In a previous blog, “Living Life as an Authentic Adult,” I briefly described the reasons why so many people operate as children emotionally and refuse to grow up. I discussed how, to varying degrees, individuals are restricted in their ability to function in an adult mode because of “unresolved childhood trauma and the defenses they form to relieve emotional pain and existential dread.” In this blog, I explore the psychodynamics underlying the te…
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…ve never had a problem with this. You need to break out of the traditional role. When you drive people to the margins of society in life through the stigma of mental illness, it has disastrous consequences for individuals and their families. When a person with authority, and I guess as a judge that is me, talks one-on-one in close contact with someone with mental illness, the stigma goes away. This builds a community in the court room.” Brooklyn,…
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In this Webinar: This Webinar will introduce an overview of Terror Management Theory (TMT). TMT posits that the juxtaposition of an inclination toward self-preservation with the highly developed intellectual abilities that make humans aware of their vulnerabilities and inevitable death creates the potential for paralyzing terror. One of the most important functions of cultural worldviews is to manage the terror associated with death awareness…
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…Watch Now See slides from the webinar HERE. Read more about The Gift of Presence…
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…tions), new information reveals that laughing may actually play a critical role in buffering an individual from the effects of physiological and psychological stress. The physical act of laughing is no joke according to Dr. Robin Dunbar, who conducted a series of experiments to determine the specific role of relaxed social laughter on an individual’s well being. Scientists know that the act of laughing releases endorphins into the brain that provi…
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…and helplessness, and plays the part of an authority figure. This type of role play interaction tends to prevail in the couple with occasional role reversals. As a result, it is rare that both partners are relating from a simple, adult state of mind or perspective. As long as these reciprocal roles are being acted upon, both partners feel excessively dependent and bound to each other. Form Versus Substance Once a fantasy bond has been established…
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Watch an excerpt from PsychAlive’s interview with Dr. Allan Schore. Dr. Allan Schore discusses the non-verbal communications critical to affecting outcomes in therapy with suicidal patients. Dr. Allan Schore: Just for the record, we’re not talking here about anxiety and guilt. Anxiety and guilt are kind of left (brain). We’re talking about affects which are, have signatures in the autonomic nervous system, which trigger an HPA response, which tri…
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…ling the truth; being honest means being real. It means not acting out the role of the parent. This role interferes with your having genuine and personal communications with your children. In acting out the requisite parental behaviors, parents find themselves becoming patronizing, strategic, phony, and asking perfunctory unfeeling questions. It is important to be open about yourself with your children. Talk to them personally about your feelings…
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…dependence is part of what made our parent’s actions so significant to our development and what gave them such strong influence over us. To an adult, having another adult erupt in anger or act victimized by us might spark in us a feeling of anger or provocation. But for a child, having someone who is not only physically larger than us, but fully responsible for us, either explode in rage or fall apart can be terrifying. Even parents with the best…
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