First Person

A parentless woman recalls her childhood Christmas rituals. Read more

Our best teachers aren't always the two-legged kind. Read more

Grieving the departed will always elicit startling feelings and strange behaviors. It may be less about truth than about timing. Read more

How does a therapeutic alliance become more than that? Read more

A session with a homeless client recalls a long-ago lesson about accomplishing an impossible task. Read more

Sometimes, raising a child is less an act of love than something much wilder. Read more

A man who grew up rescuing the women around him learns that there's no saving someone from sorrow. Sometimes the best we can do—all we can do—is offer a... Read more

If therapy is in some sense a confrontation in which you must come face-to-face with your disowned self, it's a real advantage to choose a therapist who's your... Read more

In a single, unforeseen moment, a self-lacerating young woman takes a risk and discovers, deep in her bones, why we're alive. Read more

In our treatment of survivors over the past two decades, the therapeutic pendulum has swung from complete denial to an overfocus on the wounded inner child... Read more

A take-charge clinician meets his match and finally learns to listen to his clients-and himself. Read more

Losing control of your story can be one of life's most terrifying experiences. Read more

Stop making sense and allow yourself the luxury of tears. Read more

"Mom, I think it's time to really forgive you, and maybe even me. But I'm still mad. I just don't know how to let go of it. Believe it or not, I've been trying... Read more

From the September/October 1994 IN THE PHOTOGRAPH OF MY maternal grandfather, Louie, that I remember most clearly, he is around 50, his bald head and... Read more

An inner-city father competes with a gang for his son's loyalty. Read more

Some things just can't be fixed. Read more

From the July/August 1994 issue SHE WORE A SEMITRANSPARENT WHITE SHIRT, AND underneath I could detect her fine lace bra. When she leaned toward me to take my... Read more

From the July/August 1994 issue   WHEN I WAS 15 YEARS OLD, MY FRIEND CAROL TALKED ME into going to a dance at our high school. Of course, we had... Read more

Two sisters find different ways to live with the nightmare of sexual abuse. Read more

When author Frank Pittman became a father, he discovered that the childhood absence of his own father left him with no idea how to relate to his kids. This... Read more