Search Results for: lisa firestone/feed/2009/11/fear-of-intimacy

identity, sexuality, psychalive, sexual stereotypes,

Identity, Sexuality, and Society’s Assault on the Self: A Commentary on John Irving’s Novel, In One Person

…e: A Therapeutic Model for Differentiation co-authored by my father Robert Firestone, Joyce Catlett, and myself. To me, Irving’s appreciation and love of people’s differences, his acceptance of the diversity of human sexuality are a tribute to the values of nonconformity, tolerance and inclusiveness. As one reviewer noted, “Irving isn’t a moralizing writer, but he is a moral one.” In a guest essay on Amazon.com, Irving describes the sexual awakeni…

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Breaking Free from Addiction

…herapeutic approach developed by my father, psychologist and author Robert Firestone, therapists help clients pinpoint environmental triggers that precipitate the painful emotions and negative thought patterns, which, in turn, influence them to engage in addictive behaviors. By further encouraging the pursuit of genuine wants, desires, and goals, therapists strengthen clients’ real selves, a process that enables them to achieve freedom from addict…

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What Goes On in the Mind of Your Therapist?

…occasionally be curious about what they are experiencing. My father Robert Firestone recently wrote a book, which offers a unique glimpse into the mind of the therapist, Overcoming the Destructive Inner Voice. In it, he tells true stories of working with patients in therapy and their process of transformation. In his introduction, he wrote, “Psychotherapy represents a powerful personal interaction and a unique human relationship in which a trained…

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Where the Rubber Meets the Road

…ed a psychology conference in New York City and stumbled across Dr. Robert Firestone’s book, The Fantasy Bond. In spite of the fact I had stacks of assigned reading, this was the book I couldn’t put down. It enlightened me in ways none of my professors could, answering theoretical questions roaming around in my freshly primed mind. Most importantly, it made sense, not just theoretically, but personally. And this really is the crux of the matter, t…

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The Self Under Siege

…identity is most likely to emerge when we are under stress or particularly fearful. On those occasions, we symbolically reconnect to people who caused us psychological pain and anxiety in our developmental years, and act out the destructive behaviors that were manifested towards us. In summary, all people are possessed to varying degrees by alien personalities and to that extent exist as divided selves. These incorporated personalities represent t…

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The Value of Being Personal with Your Children

…m Compassionate Child-Rearing: An In-Depth Approach to Parenting by Robert Firestone, Ph.D. It is vital for parents to respond as real people to their children, rather than role-playing or acting patronizing, strategic, or phony in their interactions with them. It is impossible for parents to “learn how to talk to their children” in a manner that is contrary to their underlying attitudes or way of being. Indeed, any technique, attitude, or approac…

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Compassionate Child Rearing

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. – This eye-opening book introduces the theory and underlying dynamics involved in family relationships. The author helps explain how even well-intentioned parents unwittingly injure their children’s self-esteem and psychological functioning based on their own childhood defenses and self-destructive tendencies. By recognizing their own early life experiences and the internalized defenses they developed as a result, paren…

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The Fantasy Bond

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. – This book offers a consistently developed set of hypotheses centering around the concept of the “fantasy bond,” an illusion of connection originally formed with the mother/ primary caretaker and later with significant others in the individual’s environment. Based on 28 years of research into the problem of resistance, this book offers a consistently developed set of hypotheses centering around the concept of the “fant…

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Psychological Defenses in Everyday Life

Robert W. Firestone, Ph.D. – This book is a rich resource that broadens personal understanding by examining the origins of childhood pain, subsequent defense formation, and the pervasiveness and destructiveness of resulting maladaptive, addictive behaviors in adults. The authors point a way toward reversing the damaging process that keeps individuals from experiencing genuine satisfaction. The clarity and empathic tone of the book make it a valua…

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Eight Ways to Actively Fight Depression

…ally the voice of a well-hidden enemy within, what psychologist Dr. Robert Firestone refers to as the critical inner voice. Internalized early in live, this inner voice functions like an over-disciplinary parent holding us back and keeping us in our place. Think of these thoughts as being like the parasites that keep you in bed when you’re sick with the flu. Don’t listen to these attacks when they tell you not to pursue your goals or to forego an…

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