Ordinarily, I avoid reading books and watching movies that portray head shrinking because I’m careful to maintain a work/life balance. But I couldn’t ignore Eleanor Oliphant. Too many people recommended the novel as a delightful portrayal of someone with serious troubles. I soon saw they were right, and so was I. Eleanor is truly delightful,Continue reading “Eleanor Oliphant Might Be Completely Fine But Using Therapists to Resolve Your Plot Isn’t”
Category Archives: Book Review
Helping Brains Talk to One Another
Here’s something that’ll surprise you. Other people know you better than you know yourself. It surprised you, didn’t it? That just goes to show that people can predict how you’ll feel. Upon that counterintuitive claim rests David Schnarch’s new book, Brain Talk: How Mind Mapping Brain Science Can Change Your Life & Everyone in It.Continue reading “Helping Brains Talk to One Another”
Missing Out
British psychoanalyst, Adam Phillips, must have had enough of writing about life as we actually live it. He’s the author of On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored; Flirtation, etc. Now, he’s come out with a book that explores the life we have not lived, the effect of what we believe could’ve been. In the processContinue reading “Missing Out”
A Review of Intercourse
A few weeks ago, at the high point of the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, when it seemed like the whole world was fighting the war of the sexes, I decided to read a book that had been on my shelf a long time. Was this book some kind of feel-good escapist fare? Not a chance. IContinue reading “A Review of Intercourse”
Reading for the Plot
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. What do the flashbacks and nightmares of trauma victims have to do with the way we experience pleasure? Peter Brooks makes these unexpected connections in his essay, Freud’s Master Plot, within his book, Reading for the Plot. A professor of literature at Yale, Brooks wanted toContinue reading “Reading for the Plot”
Stages of Faith
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. Whenever I meet a new client, after they’ve told me about the problem that brings them to see me, I’ll ask if the problem has a spiritual dimension. Often, this gets us to the heart of the matter. Most people answer by telling me the nameContinue reading “Stages of Faith”
The Uses of Uncertainty
Bringing you the best of mental health In 1900, for eleven weeks, Sigmund Freud met with a teenage girl stricken by hysterical mutism. We know this woman by the name Freud gave her, Dora. It wasn’t her real name. Precipitating the symptoms, she had accused an older family friend of making sexual advances to her.Continue reading “The Uses of Uncertainty”
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Bringing you the best of mental health Back when I was studying psychology in college, I got a hold of a book by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky (Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases) that would change the way I think about thinking; but not fast enough.
How The Art of War Can Help Your Marriage
Bringing you the best of mental health The Art of War, that classic work of Chinese literature, written in from the 5th century BC and attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, is packed with good advice on marriage, although marriage is never once mentioned. It is only one who is thoroughly acquaintedContinue reading “How The Art of War Can Help Your Marriage”
TELL
Bringing you the best of mental health every week. What can you do if your therapist turns out to be abusive? Who can you tell? You can tell TELL, the Therapy Exploitation Link Line. Here’s the link to the link line, so you can tell TELL. TELL is a resource, referral, and networking organization thatContinue reading “TELL”
