Some people will watch you burn and pretend they had nothing to do with it, or worse, that you did … More
Tag: Psychology
The Dependent Personality and the Savior Therapist
Humans, like animals in pain, recoil from any perceived threat by hiding. Rejection sensitivity, common to various forms of personality … More
The Therapist’s Shame: Understanding Projective Identification and Countertransference
Chronic defensiveness, like chronic avoidance, isn’t a victimless crime. In our self-protected cocoons, sheltering us from the exaggerated slings and … More
Trauma and Toxic Masculinity
Culture and trauma can synthesize into an obsession with hyper-masculinity. Whether it’s Tony Soprano, any of James Cagney’s early portrayals, … More
The Drama of the Gifted Child
Imagine living a life wherein unless it reached its full potential, you would die disgusted by its existence. I’ve put … More
The Role of Distrust in Narcissism and the Spread of Misinformation
Being seen is often scarier than being invisible. Once perceived, you open yourself up to the possibility of falling into … More
The Divided World: Challenging Anti-Psychiatry
We love fighting demons. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the current geo-political sphere. Some of us fight … More
The Complicated Answer to Whether Therapists Should Give Advice
People don’t need others to reason for them; but, often, they need someone to reason with them. Individualism permeates psychotherapy … More
Therapy Judges, But Doesn’t Shame
Some of us live in the world of Platonic forms. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that the world of … More
What Psychoanalysis and CBT Can Teach Us about Battling Misinformation
Our understanding of the mind dating back to Freud tells us the same story repeatedly: we use defenses, or “biases” … More
Leon's Existential Cafe 