…mily and friends, understanding the brilliant and necessary work of Robert Firestone and most recently, delving into Earnest Becker’s book The Denial of Death, I have come to fully appreciate, and have more compassion for, the horrific truth we as humans face. From the moment we are brought into this world, we instinctively do what we have to in order to survive physically and emotionally. Like the fences we build around our homes and our countrie…
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…Conversely, both Dr. Solomon and my father, psychologist and author Robert Firestone, argue that when death awareness isn’t denied, but recognized, we can use it to promote peace and compassion. The idea that, as humans, we are all in the same boat (“all be it a sinking boat,” as Dr. Solomon points out) promotes a sense of equality and togetherness. The acknowledgement that our physical selves share the same fate, and that we all hold the same fea…
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…psychologist and my co-author on Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice, Robert Firestone, recently pointed out that living in the moment isn’t always as joyful as the saying would suggest. Life is filled with a wide array of emotions including pain. However, living in the moment does ensure us a more lively existence. We can’t experience the past or the future, yet we spend much of our time lost in regretting the past and worrying about the future. Th…
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…ed and positive. However, part of us, a part my father psychologist Robert Firestone refers to as the “anti-self,” is against us. The anti-self is like an internal enemy that resides in our minds. It speaks to us through a series of self-critical, self-denying or even self-soothing thoughts known as the “critical inner voice.” The purpose of this inner voice is to hold us back from what we want and to keep us in our place, so to speak. The critica…
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…herapy technique developed by my father psychologist and author Dr. Robert Firestone. It is the basis of a book we co-authored titled Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice and the subject of many of my lectures, Webinars and my upcoming six-week eCourse “Overcome Your Inner Critic.” Why I have invested so much of my time and work into this subject is because what I have found in my 30 years of research and clinical practice is that, in almost all case…
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…and caring. And perhaps you will even live longer and certainly with a lot more satisfaction from your relationship. Follow Dr. Firestone on Twitter or Google+….
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…a negative thought process, which my father psychologist and author Robert Firestone refers to as the critical inner voice. Watch a Whiteboard Video on The Critical Inner Voice The critical inner voice is formed out of painful early life experiences in which we witnessed or experienced hurtful attitudes toward us or those close to us. As we grow up, we unconsciously adopt and integrate this pattern of destructive thoughts toward ourselves and othe…
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…tner. A fantasy bond is a term developed by my father, psychologist Robert Firestone, to describe an imagined connection a person develops to another person, thereby creating an illusion of security or false sense of safety. When individuals do this, they no longer express genuine acts of love; instead they substitute real relating with the form of having a relationship and exist as two isolated people living two separate lives. A fantasy bond hel…
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…cognitive/affective/ behavioral methodology developed by my father Robert Firestone, Ph.D. The five steps of Voice Therapy target a person’s inner critic or critical inner voice. This “voice” represents a vicious anti-self that is formed out of negative early life experiences. The anti-self can fuel depression, leading people to experience a cycle of self-criticism and a feeling of worthlessness. The steps of Voice Therapy, involve: Step I: The p…
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…engage in a “Fantasy Bond.” A fantasy bond is a term coined by Dr. Robert Firestone describing a state two people enter, in which they relate as a single unit. In this state, the couple stops seeing each other as autonomous individuals. They stop showing respect and love for each other and, instead, relate out of form. When in a fantasy bond, a couple will often start to project onto each other and relate to each other based on projections from t…
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