Search Results for: critical inner voice

How Childhood Defenses Hurt Us As Adults

…ed on by our parents while growing up. Perhaps, we suffered the wrath of a critical mother or the frustration of a father who worried excessively about everything from our winter weight gain to our average SAT scores. As kids, we may have armed ourselves against our parents’ shortcomings by keeping to ourselves, rebelling against restraints, or commanding a self-prescribed perfectionism. More than likely we acquired some bad habits along the way….

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Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships

…n in the relationship. They explain how secondary defenses, in the form of critical internal “voices,” support negative views of one’s self and of one’s partner, interfering with closeness and intimacy. In clear language and conceptualization and through the liberal use of case material from therapy sessions, the authors show how individuals can be helped to overcome these challenges and become physically and emotionally closer to their partners….

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sexual stereotypes, psychalive

Is Sexual Stereotyping Affecting Your Relationship?

…he felt this observation to be a source of security. Other times, she felt critical toward her husband, perceiving him as cold or uncaring. Then, one day, her husband got sick and needed to be taken care of. In this state, he became more expressive of his emotions. The woman found herself feeling a mixed sense of relief at his openness and anger at his perceived “weakness.” This contradiction of her reactions made her aware of how the stereotype s…

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prescription drug abuse, addiction

Is Our Aversion To Pain Killing Us?

…e, her notebooks became filled with her greatest fears, concerns, and self-critical thoughts that she’d tried to bury but that were keeping her mind from being at rest late at night, and often, for much of her days. As she wrote down and acknowledged these fears, she began to deal with them on a conscious and “feeling” level. Alleviating her fear of the anxiety in itself helped this woman to take control of her sleep disorder. Through dedication a…

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