Search Results for: Robert Firestone

Voice Therapy: A Psychotherapeutic Approach to Self-Destructive Behavior

…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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Stay in Love by Staying Out of Fantasy

…e starts to forego their individually—losing the “me” to become a “we.” As Robert Firestone explains it, “Perhaps the most significant sign that a fantasy bond has been formed is when one or both partners give up vital areas of personal interest, their unique points of view and opinions, their individuality, to become a unit, a whole. The attempt to find security in an illusion of merging with another leads to an insidious and progressive loss of…

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How to Say What You Want in Your Relationship

…und victimized or childish. In his blog, “Don’t Play the Victim Game,” Dr. Robert Firestone wrote “Maintaining a child victim role leads to chronic passivity.” It’s important not to be passive aggressive toward your loved ones. You shouldn’t punish them for not knowing instinctively what you want or for failing to read your mind. No one can expect any one person to meet all their needs. Rather, you should strive to feel like a whole person in your…

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The Secret to Happiness and Well-Being

…to ‘me’ alone.” In his book The Ethics of Interpersonal Relationships, Dr. Robert Firestone addresses the benefits of seeing our common humanity and outlines the dangers of focusing on our differences and the need to see “our group” as superior. Truly adopting these four principles of well-being into our lives can help us to live a more harmonious and rewarding existence. However, there is a fifth element I would add that can enhance our ability t…

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Self-Esteem vs. Narcissism

…the world’s wars and political conflicts. Conversely, both Dr. Solomon and Robert Firestone argue that when death awareness isn’t denied but recognized, it can be used to promote peace and compassion. The idea that we are all in the same boat, albeit a sinking boat (as Solomon indicates), promotes a sense of equality and togetherness. The acknowledgement that our physical selves share the same fate and that we all have the same fears, can help us…

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A Way Out of Loneliness

…h in which they feel more alone. My father, psychologist and author Robert Firestone further describes how “the isolation and comfort of contemporary society carry with it the risk of reinforcing psychological defenses that contribute to an inward, self-protective, and somewhat emotionally 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…

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How To Be More Loving

…d maintain their loving feelings over time. Dr. Firestone will draw on Dr. Robert Firestone’s concepts’ “fear of intimacy” and the “fantasy bond” as well as findings from attachment theory and Emotion-Focused Therapy to describe common patterns that create distance and proven strategies to achieve more closeness. Individuals, couples, and therapists working with clients will benefit by learning about how negative dynamics operate, how they can be…

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The Inner Voice that Drives Suicide

…to evaluate the risk of self-destructive tendencies. First, we created the Firestone Assessment of Self-Destructive Thoughts (FAST), and eventually, we developed another scale that uses the identification of a self-destructive thought process to assess suicidal intent. This became the Firestone Assessement of Suicidal Intent (FASI). A 2001 comparative study used the FAST to identify suicidal potential among Pakistani and American psychiatric patie…

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Why We Lost a Lovable Genius: The Hidden Enemy in Suicide

…empt or die by suicide are listening to what my father psychologist Robert Firestone refers to as the “critical inner voice” or “anti-self,” which berates them and lures them into their ultimate destruction. This internal enemy exists within all of us. Yet to some, particularly those who struggle with depression, addiction or other mental health disorders, this enemy can be life-threatening. In truth, it can be life threatening to any of us who su…

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Bad Mood: 10 Ways to Overcome a Bad Mood

…y sound simple, but this is actually something psychologists like Dr. Lisa Firestone advise people to try when they’re experiencing symptoms of depression. The very act of smiling or laughing can improve our mood. One study even showed that forcing a smile can genuinely reduce stress and increase positive feelings. “Play your favorite sitcom, watch a funny movie or read a comical writer,” said Dr. Firestone. “Don’t think of this exercise as merely…

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