WHY COPING STRATEGIES AREN’T ENOUGH
Friday May 1, 2026
If you’ve been to therapy before, you’ve probably been given coping strategies. Breathing exercises. Grounding techniques. Cognitive reframing. These are the standard tools of the trade, and they’re not useless. But if you’re still circling back to the same place, the problem might not be that you need better strategies …
WHAT DOES PSYCHOTHERAPY ACTUALLY DO?
Friday April 25, 2026
Most therapist websites describe their work in the language of symptom management. They help you “cope with” anxiety, “manage” depression, develop “strategies” for dealing with intrusive thoughts. I don’t think that’s necessarily true …
Saturday April 18, 2026
At $150 a session, psychotherapy costs about 5.5 cents per second. Do that weekly for a year and you've spent nearly eight thousand dollars. So the question deserves a straight answer: is it worth it? It depends entirely on what you're getting …
Saturday April 11, 2026
Browse enough therapist profiles and you'll start to notice a pattern. Under "Approaches," many therapists list a string of acronyms and modalities. At first glance, this looks like versatility. But think about it for a moment …
WHY DO ALL THERAPIST PROFILES LOOK THE SAME?
Saturday March 28, 2026
If you've ever spent an evening browsing therapist profiles, you've probably noticed something odd. After a while, they all start to blur together. The warm lighting, the gentle smile, the soothing language about "safe spaces" …
Saturday March 22, 2026
You tried therapy. Maybe more than once. You talked about your problems, learned some coping strategies, did the exercises. And yet you find yourself still struggling with the same patterns …
Saturday February 21, 2026
I came to psychotherapy because—like everyone who becomes a psychotherapist—I needed it myself. For years I struggled with significant difficulties that undermined my quality of life …
Friday February 20, 2026
By the time most people start looking for a therapist, they're hurting. That's understandable, but it's also a vulnerable position to make an important decision from. So before anything else: slow down …
Tuesday February 18, 2026
The first thing I do when someone comes to me in the aftermath of a traumatic experience is stay calm. That might sound simple, but it's doing real work. When a person is overwhelmed and the therapist isn't, it communicates something important …
UNDERSTANDING ANXIETY: A PSYCHOANALYTIC VIEW
Saturday November 2, 2025
Anxiety is a signal. From a psychoanalytic perspective, it points toward something in the mind that hasn't yet been fully thought through. Understanding what it's signaling can change everything …
PSYCHOANALYSIS AND THE RELIGIOUS QUESTION
Sunday October 6, 2025
Psychoanalysis and religion are often seen as opposites, but I've come to think they're asking similar questions. Both are concerned with what lies beneath the surface of everyday life …
WHAT HAPPENS HERE: A NOTE ON THERAPEUTIC APPROACH
Sunday October 6, 2025
When people contact me, they're usually looking for understanding. They want their experience to make sense. They're looking for a collaborative process where someone takes them seriously …
Wednesday January 8, 2025
The following is intended to be a set of clear and concise instructions that will help you begin meditating as quickly and easily as possible …
Friday June 28, 2024
The theory regarding the formation of dreams that I outline in this section is based on my own experiences using and adapting the method outlined in Sigmund Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams over many years in order to understand my own dreams …
Mission Statement
This blog consists of short essays in applied psychoanalysis. Its primary purpose is to show how psychoanalysis can shed a light on the questions and concerns of daily life. Its secondary purpose is to make fundamental psychoanalytic concepts accessible to a popular audience.
What I'm Reading
John Bellairs, The Trolley to Yesterday.
Top Books This Year
Albums in Heavy Rotation