Handling Difficult Emotions: The Path Less Traveled
Posted by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.d. on May 9th 2009
"Often times our distress comes from an unskillful understanding of how we relate to our discomfort. Throughout the course of a day we have various interactions with people and media that trigger different thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. These different phenomena come and pass through us here and there coming for a visit and then eventually leaving. However, for many of us, when physical or emotional discomfort comes to visit, it's almost as if we get shocked, feel threatened and will do anything to get away from it. However..." More...

Stigmatized: How Some People Become Judged
posted by Allan N. Schwartz, LCSW, PhD on May 8th 2009
"If you were here, sitting in a room with me and I asked you if you stand in judgment of other people, I bet that you would say "no, I do not." In fact, most of us would answer that question in the negative because we think ourselves as good people who are non judgmental. Yet, we do stigmatize certain types of people by avoiding, rejecting and even blaming them for being in their situation." More...

Addressing Communication Breakdown -- About A Group For Family Members
Posted by Simone Hoermann, Ph.D. on May 7th 2009
"Family members of someone with a personality disorder - or other mental illness for that matter - often have a hard time figuring out what to do and how to be helpful to the person they care about. It can be hard to see your loved one suffer, and it can be frightening to watch the pain of someone we are close to. “Interpersonal family communication is often the number one problem” says Dr. Elizabeth Wade, a clinical psychologist who facilitates a group for family members at the Columbia East 60th Street Day Treatment Program. It can be difficult to figure out how to talk openly about what is going on. The feeling of not knowing what is going on with the family members, but knowing that they have felt awful in the past, is difficult to address. Often, communication in the family has broken down. " More...

The Alzheimer's Project: Upcoming HBO Special
Posted by Kathryn Patricelli, MA on May 6th 2009
"Tune into HBO's "THE ALZHEIMER'S PROJECT" to take a look at the faces behind the disease - and the forces leading the Alzheimer's Association to work to find a cure." More...

Faith versus Reason, Religion and Psychology
Posted by Allan N. Schwartz, LCSW, PhD on May 6th 2009
"With regard to the psychoses and symptoms, some of the most radical of religious thinkers may view hearing voices and seeing things as visitations from evil forces. One father of a child who had these types of symptoms was convinced that religious practices and rituals can cure her. He reported that he, along with spiritual leaders, succeeded in curing his daughter. He is even more convinced of the power of prayer to free people from sickness and "evil." " More...