therapist

How Sick is “Sick Enough?”

10 pounds made the difference between actually living and simply surviving.   A year ago, I based my self-worth off the number describing the gravitational pull of my body toward the earth. I felt that my body’s natural hunger cues were signs of weakness.  I believed that if I could only run longer, see a gap… Read more »

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What Goes On in the Mind of Your Therapist?

As you sit in your therapy session, sifting through your own thoughts, do you ever wonder what your therapist is feeling and thinking? When you open up and disclose so much of yourself to someone it’s impossible not to occasionally be curious about what they are experiencing. My father Robert Firestone recently wrote a book, which offers a… Read more »

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Video: Dr. John Norcross on the impact of a therapist’s confidence

Dr. John Norcross discusses the impact of a therapist’s confidence on the outcome of a therapeutic endeavor LF: Isn’t there some research showing that if you don’t – how much the therapist believes in what they’re doing has a big effect, as well? JN: Yeah.  It’s our hope – you know, most of us talk… Read more »

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Video: Dr. John Norcross on the significance of the therapist/client relationship

Dr. John Norcross and the significance of the therapist/client relationship JN: When you follow up patients, when you ask them what seemed to make a difference, in cognitive therapy, in interpersonal therapy and even the medication condition, clients overwhelmingly voted that it was the relationship that made the difference.  So even in this wonderfully controlled,… Read more »

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VIDEO: Dr. John C. Norcross on What Does Not Work in Psychotherapy

Dr. John C. Norcross discusses specific practices and psychological tests that do not work in psychotherapy. The following transcript contains part of an exclusive interview with Dr. Lisa Firestone and Dr. John C. Norcross. LF:      So we’ve talked a lot about what works in psychotherapy.  But can you say a little bit about what doesn’t?… Read more »

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VIDEO: Dr. Allan Schore on Key Factors in Treating Suicidal Individuals

Watch an excerpt from PsychAlive’s interview with Dr. Allan Schore. Dr. Allan Schore describes key factors in treating suicidal individuals, particularly the therapists’ capacity for affect tolerance.  Dr. Allan Schore: The principle of affective communication goes on throughout the lifespan.  So just as the centrality to be able to communicate one’s internal affective states to another… Read more »

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Qualities of an Ideal Therapist

Outcome studies in psychotherapy have shown that “The therapist is a key change ingredient in most successful therapy.” Researchers have also identified a number of traits in psychotherapists that facilitate clients’ progress and change.* In The Fear of Intimacy, I outlined my approach to psychotherapy and described personal qualities in therapists that I consider essential… Read more »

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