By: Greg Madison Ph.D.

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

Eugene Gendlin is an existential philosopher who wants to point us back to our lived
experience. He invites us to stand in our experience and then to ask from there, ‘What kind of
world is this?’ ‘What is a human being if this kind of experience is possible?’ He wants to
return the human being to a central place in our various ways of understanding life. Since the
1950s, Gendlin’s interests have lead him from the writings of Dilthey, Heidegger, Merleau-
Ponty, etc. into collaboration with imminent psychotherapists and psychological researchers. Gendlin saw therapy as a unique place where the process of symbolising experience could be explored. (more…)

By: Beth S. Patterson, MA

Click here to contact Beth and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

“The only way to get to the other side is to go through the door”

–Helen Keller

Feelings of pain from the loss of a loved one can be hard on our emotions, but are a normal and healthy part of life. Feelings of grief from even small losses in day-to-day life transitions at home or work can also make us feel overwhelmed, but are also normal. The hard part is to get through the door that leads to a place of healing and peace. (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 Jerry Rothman, Ph.D., LCSW and David Fireman, LCSW

August and September are poignant times for most of us. The days get shorter and signal the end of summer. Evenings begin to cool off letting us know that winter approaches. The end of the summer growing season is at hand, and yet we are expected to begin anew. Most of us long ago have forgotten that September is the big time for new beginnings. We have let it slip from our memory that every September (August for some), for 13 years, we have started school (if we went to college we added 4 years, and graduate or technical schools might add even more). New teachers, new classes, new friends: a whole new world arrives every September with the start of school. (more…)