Editor's Note
September/October 2015
Over the course of their careers, most psychotherapists discover that to be genuinely helpful they must learn to do something more than simply wield a set of highly specialized professional skills. But what exactly is this “something” that’s both the bedrock of therapy and the energy that propels it forward?
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Facing Our Dark Side
Some Forms of Self-Compassion Are Harder than Others
September/October 2015
Achieving a genuine state of self-compassion is a more challenging undertaking than many realize. Far from a little feel-better incantation you offer yourself when stressed, it’s a journey into multiple parts of yourself that may include the good, the bad, the ugly, the confused, the frightened, and the abandoned.
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The 5 Myths of Self-Compassion
What Keeps Us from Being Kinder to Ourselves?
September/October 2015
There’s now a growing body of research demonstrating that relating to ourselves in a kind, friendly manner is essential for emotional wellbeing. More pointedly, research proves false many of the common myths about self-compassion that keep us trapped in the prison of relentless self-criticism.
Case Study
It’s Not about the Diet: Building a healthy relationship with food
September/October 2015
Too often both clinicians and clients fall into the trap of pursuing weight loss as a therapeutic goal.
Little and Often
Using Micro-Practices for Self-Care
May/June 2015
The growing interest in micro self-care mirrors the developments in understanding self-directed neuroplasticity: small and frequent works better to create desirable neural pathways than big and seldom.
Bookmarks
Getting Over Weight? A Critic of our Cultural Obsession Goes Too Far
May/June 2015
Review of Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight—And What We Can Do About It
A critic of one of our central cultural obsessions goes too far.
In Consultation
Seven Myths about Meditation: A one-size approach doesn’t fit all
March/April 2015
Seven myths about meditation for clinicians to ponder.
The Reluctant Guru
Staying in the Moment with Jon Kabat-Zinn
January/February 2015
A Conversation with Jon Kabat-Zinn
Since he first developed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in 1979, Jon Kabat-Zinn has not only become a key figure in shaping our ideas about physical and mental health, but a cultural icon. Here he talks about handling his public role and being placed on a pedestal.
The Fiction of the Self
The Paradox of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice
January/February 2015
If we engage in meditation long enough, we discover that our sense of being a separate, coherent, enduring self is actually a delusion maintained by our constant inner chatter. Seeing ourselves in this light can pull the rug out from under us in alarming—though potentially liberating—ways.
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A Doorway to Mystery
Creating a Sacred Space in Therapy
January/February 2015
As pressures mount to narrow the focus of psychotherapy into a medicalized, evidence-based approach, one of the teachers who first helped integrate mindfulness into psychotherapy argues for recognizing the role of ritual and embracing the sacred in our work.
