Search Results for: Psychotherapy

The Fantasy Bond or Primary Defense

…linquishing aspects of the Fantasy Bond is essential to making progress in psychotherapy. In my next blog, I will describe the critical thought process or voice that represents a secondary defense and supports both the self-nourishing and self-punishing components of the fantasy bond. Read more in Dr. Robert Firestone’s new book: The Enemy Within: Separation Theory and Voice Therapy References Jacobson (2009). Considering Interactions between Gene…

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You Don’t Really Want to Get Better

…e without the fantasy bond would be life-threatening. Positive movement in psychotherapy that challenges the parental idealization or helps clients see themselves in a better light can paradoxically be experienced as threatening rather than freeing. Instead of feeling better, they may feel shaky or uncomfortable and tend to negate their insights or progress. For this reason, although people may wish to change, they may fight against positive devel…

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Video: Dr. John Norcross on the impact of a therapist’s confidence

…ctations, and indeed, that’s quite powerful in predicting who does well in psychotherapy. But it’s our confidence and hope that what we have is going. Many years ago, Jerome Frank talked about the role of hope and expectancy and ritual and he was one of the first, of course, to advance this idea that many psychotherapies work. In fact, when you control for therapy allegiance in the research, many psychotherapies do work. Frank said, “But I think w…

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Identity, Belonging, and IntraConnection

…, and how can we take the science of connection and inform the practice of psychotherapy? In many ways, the experience of a separate, solo-self may underly the many challenges we face, from racism and social injustice to environmental destruction. The field of mental health can play a pivotal role in how we help our human family move toward a new way of living on Earth by addressing the modern cultural excessive focus on individuality in the separ…

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Is There a Place for Constructive Anger in Your Relationship?

…e behaviors designed to identify and release emotional pain. This includes psychotherapy, journaling, meditation, feeling release work, and talking with close friends. Taking the time to engage in self-reflective activities to get familiar with and monitor our internal experience can help us recognize our impulsive tendencies and defensive patterns. It can also provide an opportunity to understand how adapting to our childhood pain often leaves us…

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Why Trauma-Informed Care Matters in Addiction Recovery

Why Trauma-Informed Care Matters in Addiction Recovery

…myself included, use training in multiple modalities such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Ego State Psychotherapy, and EMDR, which are helpful in both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of treatment and recovery.) It is so important for family members and people in recovery to understand this process. It’s important to realize that completing a 28-day program doesn’t mean you’re done – you’ve only just begun. It takes time to build new coping skills. It takes ti…

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Change Your Attachment Style to Have a Better Life

…ionships. The third way to alter your attachment style is by entering into psychotherapy. Therapy helps, because good therapy itself offers a secure attachment. In the therapeutic relationship, you ideally feel both safe and seen. In addition, therapy can help a person identify the filter they see the world through, challenge their critical inner voices and the defenses they formed to deal with emotional pain in their earliest relationships. For e…

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Factors that Increase or Suppress Death Anxiety

…be surrendered. Significant advances in personal development, progress in psychotherapy, and increased movement toward independence and individuation throughout one’s lifetime combine to make individuals more aware of their separateness, vulnerability, and mortality. Whenever people move out of the familiar safety of their defenses and expand their lives, anxiety is aroused or heightened and they begin to experience their essential aloneness. Per…

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Importance of Emotion in Therapy: A Conversation with Dr. Leslie Greenberg

…rsity. Greenberg is a founding member of the Society of the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI) and the Society for Constructivism in Psychotherapy (SCP). He is the author of several books, including Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love and Power and Emotion-Focused Therapy for Depression and Emotion Focused Therapy. Theory and Practice. Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) is based on the notion that emotions act as…

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Finding Your Cure for Depression

…xercise and mindfulness meditation. Often, a combination of medication and psychotherapy is the most beneficial. Furthermore, studies have revealed that psychotherapy can be particularly helpful in preventing relapse in people who’ve experienced a depression. Despite these reassuring realities, it is estimated that only about two-thirds of those suffering with depression seek help. October is Depression Awareness Month. If you or a loved one is ex…

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