Understanding Temperament
In his book The Developing Mind; How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are, 2nd ed. (2012), renowned child psychiatrist and UCLA Professor of Psychiatry Daniel J. Siegel writes: “In an era when science is enabling us to understand human experience in new ways, it is important to examine the common debate about how much of development and personality can be attributed to ‘nature’ or genetics, as opposed to ‘nurture’ or experience.” (p. 30) Basically, Siegel goes on to discuss how genetics (nature) determine the brain-body structure, while...
Read MoreTRAUMA!
As a psychotherapist, who is also a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, the nationally covered Waldo Canyon Fire that has claimed land, property (approximately 350 homes destroyed), and human life (2 deaths to date) has me thinking about the nature of traumatic experiences. Whether life threatening (as for many Pikes Peak region residents), or emotionally disturbing, I am reminded that “any event that has…a lasting negative effect on the self…is by its very nature ‘traumatic'” (Shapiro, 2001). Dr. Francine Shapiro, developer of the trauma theory/therapy known...
Read MoreThe Dying Lady
“A common Latino narrative is the story of the Dying Lady. The tale begins with a woman who decides that it is too much work to cook. ‘It’s such a hassle,’ the old woman states. ‘It would be easier not to eat. Days turn to weeks, and weeks drag on until the woman finds herself unable to move or care for herself. People dear to the woman beg her to feed herself, but she refuses. ‘I’m much too tired to cook now,’ she laments. ‘I would need more strength to cook and clean.’ As her health continues to falter, her family and community...
Read MoreEmotional Blackmail
The full title of the book reads: Emotional Blackmail; When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You (1997). The author is Susan Forward, Ph.D, and she uses the acronym–actually, metaphor–F. O. G. (Fear, Obligation, Guilt) to indicate the confusion that emotional blackmailers create in us. “Blackmailers pump an engulfing FOG into their relationships, ensuring that we will feel afraid to cross them, obligated to give them their way and terribly guilty if we don’t” (p. xi). And, even though emotional blackmailers don’t use...
Read MoreNow, The Male Brain
In my last blog, I wrote about–and recommended–Louann Brizendine’s 2006 book, The Female Brain. I now follow-up with her 2010 book, The Male Brain. Dr. Brizendine is a neuropsychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, and founder/director of the Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic. To repeat myself, “In the past three or four years, there are few books I have recommended to my clients–both male and female–more than (The Female Brain). On my office shelving, the book indeed looks like a ‘classic’, given the many readings and highlights I...
Read MoreFirst, The Female Brain
About four years ago, I read Tom Butler-Bowdon’s 50 Psychology Classics (2007); 50 seminal thinkers and their ideas, spanning over a century in time. Interestingly, the author includes a few contemporary “classics,” for which I’m grateful; in particular, Louann Brizendine’s The Female Brain (2006). In the past three or four years, there are few books I have recommended to my clients–both male and female–more than this book. On my office shelving, the book indeed looks like a “classic”, given the many readings and highlights I have devoted...
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