Imposter Syndrome

The Imposter Syndrome If you still don’t believe in yourself despite others believing in you. If you think they would see you’re a fraud if they only knew the truth. If you fear it’s only a matter of time before they do know the truth, and then they’ll demand the money, the degrees, the recommendation,Continue reading “Imposter Syndrome”

Can You Rebel All the Way to Self-Actualization?

It was every parent’s worst nightmare. Sixteen years old and in possession of my father’s car for the first time, I decided to speed as fast as I could down a winding road. I knew my father wouldn’t have wanted me to race, but I held a curve doing 100. In fact, I did itContinue reading “Can You Rebel All the Way to Self-Actualization?”

How to Understand Yourself

A very smart man once came to me and said he wanted to understand himself. “Have you read Freud?” I asked. “No.” “Jung?” “No.” “Lacan? Winnicott? Bion? Kline?” “Never heard of any of them.” “Did you ever take psychology?” “I took a course or two. I graduated from Stanford summa cum laude, with a doubleContinue reading “How to Understand Yourself”

Peeling the Onion

When you meet someone for the first time, you’re generally on your best behavior. You’ll present the most polite, least objectionable version of yourself that you can come up with. This is called the public face, the mask, or the persona. Most of us cultivate this persona as carefully as we edit our Facebook page.Continue reading “Peeling the Onion”

The Shrink’s Links: The Defensive Functioning Scale

Bringing you the best of mental health every week. It’s not a question of whether or not you use psychological defenses. Everybody does. It’s really a question of what they are. Some, you see, are better than others. The first defenses we develop are the primitive ones, cheap and dirty, the barrel bombs of psychologicalContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: The Defensive Functioning Scale”

Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 18: You don’t know what you can do

You could learn a lot about addiction and recovery by watching the Wizard of Oz. I’m not referring to the scene where Dorothy and her friends pass out in a field of poppies. That’s the only outright drug reference I can recall. I’m talking about the way Dorothy and her friends are traipsing all overContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Substance Abuse, Part 18: You don’t know what you can do”

The Shrink’s Links: Still I Rise

Bringing you the best of mental health and relationship articles on the internet. Today’s link from the shrink is: Still I Rise Feeling oppressed? Recite this poem to yourself and you’ll feel ready to take it on, anyway. Good for all types of oppression. Click here to go to the link Related articles The Shrink’sContinue reading “The Shrink’s Links: Still I Rise”

Some Things You May Not Know about Your Self, Part 2

Peeling the Onion When you meet someone for the first time, you’re generally on your best behavior. You will present the most polite, least objectionable version of yourself that you can come up with. This is called the public face, the mask, or the persona. Most of us cultivate this persona as carefully as weContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know about Your Self, Part 2”

Some Things You May Not Know About Your Self: You never really know yourself until you die

The younger a person is, I have found, the more they think they know themselves. They can be heard, saying things like, “I’m not like this, I’m like that… I never… I always… my personality is…” They limit themselves this way.  That’s what I did. The older I get, the more I surprise myself. IContinue reading “Some Things You May Not Know About Your Self: You never really know yourself until you die”