In Praise of Self-Pity
Amy: I love this little post from Alain de Botton’s The School of Life. He talks about the importance of
Tag: mental health
Unexpected Therapy For A Guy Couple: What Jazz Musicians Had To Say
Jazz musicians as family therapists: Check out this case where jazz musicians were my “consultants” to a couple in therapy. It’s just as surprising as you might imagine.
When Jazz Musicians Become Co-Therapists
Jazz Musicians As Psychotherapists: Music can healing force. Here jazz musicians are invited to “consult” to family therapy sessions. The results have been amazing.
“Self-Questioning”: An Important Ingredient In Family Health
Here are my reflections on a rather subtle, yet insidious family pattern characterized by invisible (unconscious) demands for false togetherness, the demand that all family members pretend to think the same. This enforced “togetherness” has a formidable, unyielding tone, suggesting it is not to be questioned.
Beneath the Mask of Family Unity: A Case Story Continued
Here is a second session from the family with “enforced togetherness” where one member is what I call “insane”; locked inside sanity, locked in unbending, pathological sanity.
The Mask of Family Unity
Enforced “togetherness” in families, though largely unconscious, emerges in the way a family tells its story. It is not a unity which augments family spirit, it restricts. The restriction serves a purpose for some. The need for protection is motivated by a history of trauma or too much despair. But often a family member, usually a child, may be sacrificed to maintain this appearance of group unity.
The Mask of Family Unity: A Case Story
Here’s a first session with a “misbehaving” boy that reflects the corrosive effect of “enforced unity” in families
Reflections On the Nice Quiet Man
Dave and Raluca Jacono (Raluca is a wonderful therapist/ friend of DK): We both responded similarly to the Nice Man video. ( See
The Many (Hidden) Faces of A Family
ADHD in Kids: Our family therapy view of behavior problems in kids looks at some of the hidden pattern in parenting that can contribute to these problems. Good to know. Then change is possible.
A Child’s Defiance: Looking Beneath The Surface
Dave: In an earlier post, Defiance in the Family: A Rebellion in the Name of Health, I described our idea