Posted on October 15, 2009 by astrauss
Two patients came from extraordinarily dysfunctional families.
Both of them simply didn’t know how to live a life that the rest of us would have considered even ‘somewhat normal.’ Both went in and out of numerous therapeutic relationships, tried countless legal and illegal drugs, but they never could break away from their legacies. It was as [...]
Filed under: Family Dynamics, Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes | Tagged: biopsychosocial, Mental Health, parenting, Psychiatry, psychological growth, psychotherapy | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 5, 2009 by astrauss
She’s the victim of incredible emotional abuse and multiple real illnesses. For years she used cocaine to lift her spirits.
We spoke about how she’s got to leave the past, to accept the fact that sometimes in life justice isn’t available the way we would like it to be, and that she has to revise her [...]
Filed under: Drug Abuse, Family Dynamics, Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes | Tagged: cocaine, drug rehabilitation, emotional wisdom, Mental Health, psychological growth, Psychotherapy Notes | Leave a Comment »
Posted on July 22, 2009 by astrauss
What a great saying, “the difficult part of hard.”
The patient entered treatment six months ago, suffering depression, repeated business failures, a lousy self-image, poor social interactions, and feeling rather hopeless. Looking at his cluster of symptoms, it was classic depression. He knew the process would be hard. He responded nicely to medications, though it took [...]
Filed under: Family Dynamics, Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes | Tagged: depression, emotional pain. Wisdom., Mental Health, Psychiatry, psychological growth, psychotherapy | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 25, 2009 by astrauss
A disturbing report from Ireland now exists on years of child abuse by religious organizations. Known as the The Commission to Inquire About Child Abuse , it was released May 20, 2009. The five volume report has a good executive summary. “The Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse was established in 2000 with functions including the investigation of abuse [...]
Filed under: Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes, Society's Tonics, child abuse | Tagged: Catholic Church and child abuse, child abuse, Comission to Inquire About Child Abuse, drug testing with childen, Irish childcare institutions, Mental Health | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 24, 2009 by astrauss
A pleasant 32 year woman struggled with identity issues. She was exceptionally bright, and far more earthy than her social climbing and narcissistic mother. She felt as if her intellectual accomplishments were displayed, like a personal and prized possession, in front of her mother’s friends. “It was beyond being a proud parent. My mother displayed the bounty of [...]
Filed under: Family Dynamics, Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes | Tagged: emotional pain. Wisdom., Mental Health, mother daughter relationships, narcissism, parenting, psychological growth, psychotherapy | 1 Comment »
Posted on February 14, 2009 by astrauss
The NY Times reported that two Pennsylvania judges took $2.6 million in kick backs to put children into two private treatment facilities. This is shameful and outrageous. It mocks the essence of what the courts and treatment is supposed to be all about. It speaks to ugly splinters in our society. We should be able to hold certain [...]
Filed under: Mental Health, Parents and Children, Prison and Forensic | Tagged: children, juvenile justice, Mental Health and the Legal-Prison System, Pennsylvania judges | 1 Comment »
Posted on January 12, 2009 by astrauss
We were talking about what a difference exists in our lives because we have non-fading audio and video snapshots of those who have died. It keeps them alive. Our grandparents usually had only a few photos or paintings, but we can hear their voices, see their facial innuendos — it is almost as if part of [...]
Filed under: Family Dynamics, Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes | Tagged: electronic memory, emotional pain. Wisdom., emotions, managing death, memory, Mental Health, mourning, psychological growth, Psychotherapy Notes, verbal psychotherapy | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 11, 2009 by astrauss
Her adult daughter seemed incorrigible. She stole, was in and out of jail, abandoned her own children, mis-used drugs, and after years of genuinely and aggressively trying every known legal and psychiatric intervention, the parents had to give up. Finally the daughter was sentenced to jail, and from jail she wrote apologetic letters to her [...]
Filed under: Family Dynamics, Mental Health, Parents and Children, Psychotherapy Notes | Tagged: difficult children, emotions, Family Dynamics, mourning, parenting, psychological growth, Psychotherapy Notes | Leave a Comment »
