Toronto PsychotherapistsI’d like to talk in this article about a specific kind of depression, linked with the stresses of growing up in the shadow of narcissistic parents. As I wrote in my last article “What is Narcissism”, a narcissistic parent is akin to Geocentrism: they have an insistent need for the Universe to revolve around them,… Read more »
Search
Posts Tagged: Child Abuse
Narcissist Survivors’ Club – What is Narcissism?
A couple of years ago, I wrote a small article with this title, and it must have found a home somewhere on the internet, because I regularly receive enquiries about it. I decided it was high time I followed it up, so here goes. The concept of narcissism has moved mainstream, which can only… Read more »
What would Jung make of 2018?
Even if you don’t agree with every detail of Carl Jung’s writing, he’s worth reading out of consideration for an alternative point of view on our present cultural situation. Jung lived and wrote through the Second World War, a time when hate and tribalism erupted into destruction. His conclusions don’t really appear as a part… Read more »
Othering: beneath the tentacles of discrimination
This week, I came across an “ism” that surprised me. The word I found was “sanism” – the prejudice and discrimination against those who suffer from mental illness. Why hadn’t I heard this word before, I thought? After all, I’m a psychotherapist, and the ill-treatment of those who are suffering in the sphere of mental… Read more »
Loneliness, Belonging & the Hunt for Admiration
We are tribal creatures. For thousands of years, human beings have depended upon living in groups in order to survive. When we exist successfully with other people, we gain a deep sense of belonging that is fundamental to human wellbeing. When we gain true acceptance, we don’t have to compulsively seek attention. We can just… Read more »
Objectification: Monster in the Shadows
Current events in our culture or family lives can lead many of us to raise our hands in despair, and ask: “Why do (other!) people never learn?” Things can seem so bad, on so many fronts that we can feel overwhelmed and powerless. This article is intended to highlight a connection between prevailing problems we… Read more »
Seniors and Depression
Seniors and Depression. Until recently, in our society, we seemed to equate getting older and retiring as slowing down. We expected that as a person would age, they would slow down, sleep more, go into retirement and just fade into the background. That is not the reality today. Seniors are living longer, are in better… Read more »
The Narcissist Survivors’ Club
This is the phrase I sometimes have in my mind when I think about my practice, and about therapy in general. It doesn’t describe everyone who comes to therapy, but both the incidence and the suffering involved are considerable. It is deeply instructive to me that so many people facing struggles in life have suffered… Read more »
Scapegoating & Group Narcissism
We tend to look at the great societal challenges we face in isolated, fragmented terms. Racism, homophobia, religious intolerance, sexism, inequality, organized crime, nationalism – individual fights and movements are underway in courageous attempts to make the world a better place, but they are issues that are often seen as distinct, separate in their identity,… Read more »
Looking for Therapy?
if you are feeling anxious, depressed or angry, have suffered trauma, or are unhappy with your life’s path, a Toronto psychotherapist can help you reshape your future. Choosing the right therapist is as important as making the decision to see one in the first place. Not only will you want to be assured that your… Read more »
Depression: Is it Really a Disease?
Melancholia, the word written in the engraving by Durer shown here (1514), is an old name for what we now call Depression. The word originates from the Greek, meaning “Black bile”. People thought that this “bile” was the bodily cause of depressive states. But bile was not the only supposed cause of this mysterious… Read more »
How Does Therapy Work? Eco-Systems of Mental Health
As a psychotherapist I am often asked the question, “How does therapy work?” There is no quick and easy answer to this question. Every modality of therapy is different and each therapist works differently within these modalities. Even my own approach will be different from client to client depending on the individual needs and personality… Read more »
It’s 2015, Where’s My Happiness?
There’s plenty to say about Freud’s mistakes. He was as faulty and confused a pioneer as any. We do, of course, also owe him a great debt, and do not dismiss the totality of him lightly. One of his better works, brilliant in many ways, is “Civilization and its Discontents”. Written in 1930, it is… Read more »
Depression, Medication & Situation
Depression, Medication & Situation As you probably already know, there is a mental health crisis happening at the moment. Unfortunately for the people who are suffering, and seeking help, there is also a deeply divided and confusing landscape of professionals, with often opposing viewpoints. One of the biggest bones of contention within the mental health… Read more »
Managing Finances and Debt with Mental Illness
http://www.creditcards.ca/credit-card-news/managing-finances-and-debt-with-mental-illness-1264.php By Georgia Binks with quotes from Valerie Gerechter.
[Psychodynamic Understanding of Anxiety]
US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health Badiche A, Eudier F, Guerry P. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6144512
Anxiety and Momentum
We live in a world of quick “fixes”. Unfortunately, when it comes to dealing with who you are in the world, real change is usually quite gradual. That is not to say that we don’t have epiphanies, realizations, surprising moments in the process of change: the clock ticks after all, but movement (when we notice… Read more »
Demystifying Therapy
A few months ago, Toronto psychotherapists had a booth at a large trade show in Toronto; thousands of people attend this particular venue. What I found, and this has astonished me ever since we exhibited, is that many people have very black and white ideas about therapy. There were people who saw our banner, and… Read more »
The Expectation of Help
Everyone experiences difficulties in life. Why is it that some people have no trouble asking for help to overcome these difficulties while others in the same situations would seemingly rather do anything than ask for help? Through my work as a psychotherapist, I have come to realize that asking for help feels very different for… Read more »
What is Psychotherapy? A Way to Refer.
What is Psychotherapy? A Way to Refer By Valerie Gerechter There is a saying that is often used in the helping professions. “Give a person a fish and they will eat, Teach a person to fish and they will eat for the rest of their lives”. I believe that saying is also relevant to psychotherapy…. Read more »
Dreaming and Duality
I’m often asked, with some trepidation, about the role of dreams in therapy. People are fascinated by them, but also wary. Dreams open the doorway into the unknown, and it’s only right that we do that with some caution and thought. One of the questions asked most frequently on this subject is: “What does this… Read more »
Expectation at the Water Fountain
Many of us feel trapped in the land of expectation. We feel that we have to be a certain way in life. We feel…unnatural somehow in how we have to be in our everyday existence. We fit in as best we can, and then reconnect or rebel in different ways. We let off or drown… Read more »
Why Choose Psychodynamic Therapy?
What is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy? How does it differ in, practice and results, from other forms of psychotherapy available today? Psychodynamic therapy traces its roots right back to the very first psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud. Though much progress has been made in the field of psychotherapy since Freud pioneered a new understanding the human psyche, it was… Read more »
Excerpt: APA’s Resolution on the Recognition of Psychotherapy Effectiveness
Excerpt from the American Psychological Association’s Resolution on the Recognition of Psychotherapy Effectiveness: “Be It Resolved that, as a healing practice and professional service, psychotherapy is effective and highly cost-effective. In controlled trials and in clinical practice, psychotherapy results in benefits that markedly exceed those experienced by individuals who need mental health services but do not… Read more »
Robin Williams: Genius and Depression from the Same Well?
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychologically-minded/201408/robin-williams-genius-and-depression-the-same-well
How to Choose a Therapist
Look for understanding, not hype Published on September 30, 2013 by Jonathan Shedler, PhD in Psychologically Minded www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychologically-minded/201309/how-choose-therapist
21 Tips to Keep Your Shit Together When You’re Depressed
http://www.diycouturier.com/post/47249603128/21-tips-to-keep-your-shit-together-when-youre
The drugs do work but they can’t cure unhappiness
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/20/drugs-work-cant-cure-unhappiness-antidepressants