Intrusive thoughts are those thoughts that enter your mind and may cause anxiety and hyperfocus on those thoughts. These thoughts may be violent, sexual or life threatening. These are merely thoughts that pass through your mind. They are not plans to do something dangerous. Intrusive thoughts are experienced by everyone. They may be caused by...
Author: bobl
We have finally had lots of sunshine the past few days crunched between days and nights of high winds, rain and the daylight-saving time change. This is a difficult time to navigate for anyone of any age. We have the combined traumas of Covid, Climate Change, Censorship, Book Banning, Transphobia, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Racism and the...
My father died suddenly almost 56 ago. He was 56 when he died, and he would have been 112 years old today if he were still alive. I have been a therapist in private practice for 35 years. One of my specialties is grief therapy. I wonder how that happened. I seem to miss him...
Every day we see the headlines and read the newsfeed – the latest Corona surge is running amuck; the most recent mass shooting is worse than the previous assault weapon massacre; climate change has increased storms and caused long-term weather patterns to be unpredictable; racism is overt and crushing. Waking up in the morning itself...
There does not seem to be an agreed upon definition of long-term psychotherapy. I have been a psychotherapist in private practice for almost thirty-five years. I work with children, teens, and adults. I believe that treatment lasting a year or longer should be considered long-term psychotherapy. Who benefits from long-term therapy? Those who have experienced...
Acceptance is a loaded term in American society. Many suffer from what I call the closing credits syndrome. This happens when people think that any problem they experience should cease like the ending of the movie they are watching. They believe their problems should vanish as the rolling of the credits begins. We are taught...
I am looking out the living room window. Nobody is on the street and the quiet is daunting. It is a struggle to find peace in the age of the Corona Virus Pandemic. Many of us are trying to stay safe and help our love one’s escape sickness and death. The kids are mostly on...
I wake up in the morning religiously at four thirty AM. I have no need to get up that early. I don’t have a job that requires predawn awakening. I am startled when I open my eyes and begin to have this worried sensation in my body. My stomach is upset and the quiet in...
It was sometime during 1969 at my house in suburban New Jersey. I was eighteen years old and one of my friends was visiting. He noticed a book on the end table in our living room. It was titled Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. My friend picked up the book, looked at the...
This poem is dedicated to all the women I have known in my personal and professional life who have been victims of domestic violence. You say the sun is bright In the middle of the night You say I don’t need any friends I got you to make amends You say I’m a disgrace...