Empathy for the Psychopath

The New York Times magazine ran a chilling article yesterday about psychopathic children, and how the features that lead to anti-social personality disorder and sociopathy may be identified as early as age five. If you haven’t already seen it, I suggest you give it read. Researchers uniformly focus on lack of empathy as the best… Continue reading Empathy for the Psychopath

When the Therapist Falls Asleep During Session

I dozed off for about ten seconds during a session today. Over the last 30 years, this has happened to me three times that I recall. The first time was with an elderly client, benignly psychotic but disengaged from the therapeutic process; briefly dozing made me realize I’d come to feel that I couldn’t help… Continue reading When the Therapist Falls Asleep During Session

Why I’m a Therapist

When people find out I’m a therapist, they usually assume I chose my profession because I want to help others. While I derive a deep sense of satisfaction from doing just that, I mostly chose to become a therapist because it was the only line of work I could envision that would support me and… Continue reading Why I’m a Therapist