…lly deadened way of being and living.” In this 90-minute Webinar, Dr. Lisa Firestone will explore how a person’s defenses and their critical inner voice perpetuate their feelings of alienation. She will examine the true roots of loneliness. Why do people turn against themselves? How can they overcome the self-critical thoughts and self-sabotaging behaviors that perpetuate the cycle of solitude? In her Webinar, Dr. Firestone will explain how indivi…
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…aking our critical inner voice are number one enemy. Dr.’s Robert and Lisa Firestone have outlined specific steps we can take to identify these voices, make sense of them, separate from them, and challenge them on an action level. Taking this practice seriously can really help us stay in a healthy and realistic mind frame when recovering from a break up. Read about the steps to challenge your critical inner voice. Don’t Look Back with Rose-Colored…
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…ty to pursue or accept real love and connection. In this Webinar, Dr. Lisa Firestone will explain her father’s concept of the fantasy bond. She will discuss how the original “bond” that is formed in a family can keep people stuck in the past, reliving rather than living their own lives. The incorporation of these early fantasy dynamics can lead to limiting psychological defenses and a critical self-concept that go on to negatively impact how an in…
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…ey break harmful patterns and become better parents to their children? Dr. Firestone will illustrate an approach to parenting that professionals can use to help their clients understand their own emotions and sensitively handle the emotions of their children throughout various developmental stages. This Webinar will provide information about the intergenerational transmission of attachment, attunement, emotional regulation, emotional hunger versus…
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…s can come from early feelings of shame, fear, or frustration. As Dr. Lisa Firestone said: Our critical inner voices are embedded in our earliest childhood experiences and are reinforced throughout childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. While the negative inner voice can be affected and sometimes worsened by current day life experiences such as significant trauma or abusive relationships, it does not develop suddenly in adults; it’s based on…
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…nds in their adult relationships as a way to feel protected. As Dr. Robert Firestone wrote, “Most people have fears of intimacy and are self-protective and at the same time are terrified of being alone. Their solution to their emotional dilemma is to form a fantasy bond.” This bond replaces the substance of a loving relationship with the form of being a unit. It keeps people at a comfortable distance emotionally, while maintaining a sense of onene…
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…ith tools to counter injunctions to harm themselves. This type of awareness is crucial in that it provides clients with a sense of mastery over behaviors they previously perceived as being beyond their control. References Firestone, R. W ., & Firestone, L. (2006). Firestone Assessment of Self-Destructive Thoughts (FAST) manual. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Heckler, R. A. (1994). Waking up, alive: The descent, the suicide attempt,…
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…ur lives to the fullest. Voice Therapy is a method developed by Dr. Robert Firestone that helps individuals identify their critical inner voice, understand where it comes from, separate from its point of view and respond to it from a more realistic and compassionate perspective. Challenging self-hatred is a key step to stopping self-limiting or sabotaging behaviors. It opens doors in our lives we didn’t know we’d shut and makes it possible to live…
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…suicide into believing the lies that their mental illness tells them.” Dr. Firestone agrees and notes that when people in the media mention specific suicide methods, there is an increase in risk for suicides by that particular method. There is virtually unanimous agreement among suicide prevention experts that this type of content (graphic portrayal of a completed suicide) is extremely dangerous for viewers at risk. Suicide attempt survivors like…
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…challenge our critical inner voice. Drop your half of the dynamic Dr. Lisa Firestone, co-author of Sex and Love in Intimate Relationships recommends what she calls “unilateral disarmament” as a tool couples can use to defuse arguments and be close again. “What it involves is momentarily dropping your side of the debate and approaching your partner from a more loving stance,” explained Firestone. “The idea is that when couples have tension between…
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