The following article, “Couples Counseling With High-Conflict People,” is adapted from a 2013 guest post I wrote for Randi Kreger's Psychology Today “Stop Walking On Eggshells” blog. "You always nag me. Can't you ever just get off my back?! And then you wonder why I never want to spend time with you?! Who would want to spend time … [Read more...]
Substance Use Disorder and “Nurse Jackie”
Season Five of Showtime Channel’s darkly comic “Nurse Jackie” proves my contention that “if you deal with the behavior without confronting the underlying issues, you’re just switching chairs on a sinking ship.” I was referring to substance abuse in the quote, but it really holds true for the behavioral approach to all psychological … [Read more...]
Communications Technology vs. Relating
Communication is supposed to be helped by technology, right? We’re available 24/7 now, through cell phones, texting, Facebook, Twitter, email, etc. We may be communicating, but are we relating? Is a Facebook friend really a friend? Is the first time you tell the person you’re dating that you love them in a text? I know couples who … [Read more...]
Family Language
The article below about family language, also known as “chemistry,” was originally published on Your Tango, an online women’s magazine. Diane Spear, LCSW-R The emotional family language of childhood attracts you to familiar people and situations: chemistry. Have you known someone who says, "I'm with … [Read more...]
Date Night Ideas For Exhausted Parents
The article below, about creative date night ideas for parents, was originally published on Your Tango, an online women’s magazine, then was picked up and published online by the Good Men Project, Chronicle Daily, Care2 Green Living, among several others (thanks!!!). Did you have an abundance of date night ideas early in your … [Read more...]
“Enlightened” Narcissists Return!
Laura Dern, Mike White, Diane Ladd, and Luke Wilson are back for another season of HBO’s “Enlightened”—and I’m thrilled to have one of my favorite casts of narcissists (the characters they play, anyway!) return. So much material, so little time! In just the first three episodes of the season, Amy (Laura Dern’s character) has … [Read more...]
Reality and “The Other Place”
I had an interesting Broadway theater experience with reality in December 2012, when a friend invited me to join him for Laurie Metcalf’s star turn in “The Other Place.” Ms. Metcalf may be best known to the general public for her role as Roseanne’s sister on the comic’s eponymous television show. In “The Other Place” she plays Juliana Smithton, a … [Read more...]
Hurricane Sandy and Coping Style
Written 10/30/12: Your reactions to Hurricane Sandy, here on the East Coast, and to other challenging situations in life reveal your default coping style. What’s your hurricane coping style? Are you someone who goes with the drama? If so, all the world is your stage! You will find plenty to work with, even more than in all the everyday … [Read more...]
Caring What Others Think: Dependency and “The Newsroom”
Dependency? “Of course I care what others think,” you may say to yourself. “Doesn’t everybody?” Considering others’ feelings is important, but this is something different; an inordinate concern about what others think of you is a sign of dependency. Remember, dependency is needing someone else to do something (thinking well of you, … [Read more...]
The Fear of Being Direct
Writer Aaron Sorkin and HBO have given us “The Newsroom,” a terrific new show with plenty of material to write about, in this case, the fear of being direct. In the first season of “The Newsroom,” anchor Will McAvoy and executive producer MacKenzie McHale work their way from a very contentious professional relationship, due to … [Read more...]