Are you feeling stressed or overwhelmed about the recent elections? I am starting a 10-week supportive therapy group for transgender and non-binary individuals (adults) navigating the unique challenges they may face over the next few years. This group offers a safe space to process emotions, find resilience, and build confidence to engage in civic life. […]
A fundamental principle of Feminist Therapy is that “the personal is political.” This is a term taken from Second Wave Feminism and refers to the idea that the problems a person experiences are often social – or political – in nature, rather than individual issues. As someone who practices from a Feminist Therapy perspective I […]
I woke up this morning at around 5 a.m. and turned on the TV – I had gone to sleep last night with the election results not final yet, but not looking good. At 5 a.m. I immediately saw that what I (and so many others) had feared had come to pass – Donald Trump […]
There is one week until the last day of this election cycle (I phrase it that since as many people – including me – have already voted) and I decided to do a post with some thoughts about how I approach election-related issues in therapy, and some substantive thoughts about the election in general. This […]
Yesterday I created a social media post with the quote – “Anxiety and Depression Can Be Reasonable Responses to Unreasonable Circumstances,” along with a short blurb on that point. I decided to write a longer blog post to add to and clarify that point. As a starting point, I italicized the “Can Be” portion of […]
The idea of “boundaries” in a person’s life is getting more and more attention recently – and deservedly so. Having said that, I find some of the takes on the concept a bit limiting, they can often feel defensive and at time very binary (do the thing or don’t do the thing, spend time with […]
Below is some information that it is essential to understand if you’re working with transgender and non-binary (T/NB) individuals, drawn from my professional and personal experience. It is not an exhaustive discussion, and of course you shouldn’t assume what any individual client has experienced, but I think it’s a good starting point. Before getting to […]
I’ve thought about this question off and on since I started going to school to become a therapist, and then in the years since I started practicing. The answer has changed over time, and I assume it will continue to change – though at this point it feels more like fine-tuning the answer, and modifying […]
“Anti-capitalism,” along with Socialism and Democratic Socialism, has been gaining traction in recent years, likely in response to growing economic disparity and suffering around the world. What role, if any, does this have in a therapy setting? I think a good starting point, before discussing anti-capitalism, is to define capitalism itself: “Capitalism is an economic […]
My purpose in writing this is to discuss what I have experienced working with clients who have expressed concerns about what is happening in Israel/Palestine, and the reactions to it in the U.S. Before I get into that, I want to be transparent about where I stand, rather than writing from a neutral position – […]
In recognition of World Mental Health Day I wanted to share a quick technique I use with clients, which I have called my “Mental Health Checkdown”© (working title). But first I think it’s important to set out the context that it emerged from, specifically how I conceptualize the idea of “mental health” (recognizing that I […]
Since it is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month I thought it would be a good time to post some of my thoughts and observations about working with people who experience suicidal ideation. Some of my thoughts and ideas come from personal experience – periods in my own life of feeling varying degrees of suicidal ideation – […]