Managing Expectations
This is a topic that is always interesting to analyze because the distinction between where we place our expectations, and the way we balance our different expectations. So where do we place our expectations? In reality we place expectations on everything. It’s a human instinct to categorize and label our experiences, and by forming an expectation it’s a way for us to manage...
Read MoreYogic Psychotherapy – Part I
Non-dual, yogic philosophy teaches us that we are all emanations of the One (Shiva, God, Consciousness, Love, Essence, Nature, etc.) This perspective has many implications for the practice of psychotherapy – let’s turn our attention to just a couple. First of all, as human beings our lives are ALL sacred, no matter how each of us thinks, feels and behaves. In other words, the...
Read MoreCross-Cultural Relationships – In Time, Space and Food – (Part 2)
As I was saying in Part 1, cross-cultural couples have to negotiate an additional level of complexity when in a relationship. More of an awareness of each other’s cultural interpretations of actions can give cross-cultural couples the tools they need to deepen their relationship and understanding of each other. For this piece, lets look at the concept of “space.” As someone who...
Read MoreCross-Cultural Relationships: Time, Space and Food (Part 1)
Any couple in a relationship will agree that sometimes ‘things come up’ and ‘need to be worked out.’ This seems obvious because in a relationship, two very different individuals come together, bringing with them their own unique histories, expectations and interpretations of the world. Building a relationship involves negotiating these differences. Cross-cultural couples have...
Read More10 Things About Therapists
1. Therapists are people, too. As such, we have problems we try to work through, just like everyone else. We don’t pretend to have it all together, and hope that we have a certain curiosity and aptitude to help people help themselves. 2. Therapists don’t give advice. Believe it or not- we’re not advice columnists. We’re not your friend. A therapist that says “You...
Read MoreGay Marriage, Straight Marriage & Mental Health
New York – Gay Marriage Passes, on the eve of Pride – a dream headline So the times, they are a changing, as the song goes, but why anyone would want to be a part of something that only works half of the time. If my internet only worked half of the time, I’d probably think twice about the company I use. If marriage, as viewed in traditional terms, only works...
Read MoreOur love lives with…our pets – are we gluttons for punishment or what?!
Not many of us would willingly enter into a loving relationship that was doomed to end in 15 or so years. But we do it all the time with our pets. Why do we do it – over and over again?! The loss of a pet is a loss like any other. You’ve built a routine around this funny little thing that loves you unconditionally, even if you yell at it for chewing the sofa (which,...
Read More
