Most Human
Amy Begel / Case Stories

“Control Issues”: A Young Woman With An Eating Disorder Challenges Her Family

In contemporary culture, as portrayed in commercials for pharmaceuticals, family members are portrayed as bystanders to suffering, having to “manage” the symptoms of their  bi-polar loved one, or “suffer” the effects of the depressed person’s symptoms or behavior. But families, couples, all of us, can unwittingly get stuck in patterns, sometimes destructive patterns, of which we are unaware. Those patterns can cause distress in ourselves and others, which can show up as a “symptom” in one person. This is rarely intentional, more a product of the tricky,  powerful and subtle  nature of relationship dynamics.

Eating disorders are no exceptions. Most of the clinical writing and popular assumptions about anorexia and other eating disorders note that these conditions are characterized by the need for individual “control”. There’s truth to this. But if you expand the lens to include the family,  you learn a lot about what this “control” can look like.

Arts/Healing / Dave Keith / Medical Culture/Politics

What If The “Sick” Person Is The Healthiest Of All?

Here Dave proposes the countercultural idea that problems like depression, ADHD, bipolar and other “disorders” are often healthy responses to the pain of unhealthy relationships.

Amy Begel / Case Stories

Post-Affair Therapy: When A Couple Fails The “Marital Stress Test”

An extra-marital affair is one of the most profound “Stress Tests” of a marriage. Many couples who use this crisis as an opportunity to examine the state of their marriage end up with a more alive, more genuine connection. But others fail this test. What’s the difference between these couples? Here’s what one couple who didn’t make it looks like.

Uncategorized

Beware: What Doctors Don’t Tell You About Anti-Depressants

From today’s New York Times: “Long-term use of antidepressants is surging in the United States, according to a new analysis

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Case Stories / Dave Keith / Uncategorized

A Crazy Solution For Depression

Depression is not a straightforward problem; it typically doesn’t yield to straightforward solutions. Here Dave consults on a case of an elderly depressed woman. His seemingly crazy intervention brings surprising results. Enjoy.

Case Stories

The Enjoyment of Power And The Power Of Enjoyment In A Relationship: Learn To Play

In this post, a family therapist and our good friend, Raluca, shares her observations about working with couples who are caught in hopeless power struggles. She talks about how the power of play can unlock these couples from a dead-end cycle, creating a sense of freedom and possibility.

Medical Culture/Politics / Sex

Advice From A Dominatrix on How To Deal With Men

Check out this article from the New York Times on what a different kind of anti-sexual harassment training for women

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Amy Begel / Case Stories / Medical Culture/Politics

Sometimes Un-Craziness Is The Problem

The psychological defense mechanism of projection can distort a parent’s judgement about their kids, or it can create a wedge between a couple, since projection interferes with the ability to see one’s partner as she truly is. The (unconscious) grip from the past gets in the way. Here’s a therapy session that looks at how this projection process played out in one family, and how it was–for the moment-transformed.

Amy Begel / Case Stories

The Partner-Improvement Project: What You Need To Know

Most people believe that they can’t change their partner. “My husband is the way he is,” or “My wife is that way with everyone.” They imagine their partner to be a fixed entity. They see themselves as primarily responding TO their partner, a one-way street filled with frustration. People fail to understand the most fundamental Law of Intimate Relationship Physics: Each partner changes and helps to create the other. The only question is how.

Case Stories / Dave Keith

A Moment’s Miracle With An Autistic Girl

In this post Dave reflects on a case from his early career in child psychiatry, where he recounts his play therapy experience with a seven-year old autistic girl. He still winces when he remembers his therapeutic mistake, but remains grateful for his relationship with this young, silent girl, and what she taught him.