In therapy, we talk a lot about the importance of ‘meeting the client where they are’; in other words, seeing them for who they are and what they’re dealing with at that time, rather than who or where we think they ‘should’ be. Little did I know I’d be using the same lesson in my relationship with the newest member of the family.

It was only when I came to realize that the most traditional and commonly accepted approaches I had learned in training as a psychologist were not useful in helping people understand and deal with the disturbed characters in their lives that everything began to change.

Although I once brushed it off as trite and unrealistic, I’ve come to realize that Fromm was right: there is an art to loving.

Among the long list of behavioral quirks ascribed to therapists is the tendency to answer a client’s question with a question or to duck the query by other means. Understanding the reasons why therapists avoid answering questions can make this tendency less galling and shed some light on the therapeutic process.

You have probably heard “practice makes perfect.” You may even have heard coach Vince Lombardi retort “Practices does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.” But what makes practice perfect, and how can you perfect you practice?

Pain is pain, regardless of the type or source. Even on a neurological level, emotional heartache can be every bit as painful as touching a hot stove.

Quite apart from the question of whether human beings in a deterministic world can be said to be free — and what that means for moral responsibility — the idea remains that we all have it within us to be more than just a slave to our fears and desires.