Exploring the Upside of ADHD
posted by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Nov 6th 2009
"In an earlier blog titled Mindful Approaches to ADHD I hinted at the upside to ADHD and I think it's worth exploring a bit more. For many, being labeled with a "disorder" can be a vexing experience. However, part of our experience with dealing with mental health challenges is in our interpretation of it. If we view it as a "disorder" then our minds automatically focus on the gap in between where we are and where we want to be. By focusing on this, we can't help but be drawn into automatic negative thinking and depression at times. What's another way to see it? " More...

Some Additional Comments about Teenagers, Divorce and Family Boundaries
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on Nov 5th 2009
"The topic of the presentation was, "How to Cope with Stress." I expected to learn from them that their stresses had to do with such issues as school, examinations, grades, friends, and conflict with parents. While these were mentioned, they did not form the center of their concern, except for one item, coping with parents. However, this did not appear in the way I expected. " More...

The Bystander Effect, What Would You Do?
posted by Allan Schwartz, LCSW, Ph.D. on Nov 3rd 2009
"On October 24, 2009 ten to twenty High School students stood passively by as a 15 year old girl was repeatedly gang raped and beaten over a two hour period. Yet, no one intervened to stop the crime. While the newspaper and television accounts of the crime shocked the nation, it is not the first time a crime occurs while citizens do nothing to rescue a victim. In fact, the phenomenon has a term called "The Bystander Effect." " More...

How to Gain Control of Your Mind, Instead of Your Mind Controlling You
posted by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. on Nov 3rd 2009
"A couple is standing in the kitchen and one asks the other, "Would you like vegetarian or beef for dinner?" and the other replies, "I don't mind." Check for a minute how automatically your mind thought who was asking and who was answering. Later when the couple goes to therapy and she remembers the account as her asking him what he wanted for dinner and him replying "he didn't care." He remembers it as just being open to whatever she wanted and was trying to be helpful. What's going on here? " More...

An Interview with Daniel Sonkin, Ph.D. on Domestic Violence
posted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. on Nov 1st 2009
"Dr. Sonkin describes his career working with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and how his understanding of domestic violence has been influenced by attachment theory. He offers a definition of violent and controlling behavior, clarifies that the incidence of violence is not related to wealth or poverty (it's common at all levels of society) and (except for the most extreme forms of violence) also equally perpetrated by both men and women. He describes the two strongest childhood predictors of later adult violent tendencies: viewing of caregiver violence and insecure attachment. He relates attachment status to an individual's ability to self-regulate emotions which is the basis of this association. He makes clear that help is available for both victims and perpetrators of violence and describes some of the resources available to help with this process including group and individual forms of therapy. " More...