People are obsessed with causes. And those causes may embody sought after justifications. In a recent article in Psyche about…
The Dark Side of Denying Our Own Envy
Few emotions are denied as vehemently as envy. Envy implies weakness like few others. Many of our younger patients find…
Obsessed with Control: Addressing Perfectionism and Codependence
For some, asking for help feels like a threat; the need to do so invariably makes them feel inferior. “Why…
Why Am I Afraid to Feel My Feelings?
For some, potential, negative experiences, like harm or death, carry the weight of their biggest fears. For others, their own,…
Addicted to Hope
In his autobiography, Based on a True Story, comedian Norm Macdonald details his years long gambling addiction, which cost him…
The Responsibility Dodger: Avoiding the Blame Game
Some people will watch you burn and pretend they had nothing to do with it, or worse, that you did…
The Dependent Personality and the Savior Therapist
Humans, like animals in pain, recoil from any perceived threat by hiding. Rejection sensitivity, common to various forms of personality…
The Terrified Cynic: Why Some Prefer Depression to Anxiety
We fear life as much as death. And our cynicism, a persistent sense of hopelessness, is little more than a…
The Therapist’s Shame: Understanding Projective Identification and Countertransference
Chronic defensiveness, like chronic avoidance, isn’t a victimless crime. In our self-protected cocoons, sheltering us from the exaggerated slings and…
Trauma and Toxic Masculinity
Culture and trauma can synthesize into an obsession with hyper-masculinity. Whether it’s Tony Soprano, any of James Cagney’s early portrayals,…