…ove and closeness? In this film, the participants, with refreshing candor, discuss topics of mate selection, honesty and deception, and the process of learning how to love. This filmed seminar is led by Dr. Robert W. Firestone, who together with the participants provides some new and powerful insights as to why good relationships are so difficult to maintain. Format: DVD Price: $39.95 Buy Now…
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by Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. Lisa A. Firestone, Ph.D. Joyce Catlett, M.A. Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships proposes that sexual problems are largely related to defenses acquired through painful childhood experiences, and that individuals can be helped to overcome these challenges and become physically and emotionally closer to their partners. Sexuality can be one of the most fulfilling pleasures in life. Yet it is an aspect of relationship…
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by Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. Joyce Catlett, M.A. Beyond Death Anxiety: Achieving Life-Affirming Death Awareness assists mental health practitioners in helping their clients learn to accept and face their mortality. They describe the many defenses of death anxiety, and suggest methods to cope directly with fears of death; an approach that, ironically, can lead to a greater appreciation of life. This book examines the many destructive consequences…
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Love — kindness, affection, sensitive attunement, respect, companionship — is not only difficult to find, but is even more challenging for many people to accept and tolerate. In my work with individuals and couples, I have observed countless examples of people reacting angrily when loving responses were directed toward them. One man felt a flash of anger at his wife when she said she was worried about him riding his bike in an unsafe neighborhood…
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According to a PsychologyToday blog by Lisa Thomas approximately 25% of women have difficulty achieving orgasm or have never experienced one, and even for women who are orgasmic, the frequency is only around 50-70% of the time. Other researchers found that most women do not routinely (and some never) experience orgasm during sexual intercourse. There are a number of physiological factors that can inhibit a woman’s sexual desire and her ability to…
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Both glamorizing and demonizing violence help us avoid having to understand the violent mind. We should enter the violent person’s subjective world, not just in order to be able to offer treatment, but also to anticipate the nature of the risks they embody both to themselves and to society. ~ Peter Fonagy, “Towards a Developmental Understanding of Violence” (2003) The World Health Assembly recently declared that violence has become a major and…
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One of the key signs of a secure and healthy relationship is the ability to be honest. Having a partner with whom we can communicate freely and easily is a fundamental piece of the puzzle when it comes to achieving genuine closeness. It’s also the only way for the person we’re with to truly know us for who we are. Yet, even the most communicative of couples can struggle when it comes to finding an adaptive way to give each other feedback. Being h…
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Separation Theory integrates psychoanalytic and existential systems of thought by showing how early interpersonal pain, and separation anxiety and later death anxiety lead to the development of powerful psychological defenses. These defenses attempt to cope with and minimize painful experiences and emotions suffered in one’s developmental years but later predispose limitations and maladaptation in adult life. The name Separation Theory was derive…
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