By: Dr. Linda Sapadin

If someone gave you a magic pill to calm your fears, (I’m talking real magic here, not a pill from the pharmacy), how would you live your life? If you weren’t so careful and didn’t play it so safe, what would you do? What would you say? Where would you travel? What would delight you? Who would you be? (more…)

By Jeanine Austin, Ph.D.

The other day I was in my car and listening to a wonderful oldie by the Lovin’ Spoonful. I think they captured what the decision making process is all about in their song “Did You Ever Have to Make up Your Mind.”

“Did you ever have to make up your mind?
Pick up on one and leave the other behind?
It’s not often easy and not often kind,
Did you ever have to make up your mind?” (more…)

By: Lisa Brookes Kift, M.A.

Adult anxiety has many faces, manifestations and levels. The anxiety disorder I’ve had the most contact with in my experience as a therapist is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and from here on when I speak of “anxiety” I will be referring to this. I work from a family of origin perspective, in that, I believe that people’s emotional and/or psychological distress as adults can partially be the result of problematic core beliefs developed in early childhood. A primary hallmark of GAD is pervasive worry. “Fear of the fear” is how some of my clients have described the feeling. If I look back far enough in a client’s history I’ve typically found a childhood experience laced with chaos, high expectations and/or a highly anxious parent. (more…)

By: Jennifer B. Baxt, LMHC, LMFT

There may come a time in your life when you need counseling. You may need marriage counseling, family counseling, grief counseling, or some other type of therapy. Getting counseling, however, does require your time, and you simply may not have time to literally go to a counselor’s office. Online counseling may be the answer for you – but it may not be enough. (more…)

By: Kent Toussaint, MA MFT

Click here to contact Kent and/or see his GoodTherapy.org Profile

Many parents don’t really know what independent study or home school is. Others see it as a sign of failure. It doesn’t have to be that way. For some teens, home school can be a great alternative to traditional high school.

What is “home school?” Do I have to stay home all day and teach my teenager trigonometry?

That is one option… but probably not a particularly fun one for either of you. There are several independent study schools to choose from; some charter and others private. They will work with you to create a curriculum that best suits your teenager’s needs towards graduation and a good education. (more…)

By: Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT

There are many ways that people can decrease work stress. One can meditate, eat something delicious during breaks, do daily yoga, get counseled (expert feedback on how to do things differently) on how to do their job differently, have a backup plan if they are stressed out about the possibility of being laid off, etc. But that deep process of psychotherapy, which still has some stigma about being just for the mentally ill, how useful can it be? This article answers this question from the perspective of an actual psychotherapist with years of experience treating actual clients for work stress. (more…)

By: Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT

Couple Therapy: The Three Dimensions of Success <!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { color: #0000ff } –>

Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT, the counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, returns for his third column. Previously he wrote about evaluating children who were misdiagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, then how psychotherapy can help people reach new levels of efficiency and productivity at work while reducing work stress. Now he will help readers to understand how successful couple therapy involves many factors that you will want to understand before choosing to help or enhance your marriage or intimate partnership.

There are many dimensions to good couple therapy. To simplify our understanding, we will focus on three dimensions: “The Assessment”, “The Couple Therapist”, and “The Couple”. (more…)

By: Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT

Oppositional Defiant Disorder: A Must Read for Parents and Coun <!– @page { size: 8.5in 11in; margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } A:link { color: #0000ff } –>

Family therapy involves meeting with the family to meet a goal. I am Sam Schaperow, MSMFT, LMFT, a counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing at the Waterford branch of the “Schaperow Psychology Center of CT”. This column will deal with child and adolescent behavior problems that often fall into common categories such as ADHD or Bipolar. But going beyond a one-hour assessment can find something else. Understanding everyone in the family can provide a far more thorough analysis than just seeing meeting with a child in isolation. A thorough assessment, such as one conducted by me and my team, can give an accurate understanding, to be followed by effective treatment. Subsequent columns will deal with the topics of “Psychotherapy for Work Stress”, then “Successful Marriage Therapy”. (more…)

By Jeanine Austin, Ph.D.

The other day I watched the movie Bandidas with Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. Knowing that Hayek and Cruz are good friends and seem to have a great time together, I was curious to hear them narrate the director’s cut. When listening to it, I immediately noticed what a generous spirit Penelope Cruz had toward others, especially her friend Salma. Penelope told a story about how kind Salma was to her when she first arrived in the United States from Spain. When Salma had a different recollection of the days certain shots were filmed, Penelope deferred her argument. Several times Penelope allowed Salma to take center stage and exclaimed things such as, “Salma, look how small your waist is!” This seemed to me to be a wonderful yet simple example of generosity of spirit. (more…)

By: Jeanine Austin, Ph.D.

Several months after my puppy dog Grace had been weaned, my children and I took her back to speak with the breeder and to visit her mother Sweet Pea. My dog was so excited to see her mother. She jumped all over her and licked her and did whatever she could to get her attention. As it turned out, Sweet Pea could not be bothered. She didn’t acknowledge Grace in any way, shape or form. This behavior rather alarmed my young children; they weren’t expecting Grace to be ignored by her own mother. (more…)