Maestro of Consulting Room
At 83, Salvador Minuchin is still reflecting on clinical wisdomAt 83, family therapy pioneer Salvador Minuchin, the most dazzling therapeutic practitioner of his generation, continues on in his search for clinical wisdom. Read more
Beloved Stranger
Temperament and the Elusive Concept of NormalityAn understanding of the inborn dimensions of human temperament reveals that the concept of "normal" is far richer and more expansive than previously imagined. Read more
Getting Over It
We're more resilient than we realizeTherapists often assume that people going through grief or trauma must always emotionally work. But through the experience if they are to recover, recent... Read more
Blindsided: When Tragedy strikes too close to home
I nod numbly as I try to absorb the image of building a coffin for one's child. [Eric]'s son, Paul, is 15 years old. He's slowly dying from a brain tumor. n... Read more
Across the Great Divide
Middle Age in the Rear-View MirrorAs they've aged, the Boomers have kept redefining previous generations' ideas about the stages of the life cycle. But while the pop bromide may insist that "50... Read more
In Praise of the Older Therapist
Probing the Heart of Clinical WisdomAmong the more curious findings of the therapy-research literature is the failure to show that experienced clinicians get any better results than novices... Read more
Bitter Pill
Ritalin and the Growing Influence of Big PharmaResearchers and practitioners alike have long been concerned that Ritalin use in childhood could lead to later drug abuse. But when a University of California... Read more
Undercurrents
When Therapy StallsWhen therapy stalls, it's usually time to investigate the undercurrents that nobody wants to talk about. Read more
Mirror Mirror
Emotion in the Consulting Room is More Contagious Than We ThoughtEmpathy may be the life's blood of good therapy, but scientifically, it's remained a rather fuzzy concept. Now a serendipitous lab discovery is showing how... Read more
Altered States
Why Insight by Itself Isn't Enough For Lasting ChangeIncreasingly, neuroscience is making it clear that therapists rely too much on the consulting room drama of insight and not enough on good, old-fashioned... Read more
Riding the Waves
Neurofeedback: A Breakthrough with Learning Disabilities?Neurofeedback is one of a group of new technologies that promises not only to treat the symptoms of mood, attention, and learning disorders, but to address the... Read more
Curtailing Between-Session Phone Calls
They set up on either side of the patient's bed and reassure the unconscious patient and his relatives that they don't have to do anything. [Margaret Pasquesi... Read more
Listening for Zebras
A mother learns to trust her animal instinctsSometimes, raising a child is less an act of love than something much wilder. Read more
Turning "I Can't" into "I Will"
How to Motivate Depressed ClientsGetting a depressed client mobilized to take the initial steps toward change can be the key to treatment. Read more
A Different Kind of Presence
Bringing Body-Centered Experience into Your WorkTherapy can too easily become reduced to two talking heads, spinning out tales. But treatment can be intensified and enlivened by tapping into our immediate... Read more
Beyond Viagra
Why the Promise of Cure Far Exceeds the RealityDespite all the hoopla, the dropout rate for Viagra exceeds 40 percent. A case explores the aspects of middle-aged sexuality that no drug can address. Read more
Enlightenment Reframed
When East Meets West in the Consulting RoomUntil recently, our understanding of "enlightenment" has been shrouded in spiritual hero worship. But we're beginning to see it as a thoroughly natural... Read more
The Larger Self
Discovering the Core Within Our MultiplicityThe practice of therapy, for both therapist and client, is transformed when we connect with our fundamental core, a process that involves learning to listen... Read more
Addictions Treatment: Myth vs Reality
Effective Interventions Often Don't Match StereotypesTwo recent landmark overviews of research separate myth from reality in the treatment of substance abuse. Read more
Beyond Acceptance
It's Never Too Late to Open Your HeartA woman who wants to learn a new way to be with her mother teaches her therapist what it means to step out of his own comfort zone. Read more
On Being Sane in Insane Places
Retracing David Ronsenhan's Journeyin 1972, David Rosenhan shook the foundations of psychiatry with a classic experiment that stunningly demonstrated how the world is always warped by the lens... Read more
Adult Time for Adult Crime
Have We Lost Faith in Rehabilitating Juvenile Offenders?For the past 20 years, the American criminal justice system has dealt with juvenile offenders in a way it never did before: by treating them like adults who... Read more