learned the value of music in therapy when I was working at an independent living facility. This placement was for young adults with learning disabilities, and when I realized I wasn’t able to make any progress with them, I opted to have some fun singing karaoke. So, I set up the machine, began to sing, and one by one, all of the clients showed up, sang, and had the time of...Learn More
How to Fix Other People
I am sure that you know someone in need of help. 20% of the people in this country suffer from severe mental or substance-related problems–that’s one in five! It makes you think twice about getting behind the wheel of your vehicle. So how do we fix them? This is always a fun topic when teaching interns. Well, cutting to the chase, the answer is–we can’t. The truth is–the only person we can...Learn More
How to Take the Ultimate Care of Yourself
With the current atmosphere in this country, it is obvious that mental health is not prioritized. For years statistically, 20% of the people in this country suffer from mental health conditions that warrant serious treatment, however, in the last year, we’ve seen our numbers rise at an alarming rate. When we are experiencing more stress, the familiar issues have a way of intensifying. To...Learn More
Have You Avoided Therapy for Years?
Years ago I saw a billboard that said “We cater to dental chickens.” Did chickens have teeth? I was confused. I asked a friend, who laughed at me. Of course, this was in my substance use years, but as my mind cleared, all I did was laugh at myself. I was going to title this article, “Catering to Therapy Chickens,” but knowing my state of mind back then I decided to play it straight. If...Learn More