Brain

When therapy gets stuck, here are key questions therapists can ask themselves to broaden their vision and open clients to new possibilities. Read more

Is “mentalization” a breakthrough in our understanding of the mind, or just a rehash of old ideas? Read more

Excerpts from a series of interviews with some of the wisest souls in the field of psychology and psychotherapy on essential questions clinicians struggle with... Read more

People seek us out because they want change. Some want to be less anxious or less depressed, some want to be better able to control themselves in interactions... Read more

Few cases offer as eerie a therapeutic challenge as a suddenly noncommunicative child, lost in a dissociative shutdown. Read more

Frederic Luskin has spent the last 20 years studying forgiveness and why achieving it can be so difficult. Read more

With the U.S. Army suicide rate at an all-time high, there’s a greater need than ever to understand the struggles of soldiers returning from war zones and... Read more

When we trust in ourselves to follow the signals of life that the patient emits in seemingly casual conversation, we increase chances of stepping outside the... Read more

Men with anger problems are generally highly reluctant clients who come to our offices only because they’ve gotten “the ultimatum” from their wives... Read more

For more than 25 years, Pat Ogden has been at the forefront of developing somatic approaches that can succeed where the talking cure fails. Read more

With stalemated cases in which the task of self-acceptance feels impossible, the therapist needs to offer more than compassion and encouragement. Read more

Neuroscientists recently established emotion is the prime force shaping how we cope with life’s challenges. Psychotherapists are beginning to learn how to... Read more

Our understanding of what happens when we weep hasn't progressed much beyond Freud's theory of catharsis. However, knowing how our nervous systems work can... Read more

Daniel Kahneman, the founder of behavioral economics, has written a comprehensive dissection of the reasoning mind, which should be on every therapist’s... Read more

A Buddhist approach to enhancing self-esteem. Read more

Our growing understanding of attachment and the processes that shape the parenting brain are opening new possibilities for helping stressed-out parents who are... Read more

An alternative to the old talking cure is expanding the knowledge base of psychotherapy as we recognize the role that exercise, nutrition, spirituality... Read more

Meditation supports clients in being more present and accepting. But if it’s transformation they want, IFS can help them take the next step. Read more

Plumbing the eternal question: Why are there bad people? Read more

I first became aware that there was such a thing as meditation as part of my immersion in the cascade of mind-body-spirit esoterica unleashed by the human... Read more

As mindfulness practices work their way into the psychotherapeutic mainstream, we’re starting to ask more clinically sophisticated questions: Who needs what... Read more

As a clinical intervention, mindfulness is best understood by stripping away its aura of mystical spirituality and understanding the crucial role suggestion... Read more

A Zen teacher describes the benefits and limitations of traditional meditation practice. Read more

While meditation is usually considered solitary, two therapists discover that the couples intervention they’ve been using for over 20 years is actually a... Read more

A primer on the specifics of incorporating mindfulness into therapeutic practice. Read more

Sometimes conversation isn’t the best way to communicate with clients. There are times when therapists must go beyond the words. Read more

In recent years, attachment theory, with its emphasis on early bonding, connection and relationship, has exerted as much influence over the field of... Read more

While therapists may consider some intuitively appealing ideas about human development---like attachment theory---beyond dispute, the researcher's job is to... Read more

Fifty years of research has confirmed that the emotional quality of our earliest attachment relationships is central to our well-being as adults. Read more

Putting the power of neuroplasticity to work in the consulting room. Read more