Saturday 2/4 in NYC, 11-3pm
Communication skills training in NYC for couples and individuals: problem resolution, resolve conflict, communicate more effectively.
From Isolation to Connection: How to speak and listen in ways that are felt, heard, and understood. Continue reading
Women’s Anger Management Group, Anger Class, in NYC, Midtown, New York !!
When anger is kept inside without a voice or when it continually erupts it can cause great distress. When anger is expressed safely it can be a great catalyst for change and discovery.
At Midtown MFT, we provide a safe space for women to explore and discover all their anger is, where its rooted, and how to create change in their relationships.
This Group Meets Tuesdays at 6:30pm @ $60/session. Continue reading
I’ve been teaching Mindfulness as a tool to deal with depression and anxiety for a number of years, and the other day, a friend forwarded me this article from the NY Times, “Hazy Recall as a Signal Foretelling Depression.” It talks about the connection between depression and “overgeneral memory” — the Continue reading
In my psychotherapy practice, I encourage my clients to bring more awareness and mindfulness into their daily lives.
We can so oftentimes feel rushed, scattered and onto the next thing, that we rarely enjoy what this moment has to offer. In being present, it allows us to calm down, lose some of the anxiety, and fully take in what is happening around us.
Conversations start to be more fulfilling, our lives feel less rushed, and our nervous system settles. The art of mindfulness is a practice-one that has to be remembered throughout the day. The more we practice, the easier it becomes.
Allow-by Danna Faulds
There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightening bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a stream, and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting is all in-
the wild with the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
when loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes
There are times in our lives when the pain and the suffering are too much to bear; when the heart ache wants to eat us whole and all we want to do is go with it. Whether it’s the loss of a loved one, the ending of a relationship, or an argument with a friend, the sadness and feelings in our heart can overwhelm us and at points, convince us it might be too hard to carry on. Continue reading
Sometimes we find ourselves tightly wound to our beliefs, remembering who hurt us, who we are angry with, and who disappointed us. We hold grudges, cling onto resentments, and feel tightly wound and bound to our opinions and perspectives. Continue reading
-As you wake up, see if you can notice how you are doing before you automatically jump out of bed. Take inventory: How does your body feel? Do you feel rested? What is your intention for the day? Do all of this before your feet even hit the floor. Continue reading
Communication Skills Workshop in NYC
Saturday12/3 in NYC, 11-3pm
Communication skills training in NYC for couples and individuals: problem resolution, resolve conflict, communicate more effectively. Continue reading
ONE DAY ANGER WORKSHOP – November 12, 2011- www.MidtownMFT.com
Midtown MFT provides an in-depth look at the core of anger. If you experience frequent, intense anger and behave destructively to yourself or others when angry, you may benefit from this anger management workshop.
Clients can expect:
Women’s Anger Management Group, Anger Class, in NYC, Midtown, New York – 2 spaces left!!
When anger is kept inside without a voice or when it continually erupts it can cause great distress. When anger is expressed safely it can be a great catalyst for change and discovery.
At Midtown MFT, we provide a safe space for women to explore and discover all their anger is, where its rooted, and how to create change in their relationships.
This Group Meets Tuesdays at 6:30pm @ $60/session.
This group focuses on:
Through a new insight into the protection anger provides, clients will learn to focus and witness their own wounding that precedes anger, to stop waiting for the source of their anger to change, and to find within themselves the strength and courage to accept the call to action: a voice holding us accountable for our own suffering.
The primary teaching used in this workshop comes from the work of Marshall Rosenberg and his “Nonviolent Communication” model.
For more information, call us at 917-968-5599 and ask to speak with Rachel McDavid, LMFT, the group facilitator.
To register online follow this link to our Midtown MFT website.
Many of us at some point in our lives have heard the tale of Chicken Little. The story begins with Chicken Little having a perfectly normal day minding his own business when suddenly an acorn falls on his head. Chicken Little instantly perceives that the sky must be falling, the world is ending and that he must inform the king of the coming apocalypse.
Along his journey he meets his friends, Henny Penny, Turkey Lurkey, Ducky Lucky and Goosey Loosey who all immediately accept his claim of the worldwide collapse and band together until they meet Foxy Loxy who views the nervous bunch as dinner and pulls them into his cave, never to be heard of again. Continue reading
This article is co-authored by Larry Torrent and Mary Myers
One of the greatest challenges facing those who have experienced depression or chronic anxiety is the question of how to stop it recurring. Ironically, the success of modern depression treatments has actually increased this problem. The most common treatment for Continue reading
Remember that life may lead you to a place unexpected. Have faith that you are exactly where you need to be.
“We’ll see” was often a phrase that we heard growing up that would send us away rolling our eyes and knowing that the answer was probably a no. As I have been working with my meditation practice, I notice this phrase has more value than I seemed to realize. Instead of grasping and Continue reading
I wrote previously about a great creative exercise to help transform the meaning and shape of anxiety, from a place of overwhelm where it feels like our entire being, to a place of clarity, where anxiety has reason, shape, and purpose.
This article takes it a step further to explore our relationship with anxiety, just as we would any other person in our life, with hope that by re-framing and re-defining anxiety, more options will open for a life with more peace. Continue reading
I recently attended a weekend workshop about anger from the Buddhist perspective, and I was reminded of some beliefs that are present in the way I work with clients struggling with anger.
One of the things Narayan Liebenson Grady said was “in the arising of anger there can be a temporary feeling of strength. The sense of power and pleasure [which can sometimes occur] can be seductive. [However] After this initial feeling we can start losing power and our perspective gets lost. We only see partially. Continue reading
When I can be the witness,
all manner of miracles occur -
old wounds heal, the past
reveals itself to be released, Continue reading
“Our emotions need to be as educated as our intellect. It is important to know how to feel, how to respond, and how to let life in so that it can touch you.”
~Jim Rohn
Photograph by Genna Brocone
I crouch
in the stillness
of the cold, sharp air
as first light appears,
suddenly surrounded
by the absence of
imaginary things.
Unruly thoughts dissipate.
Touched by the light
water, mountain, sky.
Transformed.
Longing, defined as a strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant, can show up in many forms. Longing to be somewhere else, to be with someone else, to be someone else or even perhaps to feel something else.
Longing can remove us from the present moment, wishing we were somewhere else. Moments, days, or weeks can go by, and we realize that we are no longer showing up in our everyday life. We can feel disconnected, unhappy, and dull. We are coasting, getting by, and longing for other Continue reading
Slide into the unknown
The Beloved is waiting
Climb down the rickety ladder
Into the mysterious cave of your body
Where your own quiet music plays Continue reading
Communication skills training in NYC for couples and individuals for problem resolution, to resolve conflict and communicate more effectively.
From Isolation to Connection:
How to speak and listen in ways that are felt, heard, and understood. Continue reading
Sometimes we feel the angriest with the ones we love most, and we find ourselves in repeating patterns of reactivity, when what we really crave is to be heard and understood by our partners. How do we break through this and get our needs and wants met?
We feel more and react more with those closest to us. This may be because they matter to us more or simply because we spend more time with them. We have needs and wants that go unmet because we haven’t learned how to communicate them successfully. We often create expectations and then Continue reading
Vulnerability is our capacity to be wounded, emotionally or physically.
Many of us believe that we must do whatever we can to avoid such suffering. In doing this, however, in staying ‘safe’, we may miss the discovery of our greatest strengths and invitations to actualize our potential.
Human nature is paradoxical. Our bodies are at once incredibly fragile and enduring. A body can recover from 13 rounds of chemotherapy or rupture unexpectedly because of a tiny clot in a blood vessel. We live surrounded by stories of human fragility and miraculous endurance. It is our work to find a way to stand in our beautiful contradiction. Continue reading
When going through a difficult time in our lives we tend to think that the challenging period is going to last forever. Below is a funny, helpful song from the musical ‘Avenue Q’ which reminds us that everything in life is only for now.
Everything In Life is Only For Now: Photograph by Genna Brocone
For Now:
Everyone’s a little bit unsatisfied.
Everyone goes ’round a little empty inside.
Take a breath,
Look around,
Swallow your pride,
For now… Continue reading
Implications for Trauma Treatment
Need more incentive to meditate? A recent study headed by Sara Lazar and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital documented measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, empathy, and stress after just 8 weeks of daily meditation practice.
More specifically, the MR images showed increased grey-matter density in the hippocampus, known to be important for learning and memory, and decreased grey-matter density in the amygdala, known for its role in fear conditioning and stress.
This has strong implications for utilizing mindfulness meditation Continue reading
This article helps name and support the journey from 20-something to 30-something. If anxiety has plagued you through this period you are not alone…
During our terribly awkward teenage years, many of us fantasized about what it would be like to be in our mid-late 20′s.
We were certain that our relationships, career and social life would all be neatly in place long before we hit 30. Even during those sweaty, clumsy goodbyes at the end of summer camp, our teenage selves were sure we’d have it all together by then. It seemed so far away.
(From Wet Hot American Summer, 2001)
Susie: You guys, I’m really going to miss this place.
Coop: Me too. Continue reading
Ellen Gregory, LMFT
Elena Hull, LCAT, LMFT
Christina Curtis, LMFT
Rachel McDavid, LMFT
Our Guide for Growth
Juliet Bruce, PhD
Jackie Sherman
Genna Brocone
Allison Lefkowitz
Melissa Divaris Thompson, LMFT
Larry Torrent
Mary Myers