Learn to recognize these three red flags that the therapeutic process isn’t likely to work for a character disturbed individual in your life. Successful therapy for character disturbance does not depend on any of the these mainstays of traditional therapy, like focusing on feelings, trying to ‘see’ what the person is doing, or working on fears and insecurities and self-esteem issues. Part 3 of a series.

Whether as a couple or as an individual, keep these three things in mind to increase your chances of finding and working with a therapist who will actually be able to help with disturbed characters in your life and relationships. Part 2 of a series.

It is extremely difficult to manage character-disturbed individuals — for those who are in relationships with them and also for therapists trying to help. This is Part 1 of a three-part series on how to get the right kind of help with character disturbance, including tips for finding therapy that works, plus red flags that indicate when it probably won’t.

Beginning in the 1950s, Albert Ellis laid the foundations for a major portion of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with his colorful descriptions of negative thought patterns, descriptions that remain useful to the present day. Yet these venerable tools also have their limitations and misuses.

The Iron Lady, the new movie about Margaret Thatcher, did not live up to its potential. Perhaps if they had focused on what it was like for her to be both a mother and a woman in power they might have made a more interesting movie.

In the eighties, I made it a point to become ‘computer literate’. In today’s world of tablets and smart phones, ‘computer literacy’ begins to take on a new and shifting definition.