…out it that way before. What exactly do you mean by the word “vulnerable”? Robert Firestone: It’s a complicated issue, but looking at it existentially, we only have one life to live. The essential idea is to live it as fully as possible, to experience all of your emotions, all your perceptions, all your thoughts, all your ideas. But when we’re damaged, we block out a lot of our potential to realize the fullness of our existence. Early in life, we…
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…ationships and interfere with career success. The book also introduces Dr. Robert W. Firestone’s theory of the “fantasy bond,” a once-useful but now destructive form of self-parenting that jeopardizes meaningful attachments. Written in clear, jargon-free language, Fear of Intimacy helps couples identify and overcome the messages of the “critical inner voice,” an internalized point of view that negatively distorts our perception of ourselves and lo…
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…tate, the mind, of the other. As we grow in our ability to know ourselves, we become receptive to knowing each other.” If we adopt this perspective, no longer will we seek out our ‘missing piece,’ but instead we will recognize our own value and what we have to offer to another person. Robert Firestone wrote, “Perhaps the single most important life affirming human quality is the ability to feel love-to feel compassion and empathy for and express ki…
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…s of a good deal of their misery. Psychological Defenses in Everyday Life, Robert Firestone, PhD. I’m painting the room in a colorful way, And when my mind is wandering, There I will go. It is possible to combat this insidious “enemy within” by becoming aware of it. You can be alert to when your mood shifts from feeling optimistic or relaxed to feeling down or irritable, and you can look for how your voice is influencing your thoughts and feelings…
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…out it that way before. What exactly do you mean by the word “vulnerable”? Robert Firestone: It’s a complicated issue, but looking at it existentially, we only have one life to live. The essential idea is to live it as fully as possible, to experience all of your emotions, all your perceptions, all your thoughts, all your ideas. But when we’re damaged, we block out a lot of our potential to realize the fullness of our existence. Early in life, we…
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…tain self-understanding that can help us put a halt to the harmful behaviors that impair our relationships. When we have insight into ourselves, we also form compassion and empathy for another person. We can uncover why we are the way we are, and become who we’ve always wanted to be. As Robert Firestone wrote, “Perhaps the single most important life affirming human quality is the ability to feel love — to feel compassion and empathy for and expres…
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…ion of Voice Therapy, an innovative therapeutic procedure developed by Dr. Robert W. Firestone that can be used to elicit and bring to the foreground negative thought patterns antithetical to the self and cynical toward others (the critical inner voice). Compelling case histories illustrate the core defense and its effect on patients’ personality and behavior. The approach is unique in that it unifies cognitive, existential, and psychoanalytic fra…
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…tone’s Article on Factors that Increase or Suppress Death Anxiety Read Dr. Robert Firestone’s Article on Societal Defenses Against Death Anxiety References Florian, V., & Mikulincer, M. (2004). A multifaceted perspective on the existential meanings, manifestations, and consequences of the fear of personal death. In J. Greenberg, S. L. Koole, & T. Pyszczynski (Eds.), Handbook of experimental existential psychology (pp. 54—70). New York: Guilford. H…
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…were excerpted from Daring to Love Reprinted with permission: New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Copyright 2018 by Tamsen and Robert Firestone, PhD…
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…e to say goodbye to our childhood by not recreating it in our lives today. Robert Firestone writes about this in the first chapter of his book. In order for people to pursue their own destiny, they must differentiate from the destructive aspects of their early programming and cultivate significant characteristics of their unique identities. In the process of differentiating, they must contend with and challenge fantasy bonds and develop a realisti…
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