Facing Family Conflict: Turning Breakdowns into Breakthroughs

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.  – George Bernard Shaw Quarrels. Spats. Estrangement. Infidelity. Abuse. Divorce. Broken hearts. Broken homes. Family conflict is heartbreaking for a parent, and even more damaging to our children. Innumerable academic and clinical experts tell us it can lead to […]

On A Wire: A Psychotherapist’s Secret to Overcoming Fear

Fear is a notoriously thorny challenge to overcome. After all, it is the human brains’ most ancient response; a deeply wired, fundamental reaction that has evolved over eons with the very admirable goal of protecting us. The fight-or-flight operating system is so embedded in our neurobiology that it is a wonder it doesn’t control us […]

Escaping the House of Bondage – Breaking the Bond of Abusive Relationships

“The hardest part of being in an emotionally abusive relationship is actually admitting you’re in one.” ― Anna Akana “My ex was my Exodus.” Sarah summed it up succinctly one afternoon at the end of an exhausting two-year saga of leaving her abusive husband with narcissism. Sarah had been enslaved for 10 years and did not […]

A Formula for Defeating Depression – Noah’s ARC

Anna was drowning. She crumbled into the couch before me in a familiar wash of tears, “I got fired… again… I just couldn’t get out of bed. They finally fired me. And I don’t blame them. Why would anyone not fire me?” Her despair was slowly engulfing every living inch of her existence. I listened, […]

Addiction – What are you really running after?

“Karl Marx wrote: ‘Religion is the opiate of the masses.’ Carrie Fisher said: ‘I did masses of opiates religiously.’ Most addiction is a form of opioid addiction… because addiction’s main goal is most often a frantic running away from pain.  The question is, how do we stop running? Or at least, how do we run […]