A recent trend in psychotherapy research is to add the effects of a psychedelic medication to a therapy session. The renewed interest in these medications ( psilocybin, LSD and MDMA)  is due to a number of factors: the cost and length of time psychotherapy alone can take, especially when dealing with issues such as substance addictions, end of life anxiety, post traumatic stress, isolation and depression; the high failure rate of some therapies to effect certain conditions; and the high safety rate of these medications compared to other psychiatric medications.  The combination of a long therapy...

Anxiety issues affect about 30% of the United States adult population at one time or another, according to the research done by the World Health Organization. Anxiety comes about for many reasons: genetics, your ability to manage body sensations, your emotional life, the perception of threats to your well-being and the culture in which you live. Anxiety is the most common mental health diagnosis given and therefore has a wide variety of treatments.

Treatments that have been shown to be effective for anxiety vary quite a bit and it is not always easy to predict which ones will be helpful...

Whenever an accomplished man comes forward acknowledging serious issues with depression, it comes as a shock to all who saw him as a success. Men who are deemed to be accomplished in life are seen as having it all. There is little room left for that man to have feelings that don’t fit the outward picture. Far too many men are suppressing feelings and needs that are simply human. It is easy for a man to feel as though he exists primarily to care for others and to deny as long as possible that he himself is in trouble emotionally.

Research on socialization of emotions, much of it...

Recently I read a theory of happiness ( based on research studies) that summarized and discussed the four most important areas that contribute to feeling happy. I have found this to be very useful in the therapy that I do and would like to share this with you. The four attributes that seemed to contribute most to feelings of satisfaction and well-being in life were the following: competence,autonomy, connection and security.

COMPETENCE: It is important to feel like a productive and competent person who has something to contribute in life. Having a talent or working hard to develop a skill...

Many people will engage in a period of self-help before they will consider calling for a therapy appointment.
Sometimes self-help works well and sometimes it is actually harmful. The current estimate is that about 5% of people who engage in self-help endeavors end up being harmed by them. The greatest harm is done because of the following:

1. Unrealistic expectations that do not function as promised. The best-seller “The Secret” could easily encourage someone to believe that all you have to do is visualize and it will come true. A positive vision is necessary but not...

When you are looking for help with an issue, you may be confused about what services to seek. Here is a general explanation of the services that can be useful to you. The most recently developed of the helping services is coaching. It is such a new service that there are no minimum requirements for providers and no licensing laws developed. Anyone can call themselves a coach.The letters after a coach’s name have no legal definition and may vary depending on the programs he/she has attended. It may be more beneficial to find a licensed mental health professional who is also trained in coaching...

When you decide to see a licensed psychologist for therapy, you will have some choices to make about whether to use your health insurance if you have coverage. If your problem is serious and you cannot get treatment without the coverage, then the down side of using insurance is less important than the help you might get on a serious issue. In order to use insurance, it must be considered medically necessary and you will receive a diagnosis. Certain kinds of issues will not be covered with health insurance. For example, marriage counseling is rarely covered by insurance and many insurers will...

One of the most important times in your life to seek therapy is in your 20’s and 30’s.This is the time that you are making those life decisions that will impact the course of your future. Here are just some of the questions that you are busy answering:
Should I get married and to whom?
Do I want children?
What should I do for work and an income?
Where should I live?
Why is my marriage such hard work? Is this the way it is supposed to be?
How close do I want to be to my parents?How much should I stand up to them?

As you can see, these are...

What does it mean to have a difficult mother? All mothers go through difficult periods due to fatigue, stress and the demands of adult life and parenting. However a truly difficult mother is difficult all the time and presents a child with an unresolvable dilemma: you can either sacrifice yourself and have a relationship with me or be your true self and I will ridicule, disapprove of or reject you. The child’s dependency on the mother is then exploited and he/she will have difficulty trusting others and developing close relationships in adulthood. Some of the characterisitics of a difficult...

What should you spend your money on? How effective is therapy at increasing happiness? The latest research from the Journal of Health Economics, Policy and Law ( Boyce and Wood) has an article entitled Money or Mental Health: Alleviating Psychological Distress with Monetary Compensation versus Psychological Therapy. This research analyzed data sets where thousands of people gave reports on their well-being. They compared well-being ratings for subjects who got a 4 month course of psychotherapy to the ratings of those who had a sudden increase in income through winnings and pay raises. The increase...