The Michelangelo Phenomenon and the Real Self: Applications to Psychotherapy
Written by Carmine Giordano for NAAP For Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo Buonarotti, every block of stone possessed a preexisting concetto, or image “that the artist’s hand, obeying intellect, needed to discover and labor to bring forth.” As such, he saw the essential sculptural act as a “taking away” —a process of removing (levare) pieces to “real-ize”... Read More
ETHICS AND PSYCHOANALYTIC RESEARCH: THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS
ETHICS AND PSYCHOANALYTIC RESEARCH: THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS By Merle Molofsky A major documentary, Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle, recently released, should be mandatory viewing for all people interested in psychoanalysis, in early childhood, in child development, in ethics, in psychological/sociological research with infants and children as subjects, in attachment and separation, and... Read More
A General Semantics Perspective on Language and Reality: Implications for Therapy
A General Semantics Perspective on Language and Reality: Implications for Therapy Among the disciplines illuminating the process of communication, General Semantics, founded by the Polish nobleman and mathematician Alfred Korzybski, has made an important contribution. The major theories of the new science were presented by Korzybski in his books Manhood of Humanity (1921/2016) and... Read More
When Your Client Dissociates
She wasn’t responsive to my voice or my soft touch. Her face was pale, her body was limp, her breathing was rhythmic and shallow. Should I call the medics, I wondered, or have her mother carry her out of my office? Luckily, she was my last client for the day, so I had time to... Read More
The way we talk about mental health is broken. Here’s how to fix it.
If you’ve never experienced a bout of depression or anxiety, it might be easy to assume that it only happens to “some” people. But here’s the thing about mental illness: It doesn’t discriminate. People who have built wildly successful companies and seem to have all of the trappings of someone “on top” are just as... Read More
Startups are using AI and virtual reality to fight mental illness
Mental health professionals and entrepreneurs have a message for those suffering from anxiety and depression: You are not alone. That message seems especially relevant in 2018. The sudden deaths of Kate Spade, the fashion designer and entrepreneurial icon, and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain this week shine a light on a systemic problem: Mental illness. Both Spade and... Read More
A user’s guide to therapy on your smartphone
More than 75 percent of Americans now own a smartphone, up from just 35 percent in 2011, according to Pew Research Center studies published in 2017. When on our smartphones, time is increasingly spent on applications, or apps, with U.S. smartphone users averaging 3 hours, 23 minutes a day using apps compared to averaging 50 minutes... Read More
Why 2017 was finally the year artists spoke up about mental health
Taking care of yourself doesn’t typically go hand in hand with the rock star fantasy of nonstop partying, but in 2017, that changed. In July, Justin Bieber canceled the remaining dates of his Purpose Tour in a move toward stability, taking to Instagram to explain his decision: “I want my mind, heart and soul to be sustainable… Me taking... Read More
Rigorous Study Finds Antidepressants Worsen Long-Term Outcomes
A new study conducted by Jeffrey Vittengl at Truman University has found that taking antidepressant medications resulted in more severe depression symptoms after nine years. The study, published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, examined outcomes over a nine-year period and included initial depression severity as well as other factors. Vittengl divided treatment into categories and compared... Read More
Gambling related community harm exceeds that of drug use
Study finds gambling related community harm exceeds that of drug use disorders and common physical health problems New research conducted for the New Zealand Ministry of Health by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and Central Queensland University (CQU) found harm associated with gambling is almost double that of drug use disorders, bipolar affective disorder, eating... Read More