UPDATE: Here’s a link to the archived interview, in case anyone wants to listen. As I said on my Facebook page, this was the first time that I felt absolutely no anxiety before a public appearance. I’ve found my personal “answer” to the problem of performance anxiety: just be yourself and say exactly what you […]
Los Angeles Radio Interview Read More »
In response to my recent post about The Self-Serving Lie, I had a very interesting email exchange with a site visitor. An intelligent and thoughtful woman, a strong believer in the value of psychotherapy, she felt that by writing such a post, I was behaving in an unprofessional manner. She felt such personal disclosures devalued
A Request for Input Read More »
This morning, I completed the first draft of THE NARCISSIST YOU KNOW. The last two months have been a tunnel of intensity, which explains my absence from blogging. I’m proud and relieved to be finished, and I look forward to getting back to my blog … but not until after I take a vacation this
I always know when I’ve written something controversial when I receive a number of email un-subscriptions for my blog. I haven’t received one in many months, but this morning, in very short order I received five. As site visitor Lauren made clear in her comment to my last post, many people will cut you off
Intolerance and Conformity Read More »
[THIS POST IS A BIT DIFFERENT FROM MY USUAL STYLE; IT’S ADAPTED FROM SOME IDEAS I’M EXPLORING IN MY NEW BOOK ABOUT NARCISSISM] At the beginning of our first session I ask MacKenzie, a 32-year-old single woman, what prompted her to seek treatment. Although she mentions occasional depression and anxiety, she seems most focused on
Constructing the Psychotherapy Narrative Read More »
Over the course of my practice, I’ve come to know a few men and women who emerged from families so toxic and dysfunctional that I often wondered how they managed to survive, emotionally speaking, and why they hadn’t long ago surrendered to despair. Given how little goodness they encountered in their post-uterine world, why did
I haven’t been posting much lately because I’ve been focused on my book about narcissism, plus I just completed another article for The Atlantic, which you can find here. It’s about bullying as a kind of narcissistic behavior, linking the Richie Incognito story with the suicide of Rebecca Sedgwick and further thoughts on Lance Armstrong.
Naomi, one of my long-term clients and a therapist herself, has been talking in session lately about joy. The importance of joy in the mother-infant relationship, in adult romantic relationships, and in the relationship between therapist and client. Her ideas have grown out of her own practice, partially stimulated by our work together and informed
Joy in the Psychotherapy Relationship Read More »
I’ve been reading The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout — an excellent and yet frustrating book about antisocial personality disorder. Stout’s engaging style and in-depth clinical experience with victims of sociopathic predators bring the subject to vivid life. The vignettes read more like suspense novels: as the character of the sociopath gradually unfolds, your
Antisocial Personality Disorder: The Sociopath Next Door Read More »
Many years ago, back when I still lived in Los Angeles, I worked for a brief time with a client who was secretly draining his wife’s inheritance to support their family. He didn’t make personal use of the money or spend it on a mistress; instead, he took his family on lavish vacations, pretending to
Should Psychotherapy Be a Judgment-Free Zone? Read More »