Are You Anti-Psychiatry?
Often when I have challenged the bio-psychiatric model, I have been asked if I am 'anti-psychiatry', so it is necessary to clarify my vision of a humane mental health system.read more
View ArticleSelf-Harm in Animals: What We Can Learn From It
Some apes pull their own hair out and many animals have self-destructive habits. Stress doesn't explain it. The mammal brain evolved to manage stress by focusing on behaviors that get rewards. When...
View ArticleSuperheroine Recovery: An Interview With Batgirl's Therapist
In the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, the Joker shot and paralyzed Barbara Gordon, the superheroine known as Batgirl. After years in a wheelchair fighting for justice as the computer expert...
View ArticleThe Real World of Rehab
Caution to those considering entering a rehabilitation facility for treatment of addiction. Know what you are getting into. Look into the staff, the doctors. Be sure they are properly credentialed and...
View ArticleDoes Grief Counseling Cause More Harm Than Good?
Dozens died in the tornado that barreled through Moore, Oklahoma. For those who lost loved ones, the grief is unimaginable. The mental health professionals in Moore are there to provide the bereaved...
View ArticleReturn of the Talking Cure
At times, psychology forgets the discovery of the talking cure--particularly with regard to chronic pain. New evidence points to the psychogenic nature of chronic pain and the need for a return to the...
View ArticleThe Future of Talk Therapy, Part 1
How will psychotherapy reinvent itself as its association with the medical model comes to an end? In this series of posts we examine how psychotherapy can reinvent itself, what new professional...
View ArticleA Cure For Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia
A number of misconceptions underlie all of the anxiety disorders. Panic disorder and Agoraphobia are based on two of these false ideas. Treatment involves discovering that they are false.read more
View ArticleHow to Express Feelings... and How Not to
Expressing feelings enables us to think through and move on from troubling negative emotions. It also brings us closer to those with whom we share these feelings. On the other hand, mistakes in how we...
View ArticleBrain Changer
Speaking about our feelings—and our memories—changes the brain. Permanently. It took me twenty-five years of listening to people for my living to figure this out. read more
View ArticleCreating a Common Healing Space
Often those in extreme states experience intense fear. We must be willing to validate experience and create a common healing space of compassion and understanding. We must help one to overcome this...
View ArticleSuicide, Loneliness, and the Vulnerability of Men
Suicide rates have been rising dramatically. But of special concern, as reported in The New York Times is the number of middle-aged men killing themselves: “Suicide has typically been viewed as a...
View ArticleApproaching the DSM-5
With the passage of the DSM-5 today by the American Psychiatric Association, more ordinary and even extraordinary experiences of the human condition become psychopathology. This problem of a...
View ArticleRefuse To Self-Pity
How we respond when hardships, hassles, and even tragedies befall goes a long way toward determining our happiness quotient. Will you be a victim or a take-charger? Find out how to keep on keeping on...
View ArticleThe Tendency to Keep Believing Whatever We Believe
An examination of the stubbornness of belief, giving examples from the various anxiety disorders and from my own misadventuresread more
View ArticleErotic Fantasies: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Erotic Fantasies: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. What our erotic fantasies might reveal about ourselves. By Max Belkin, Ph.D..read more
View ArticleGiving Parents and Adolescents Balanced Help
Encountering occasional problems that pain their relationship is inevitable for parents and adolescents. At the point of healing the relationship from hurt, both understanding the problem and crafting...
View ArticleThe Politics of Addiction
People in positions of authority and power suppress new ideas that would advance the field.read more
View ArticleSexual Surrogates Help Many Who Suffer Alone
Sexual surrogates are little known professionals who can be included in treatment plans for people suffering from sexual dysfunctions.read more
View ArticleSpring in Minnesota, in More Ways Than One
As a psychotherapist, I often find myself trying to help others see the “spring” in their own lives. read more
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