A CBT therapist wonders why the client is so adamant about letting go of unhealthy core values. A psychodynamically trained therapist wonders if might be acceptable to assign homework. How can each...
Dr. Smith's Latest Articles
Attachment to Therapist: A Primer
This very long post is intended to replace the previous one on transference disasters and give patients and therapists a sense of how attachment to one’s therapist can come about and what to...
Transference Disasters, Old Version
(Photo: Allison Day, Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0.) Revised 2/28/187: Dear Readers, I have been witness in these pages to too many stories of therapists failing to handle strong transferential feelings...
Q&A: How to know if I’m done?
This is in response to TLC, who wrote a series of comments. She summarizes her questions thus: “I want to know how I know when I am done.” Some time ago I promised TLC I would write a...
Q&A: Burn Out Your Therapist?
Question: Can my neediness, strong attachment, and “borderline” traits repel my new and wonderful therapist? (Photo: Marina del Castell, Flickr, CC BY 2.0) Answer: This is a tricky one...
Addiction
Why is “Adulting” so Hard?
I’ve been thinking about my patients of all ages who are having trouble becoming fully adult...
Trust: How Avoiding Risk Damages Us
How We Avoid Risk Let’s consider the damaging things we humans do for “safety” and to...
Relationships
Mindfulness
Working With the Inner Child
Many of the questions that have come up recently around attachment to your therapist boil down to...
A Guide to Personal Change
Dear Readers, my new book, How We Heal and Grow: The Power of Facing Your Feelings is available...