Stories
Beginnings
Coast to the edge gaze over to see unknowns, unknowns will there be harmony? Will it be like the darkness fumbling around no sense of the bottom where is the ground? In the opening unfolding frightening thing, will it do good, hurt, what can it bring? No...
Triggered
Alice puts the finishing touches on her resume. She will email it along with a cover letter to apply for a position for an early childhood educator. She hits the “send” icon, shuts down the computer and stands to stretch. Her body feels awkward and stiff....
Diagnosis – Helpful or Stigmatizing?
“I have ADD,” “ I was told I’m borderline,” “My diagnosis is depression.” People may come to therapy with a diagnosis from a physician, psychiatrist, a previous therapist or self-diagnosis through their own research. When it comes to your state of mind, it may...
Developing Attachment Strategies
By the time we are toddlers we have developed strategies that help us navigate relationships. We learn from interactions with our caregivers that behavior brings forth different responses. A baby cries out, communicating distress: “I’m hungry, my diaper needs...
Cooling Down Conflict
Karen approaches Scott about their upcoming dinner party. She is worried about the menu. Scott is watching a documentary and says, “Lighten up, why do we have to talk about it now?” “Lighten up! Don’t you get that this is important to me?” “Yes, but it can wait,...
Relational Dynamics Triggered in College
College students, freshmen through doctoral, come to my office wondering how to overcome the stress they experience. Symptoms of anxiety and depression along with somatic complaints such as stomach aches, headaches and insomnia make it hard to study. Interns worry...
Attunement to the rescue!
A mother and her young adolescent son have had struggles throughout the day. She feels sad and unresolved as she experiences their mutual avoidance. She asks him if they can discuss how they have managed some of the conflict. He is squirmy and her tension rises. ...
Getting Secure
The concept of a “secure base”, introduced by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1960’s, reflects the empathic and interested responses of caregivers to a child's attachment needs. With security as a foundation exploration of the environment follows. ...
Mat Over Mind
Walking across the tidal flats toward our home in Alaska presents challenges. I must maintain my balance over rock as I wade through the current of a creek which looks more like a river, swollen at 30 feet wide, a foot deep and rising. Climbing the cliff up to the...