Improving Therapy: What Can be Done?
posted by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Feb 9th 2010
"If you have ever gone to therapy, are in therapy or are thinking about going to therapy, you might find this interesting. It was contemplated early on that when people go into therapy the outcome of them getting better is not dependent on the actual approach of therapy. In other words, the theoretical orientation of our therapists didn't matter. In research, Michael Lambert found this in 1992 a similar finding. So what matters?" More...

Words and Meanings, Intended and Not
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on Feb 7th 2010
""I have suffered a great deal from writers who have quoted this or that sentence of mine either out of its context or in juxtaposition to some incongruous matter which quite distorted my meaning , or destroyed it altogether." Alfred North Whitehead English mathematician & philosopher (1861 - 1947) " More...

The Stigma of Mental Illness Persists
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on Feb 5th 2010
"All of us see the deluge of television, newspaper and magazine advertisements about depression and how it is relieved by the latest anti depressant medicines. Sociologists presumed that all of this consciousness raising done by these advertisements would help people shift their perceptions of mental illness being a moral weakness and something shameful to it being an illness similar to other illnesses that is now treatable by the medical establishment. " More...

Unhealthy Narcissism
posted by Simone Hoermann, Ph.D. on Feb 4th 2010
"People with unhealthy narcissism have a sense of self-worth that is exquisitely sensitive and fragile. The slightest criticism can feel devastating to them. They also have a very hard time dealing with failure or defeat. As a result, they try protect their fragile feeling of self-worth by covering it up, presenting as though they feel special and unique, or have special abilities, and entertaining fantasies of being perfect, special, or powerful. " More...

More Mindfulness Research for Anxiety and Depression: Here's the Rub
posted by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Feb 3rd 2010
"I was recently excited to come across yet another study linking mindfulness to a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression. As part of his doctoral thesis, Luis Carlos Delgado Pastor, supervised by professor Jaime Vila Castellar, of the department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment at the University of Granada, studied a group of 20 second education teachers and 20-girls with "high level concern." Both groups showed a decrease in symptoms of anxiety and depression. Here's the rub:" More...