One evening when I was about six, my “recovering-Catholic” (his term) dad taught me the Lord’s Prayer. I recited the meaningless-to-me words as an obligatory chant nightly for the next year or so. Then, when my Lutheran-raised mom later taught … Continue reading →
Remember in that one movie, when the dude with funny clothes and customs and eating habits, with bizarre beliefs about an omnipotent guy in the sky, freaked the heck out of a New York City family, but ultimately enriched their … Continue reading →
Sometimes, in couples therapy, I end up inadvertently crushing the souls of eager young couples. To begin the initial session, the wife offers some banal reason for making the appointment; she may add how many years they’ve been married and … Continue reading →
My kids’ school conferences went swell, once again. Top academics, great behaviors, blablabla. Stellar, right? But even sitting there at the school, in front of this beaming teacher who joked about kidnapping my child and keeping him for her own, … Continue reading →
A friend (who shall remain anonymous) recently asked me, “Hey, have you written about how to get a lazy husband to change a diaper once in a while?” And then she went on an on about how she drowns herself … Continue reading →
It’s almost Thanksgiving 2016, merely weeks after the most divisive election in our country’s history… And let’s face it: You’d rather plant your face in the gravy dish than listen to Cousin Mary’s ramblings about how-will-I-afford-my-foot-surgery-after-Drumph-impulsively-nukes-healthcare-and-makes-late-term-bunion-removal-illegal-and-also-I-found-an-Internet-quiz-that-proves-everyone-is-“sexracist”-even-cats. And if Uncle Frank … Continue reading →
Someone in my office apparently quit her job several months ago without telling any of her coworkers. In fact, we have heard nothing from her in seven and a half months. Today, on the day that she finally came to … Continue reading →
Whether or not you have a mood disorder or ADHD, juggling all of life’s demands can be difficult sometimes. Here’s a version of a scene that I hear about in therapy all. the. time, and especially in fall and winter. … Continue reading →
If you’re a parent to multiple kids, or were ever a sibling yourself, you probably intuitively know something about birth order and personality. Wait. Scratch that. Let me begin this post instead with: If you are married to someone who … Continue reading →
I still think about something I secretly witnessed one winter afternoon in 1989, to this day, almost every day of my life. That day, during what was supposed to be a board-game-filled indoor recess, I peered through a crack in … Continue reading →