(Author’s note: This post follows from the earlier post on new findings about addiction. I had originally added this as a comment to further discuss alternatives to AA and other 12-step approaches. I have moved that comment into this separate post.) S.M.A.R.T. Recovery (Self-Management and Recovery Training) was started by a group of mental health… Continue Reading Choices in self-help for substance use disorders

Economic decisions can trump ethical ones Today’s New York Times has a guest column by two management experts who have studied ethical decision-making in business. Their findings suggest that the line of reasoning that fines and penalties should deter unethical behavior is not borne out by research. Instead, these measures seemed to encourage irresponsibility because they… Continue Reading Psychology and Ethical Behavior

I was asked to be a part of an Adler School of Professional Psychology Student Government event that took place yesterday and today at the school. Six faculty members were asked to talk about a case (taken from the DSM-IV Casebook) using six different theoretical viewpoints. The theories presented were cognitive-behavioral therapy, trauma-focused therapy, Adlerian… Continue Reading Successful faculty panel presentation at Adler School

Joe Bageant, a man of great conscience and insight, as well as a wicked sense of humor, died March 27 after a battle with a particularly aggressive form of cancer. A note about it on his blog is here. 

After I set up my website, I set out to try to make it visible to those who might be looking for counseling help. I settled on using a blog as my main website page, and making the “About the Therapist” page the home page. WordPress, which is the open source software I’m using, is… Continue Reading Comment Spam – Nuisance for Website Owners

Last summer, my sister (who directs a university counseling center) sent me a link to a story in the online journal, Inside Higher Education . The story was about a lawsuit brought by a student at Eastern Michigan University, Julea Ward, who was dismissed from the Master’s degree in counseling program after she refused to… Continue Reading A Contentious Issue in Counselor Training

I received a link today to an online poll being conducted by a therapy practice in Alaska, which asked the respondents to give their opinion on the question of whether licensing boards should require that therapists have gone through their own therapy as part of their training. I gave my response (which I’ll explain a… Continue Reading Should therapists in training be required to be in therapy?

Practicing as a psychologist or counselor takes different skills than teaching others to be psychologists or counselors. Most of the faculty members at the school where I teach were trained as practitioners, rather than scholars. But the same skills that make a good therapist usually also help in teaching others about counseling and psychology. You… Continue Reading The Ideal Psychology Professor

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Japan as they struggle to recover from these terrible disasters. Global links for assistance and support   Chicago-Area Psychological Support Through the Japanese-American Service Commitee, a well-established social service agency in Chicago, a series of free support groups has been set up for those with family… Continue Reading Japanese-American Disaster Support Groups in Chicagoland

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” — Robert Browning I’ve found that young adults – especially some of the young men I work with – who seek help with depression often have a lot of difficulty that involves feeling that they can’t achieve the things that they wish they could… Continue Reading Struggling for Significance