Client Resources

When we are parents, we divide our lives into “before and after.” Before we had children, we were many things: children ourselves, employees, athletes, artists, cousins, aunts, girlfriends and boyfriends, dreamers, thinkers, and doers.

Have you ever had someone come to you in distress; crying, maybe shut down, in pain, or even disassociated, and you wanted badly wanted to help but didn’t know how?

My heart feels like a crowd of people stomping their feet. I am exhausted but I can’t sleep. It is 1:00 am, 2:00 am, 3:00 am, 5:00 am, 7:00 am. I toss and twist in sweat soaked sheets. But this isn’t the worst of it, not by far.

Why can’t many of us stop worrying about what other people think, and bending over backwards to make sure everyone else is okay?

What is it that makes therapy so magical? Or if not magical, at least unique— though I’ll always defend its magic based on the many extraordinary things I’ve seen happen because of it.

Why is it that there are so few “happy” marriages or partnerships in the world? In this age of information, improved mental health care, and…

I write to you from the fog of Christmas just past, that legendary week where no one seems to know the day, the time, or whether to eat, sleep, or repent.

I’ve had anxiety since I thought peanut butter and Fluff made a great sandwich.

What percentage of romantic partnerships would you consider happy?

Total Wellness Quiz

To what degree do people feel one another’s emotions? If you’re an empath, you may experience them almost as intensely—or sometimes more intensely—than your own.

Our egos, like all things human, evolved as a survival mechanism to protect us from danger and maximize our strengths and potential.

Have you ever been in a conversation that seems to spiral out of control no matter how hard you try to keep yourself and others calm?

When he died, I was new to death. Like many Americans, I had only really experienced the deaths of my grandparents…

Everyone seems to be talking about mental health these days, and it’s about damn time.

Dedicated to M.L.

“Life is a series of choices.”

Here are some things that cause me a great deal of anxiety: Ringing phones, ringing doorbells, being introduced to people, figuring out what to wear when I leave the house…

Sometimes it seems like there are two kinds of people in the world: those who blame themselves for everything, and those who blame everything on everybody else.

Once considered radical, in the last 30 years talk therapy has become an accepted treatment for countless maladies ranging from…

“Child-free is easy, the difficult part is other people’s opinions.” ~ Anonymous

It seems to be a distinctly American form of self-sabotage: the trap of black-and-white thinking.

Have you ever caught yourself “listening” to someone and wishing they would just get to the point because you have something really important to say?

Emotions—they are the primal goop in which we live our lives, running like a sticky undercurrent beneath all the other parts of us, the physical, the relational, the behavioral.

“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” ~ C.S…

Some of the best advice I ever got came from the wonderful book Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She was discussing the business of writing novels…

What experiences, emotions, and beliefs from the past linger and hover, ghost-like, as we go about the business of living, coloring everything we see with a tint that is uniquely ours, and which is in some ways wonderful, and in others, painfully limiting?

People often don’t know what to expect from therapy, or what is expected of them. While it is true that counselors…

It never fails: I’ll be going along having a nice day, feeling pretty decent about myself when out of the blue—boom!

Is there an abundance of it in your life, or does it seem like, given all you have, you should probably be feeling it a little bit more?

I am a psychotherapist and I believe
in the power of talk therapy—it has,
after all, saved my life…

Many years ago, in my 20s, I was in an abusive relationship—but it never would have occurred to me to call it that because my abuser never laid a hand on me.

Ah, summer! Time for sunburns and bike rides, fireflies and driving around with the windows down. We live for summer’s easy routine and break from the grind, and even if we’re still working (because of course we are, if we have children, we’re always working) it seems different somehow— the light is softer, the days are longer.

My sociopath latched onto me when I was young, mesmerizing me with the characteristic charm of his people…

When I started working as a psychotherapist, virtual therapy wasn’t even a thing. I met with people in my office where we sat together in a safe and private space to talk about all things human.

As a psychotherapist, I have noticed that the one factor which most accurately predicts increased feelings of satisfaction in my client’s lives is a sense of purpose, and that the lack of it equally accurately predicts the opposite—depression, hopelessness, and anxiety…

Some of the best advice I ever got came from the wonderful book Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott. She was discussing the business of writing novels, and how daunting a task it is to anyone with a shred of humility…

What is Ketamine? Ketamine is a tranquilizer, which, at a certain dose, produces hallucinatory effects…but the science behind its impact on the human brain is still unclear. As Dr. Patel, my acting physician and founder of Midwest Ketamine Center told me during our first conversation…

Years ago when I decided I wanted to become a therapist, I applied with great anticipation to the esteemed Northwestern University master’s program…

Would it surprise you to know that your relationships with your primary caregivers in infancy and childhood determine, with frightening accuracy, what your relationships will look like for the rest of your life?

How to Turn Down the Volume on your Inner Body Critic & Empower Yourself (For Real). I’ve always wanted to be perfect. Even when it was sagely pointed out to me that perfection is an illusion, I have persisted.