When mental progress begins with new awareness, is it normal for things to get worse before lasting progress occurs?
While I don’t love the word, “normal”, this is very very common, and is something I’d expect in many cases. This is how [...]
What are the dangers of not addressing unsolved issues from our past?
The danger is that those issues will continually impact and shape our lives without us understanding what is going on. This means that [...]
Can you truly be in love with someone that does not return the same intense feelings for you?
I think we need to deal with some semantics before answering this question. First the “truly” is associated with a romantic notion of [...]
I’m not good at anything. What should I do?
We are all born into the world without knowing how to do much of anything. We can’t walk, talk or use utensils to [...]
What is self-love?
Self-love is one of the most important and fundamental requirements to having a fulfilling and gratifying life, and yet it’s the one that [...]
How do therapists deal therapeutic ruptures and client criticisms?
I see both therapeutic ruptures and criticisms as opportunities to deepen the therapeutic alliance and promote internal growth in my clients. In fact, [...]
Why is it that some people are so slow/dense/stubborn at changing their behavior? They’ll get called out on it, they will outright admit it was wrong and apologize for it, and then the next day they will turn around and do the exact same thing again.
They are not “slow/dense/stubborn”. They are human. People develop their behaviors for reasons. Once you understand how important those reasons are, it’s quite [...]
My new therapist doesn’t like me, I am unperturbed. However, he suggested that I don’t need therapy and am using it as a crutch. I disagree, how do I handle this with him?
I don’t know exactly how or why you’ve determined he doesn’t like you. This sounds like a projection/distortion. If he’s done something overtly [...]
If only my therapist sees my childhood as traumatic and emotionally neglectful, did it happen or did I just make all that pain up?
While our memories are constantly revised and recreated, it doesn’t matter if things happened exactly in such and such a way. The truth [...]
During the last session with my therapist I felt weird, like we were somehow distant emotionally and I had this feeling that I can’t say anything right and that I was boring. I am very attached to him and feel so bad right now. Why did I feel this way?
While I can’t know what you feel, what you are describing sounds like a common example of someone who has a poor sense [...]