Everyone Needs Therapy

It isn't so unusual, if you are a couples therapist, to see an addict act like an addict.  When called on it he will say,  You don't know what it is like, being an addict. Neither of you do. That's if his spouse is sober.  Neither of you know what it is like being an addict!  (I repeat)  This theoretically justifies the behavior that the therapist or the spouse is calling out. Saying You don't know what it's like is saying, You can't empathize (so I'm right AND you're ganging up on me!) . The addict's response can be so emotional, so angry, so full of pathos, that it is hard to not have a sympathetic reaction. After all, it is a poor me calling out, Poor Me! And nobody likes to be kicked when they're down. But for someone in recovery life really is a lot of work, it takes tremendous self-discipline and mindfulness to avoid the many behaviors that give the word addict a bad name. Been down so long it looks like up to me is not just the title of

Not that this is a course on comparative religions, but with holidays coming up, lots of people are thinking about their religion.  I remember, years ago, when my kids were small, that Christian Scientists would knock on doors in our neighborhood to discuss how Judaism is really Christianity and Jews should love the founder of Christianity, a Jew himself. I refrained from the dialogue, but some of my friends, rabbis, would invite them in and talk circles around them. The Christians might quote a passage or two from the Talmud, but could not compete Talmudic experts. The poor evangelists would leave feeling very confused and disheartened.  Legendary Rabbi Jonathan Sack, chief rabbi of world Jewry,  passed away on November 7, 2020 and I am just now getting to his books. There are dozens. I believe the Queen knighted Sir Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks, and Prince Charles wrote the dedication to one of his books. A scholar in both secular and religious worlds, Rabbi Sacks wrote prolifically. I ha

  Well, this feels like hate.  No fear that Hitler would want to eliminate this kind of Jew, I suppose. But he would have put them on the top of his list.  The Wiesenthal Center issued a special report about this yesterday. I'm going to copy and paste directly from the  Wiesenthal Center Special Report.   It sent me directly to the mint chocolate chip ice cream.  Go to the website for better pictures . therapydoc The full text from the Wiesenthal Center: OVERVIEW This short report will outline the ideology of the extremist Black Hebrew Israelites (BHI) in the US. During October and November 2022, multiple anti-Semitic attacks by US rap artist and major social media influencer, Ye (Kanye) West and a tweet from NBA player Kyrie Irving’s providing a link to an anti-Jewish film,  Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America , have thrust radical BHIs into the national spotlight. It is important to note that the BHI movement is not monolithic. There exists a diverse spectrum of beliefs and

Honestly, I don’t like Thanksgiving, I know, sacrilege but the holiday has always seemed so hard on my patients and frankly it isn't a blast for me, either, sitting around the table for hours.  Tough on the back. And I eat more and more and more, which I realize is the point, but still.    This one was wonderful. in fact I don’t remember a better one in decades. FD and I enjoyed it pretty much because we hadn’t seen this branch of the tree in six months, which is a long time not to see your kids and grandkids if you have a relatively functional family. I know that during Covid folks have had it worse.  In Chicago few people mask anymore, I don't, yet I sported an ugly white N-95 in the airport and on the plane to avoid the t riple threat , Covid, flu, and RSD. As predicted the airport was MOBBED Sunday night, crazy full of over-stuffed humans ready-to-get-home. Exhausted, wide-eyed, very well behaved children pointed to puppies in purses.     Over the weekend my son brought up

The DSM-5-TR I'm not even sure how long the DSM-5-TR has been out (some of us haven't been paying attention) and honestly for me that's embarrassing. But the copyright is 2022 so if you're just tuning in, like me, you aren't that far behind. My copy is in the mail so I'll be referring to the TR in future posts beginning with a refresh of yesterday's (yesterday?) discussion about defining pedophilia. Over time we will review other disorders, too. Usually TR means text revised and implies important changes. Why bother otherwise? The last DSM-5 is only 9 years old but academians have been busy, apparently.  The American Psychiatric Association lists changes to the DSM.  A glance tells me that those of us who have to diagnose had best go shopping. Totally rewritten there are, of course, even new codes. The APA boasts the following :  Fully revised text for each disorder with updated sections on associated features, prevalence, development and course, risk and

  REPORT SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE A few weeks ago I wrote something about this (no, not the Praying Mantis post, something more serious) and took it down within the hour. I wasn’t in a good place, wasn't thinking like an academic, relied upon my memory for definitions and realize that's probably not a great idea.  So I thought I’d take the topic in small, manageable bites, differentiate between sociopathy and pedophilia. Because a person can assault a child sexually and have no sexual interest in children at all, and a person can have intense sexual interest in children and never act upon his or her desires.  Health professionals rely upon ICD 10 and 11 and the ICD relies upon the DSM-5 for mental health codes, so this discussion will stay within those parameters excepting the World Health Organization .  The ICD-10-11  defines pedophilia as a "sustained, focused, and intense pattern of sexual arousal—as manifested by persistent sexual thoughts, fantasies, urges, or behaviour