Life at Balance: A Practical Formula
for Success and Wellness
What is required for us to reach our potential and achieve our goals? Why do past experiences affect our behavior and actions in the present? What role does our genetic makeup play in shaping our responses to situations day to day?
And what are your strategies for incorporating the answers to these questions into your life on an ongoing basis?
It would probably be overly simplistic to say that of the above, the only question that truly matters is the last one. Nonetheless, I don’t recommend spending too much time working on the “why’s”; I find that we get more results when we focus on the “hows.” But psychotherapists are not usually life coaches, and alas, life coaches are not generally good psychotherapists. Somehow we need to reach a balance that integrates what we learn about ourselves emotionally with what we practice experientially in order to make changes in our lives. Achieving this balance is the key to reaching our potential; but it’s not all about what you know, it’s also about what you do. Here’s what I mean: Read more
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Psychotherapy with Adolescents:
A New Focus on an Out-Patient Model
Until recently, the vast majority of my work has been with adults. I have been providing therapeutic services primarily to people 18 and over since the early 1980’s. Granted, I’ve worked extensively with families, and do bring children in from time to time when working with couples, although that tends to be the exception rather than the rule. And with over twenty five years of experience working with people with addictive disorders, I am painfully aware of the impact that addiction has on the children of addicts. I’m not at all unaware of the issues that adolescents face, or effective techniques for treating young people. But basically, I have chosen not to develop a specialty on treatment specifically with adolescents. Recently that’s changed.
It’s redundant and obvious to say that children and adolescents are the adults of the future. They are the ones who will make the decisions about everything that is vital to society; and perhaps even more importantly, pass on key values to their own children; and so the cycle goes. How the children and adolescents of today adjust, adapt and form relationships is fundamental to the quality of their lives for tomorrow. How they learn to cope with the inevitable losses and separations that are such a painful part of adolescence will mold their abilities to manage grief for the remainder of their lives. How well they perform in school and other organized activities impacts the development and evolution of their self esteem, and that in turn affects everything in society from the crime rate to the degree of addiction in society, to the productivity and economic performance of the country.
I have decided to take an active role in this process. I believe that working with adolescents on their psychological issues in a supportive, encouraging and challenging environment provides young people opportunities to understand themselves, thus enabling them to make better and more informed choices in their lives - before they are made impulsively and prematurely. When a young person has the chance to work through psychological issues with a skilled and understanding therapist, one who can form and sustain a trusting alliance with the youth - much can be averted. Likewise, much can be changed and instilled. The therapeutic opportunities are very substantial when the work is done right. Read more
