New research shows that a unique strain of laboratory mice characterized at Penn State University has behavioral, hormonal, and neurochemical characteristics that are similar to those of human patients with drug-resistant forms of depression...
The Pathologizing of a Culture A young woman in her mid-twenties recently came in for her first visit with me. Three months earlier she had experienced her first bout of anxiety and it had become more acute thereafter. She went on to explain that she had been seeing a psychiatrist who had prescribed four different psychotropic medications, simultaneously. Complaining of a blurred and disconnected feeling, she offered that she
Why Psychotherapists Shouldn't Be Shrinks On occasions when people might inquire as to what type of work I do, I'd typically respond that I practice psychotherapy. I often hear the response, "Oh, so you're a shrink." My reaction to the term shrink is that I'd rather expand than shrink. Although my comment might be taken as somewhat glib, it really speaks to my worldview and my intention to practice a psychology that is in cohe
Tornadoes, Depression, and Emergence Back in the 1800's, scientists marveled at the movement of large flocks of birds. Imagine hundreds of birds all taking flight at the same time. The patterns that the flock generates are amazing, shifting and transforming from one shape to the next. It makes you wonder how each individual bird can possibly play a part in engineering these complex flight movements. It's as if the birds somehow coll
'Editing Away' Depression When the Chernobyl nuclear disaster happened in 1986, the tragedy made headlines in all Western newspapers. But the Soviet press burried the story in the back pages. In fact, your entire perception of the world during the Cold War would have been markedly different if you had received your news from an American newspaper or a Soviet publication. But it's not just capitalism versus communism. Even
What REALLY makes psychotherapy work? When you try to think about it logically, there's something a little strange about the process of psychotherapy. You go see someone, a total stranger, usually once per week. That person listens, asks questions, maybe shares insights. But it's one-sided: You only talk about yourself. There is a strong level of closeness, trust, and rapport that makes it unlike any other relationship. A therapist m
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