By Elizabeth Mahaney, M.A., MHC, MFT

Click here to contact Elizabeth and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile

Communication is central to a healthy marriage.  Communication was ranked as the number one problem among couples in therapy (Hecker &Wetchler, 2003). There are several obstacles that can contribute to poor communication between couples. Research findings with regard to communication between couples tends to focus on distressed versus non-distressed couples.  Research findings also stress and focus on the importance of positive communication between couples. The main goal of cognitive behavior therapy is to increase the desired behavior or cognition and decrease the undesirable cognitions and behaviors. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jennifer B Baxt, LMFT, LMHC

Despite the common misconception among many single people, marriage is not easy. It takes a lot of work because life takes a lot of work. Life can be difficult and complicated enough for a single person, so when another person is involved it can become more complicated. Money is one of the many reasons that a marriage can break up, especially if times of financial distress has continued over a lengthy period of time. In fact, financial stress appears to be the cause of about 80 percent of all divorces. This goes to show just how stressful financial trouble can be for a couple who are both affected by it. Read the rest of this entry »

By Stefanie Luna, LMFT

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When it comes to the holidays are you thinking “I’ll just be glad when it’s all over with”? You’re not alone. Many people believe that we’ve gotten away from the true meaning of the season, with consumerism and unrealistic expectations taking all the fun out of things. But that’s not at all why you’re dreading the holidays this year, is it? Have the holidays become “hollow days” because you don’t have children yet?

The holiday season means different things to us over the years. As a child it is a time of wonder and excitement. Everything seems to have a special sparkle about it. As a college student it is that welcome break that follows all night study sessions, term papers and final exams. Oh yeah, and a time to eat mom’s home cooking. It is a time of spiritual preparation and reflection and a time to realign priorities. And as adults we get the opportunity to rediscover magic through our children. But, when you long to be a parent, the holidays can become a painful reminder of what’s missing in your life. Holiday traditions can seem hollow and empty without a child to share them with. Read the rest of this entry »

By Dr. Noah H. Kersey, Ph.D.

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Being highly effective in a relationship requires certain qualities in a person.

Scripture instructs, as in 1 Peter 4:8 to “love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins”. The Bible is replete with descriptions and lessons of love but, why do people continue to fail?

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale once said that relationships fail because of “selfishness” and “immaturity”, explaining why so many marriages end in divorce.

Couples tend to marry young, and before they have a chance to know themselves and to learn many of life’s lessons about self-esteem, love and relationships.

Over a twenty-seven year period of therapeutic work with individuals and couples, watching some fail and others succeed, a factor analysis was calculated, attempting to understand what were the characteristics and behaviors, or “habits” of people who were highly effective in their relationships.

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By: Astar Shamir

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What is The Voice of Light Treatment?
The treatment is based on the utilization of the therapist and the patient’s vocal energies in order to disperse energy blockages, release painful and aching body parts and fill them with energy.
The therapist uses the different frequencies of his voice in order to create energetic fluctuation inside the body so that the body can take care of itself. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Ruth Herman Wells

If you are a counselor who finds that “nothing works”
to manage some students, this article may help. It’s also
the perfect article to pass to teachers and parents to help
them better grasp the key ideas behind a diagnosis of ODD,
Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Marcia Singer

As Shakespeare aptly proclaimed eons ago, the world is but a stage, and our lives are compelled to be played out on it. For me, life has become a grand theater of the Self, a fascinating arena for encountering the mystifying fact of our existence, and uncovering our true natures. It is a continually surprising encounter with psyche and the complex of “inner selves” or sub-personalities that comprise it. In short, experiencing life as a stage in the play of my soul’s evolution has given me a viable context in which to meet my destiny. Read the rest of this entry »

By: Cory B Honickman

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Love Economics is a new terminology for analyzing the benefits of love and relationships. For example, the benefits of a relationship include emotional, physical, social and materialistic needs. Using the theory of Love Economics, dating and relationship problems can be analyzed and solved by using a more pragmatic approach. The advantage is that decisions will be based more on logic rather than on emotion. Before committing to a new relationship, a Love Economist will make it perfectly clear that he/she won’t neglect their social portfolio of personal friends. This decision could save a lot of embarrassment should they break up with their love interest. A Love Economics major will limit their emotional cost at all times to protect their own expenditure. This philosophy doesn’t work for everyone, especially when going through something as dramatic as a breakup. Whether you are breaking up from a relationship or going through a divorce it’s inevitable that you will feel emotional pain. No amount of Love Economics or pragmatism is going to protect you from experiencing the lows that only humans can relate to. After all experiencing love can make you feel the most jubilant and satisfying emotions while losing love can make you feel the most devastating feelings of sadness and pain.
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By: Christine Horn

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“The past is the past. Put it behind you. Get over it already.”

We all have parts of ourselves whose job it is to know how and when to feed us these lines. It is usually after more tender parts of us get triggered and we are feeling hurt or isolated or helpless. These tender parts haunt us with a very different set of lines that they have learned, “You’re not good enough. You’re unlovable. You don’t matter. It’s hopeless.” Read the rest of this entry »

By: Lana M. Ackaway, LCSW-R, NCPsyA, CASAC

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The well-written article by Daphne Merkin entitled “Darkness Invisible” in the September 16, 2007 edition of The New York Times was disturbing. It wasn’t disturbing due to its darkness. It was disappointing due to the misconceptions and insensitive comments regarding drug use/misuse. Drugs, to include alcohol misused—not only mask a depression—it can MAKE for depression and illuminate MELANCHOLY. Its use/dependency/misuse/alcoholism can, through psyche, soma, and behavior create, as Merkin quotes Chekhov: “I am in mourning for my life.” Addiction is a way to mourn for being alive—for actually living to full potential — via a never-ending depression. Alergy to alcohol—eventually produces (for some, earlier; for some, later) non-feeling states, inappropriate thinking and behavior, desperate acts, suicide—real—not imagined. Alcohol use/dependency/misuse/alcoholism/drug abuse is rampant—not only among the creative folk in film—in every walk of life—and with every socioeconomic class. It spares no one who suffers. Read the rest of this entry »