Scott Alexander, my favorite writer on the interweb, has been reviewing therapy books and got around to a particular specialty of mine, couples therapy. He reviews John Gottman’s landmark book, Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work...
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Defense mechanisms are your mind’s automatic safety features. When an experience, thought, or feeling threatens to overwhelm you—like a sudden blinding glare while you’re driving—these mental reflexes flick on in the background. They dim the emotional brightness just enough to keep you steady so you can stay on the road of daily life. Most of the time the switch is flipped without your even noticing…
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Read it here on the Unpopping Substack
How did you decide to become a therapist?
I hated this job I was working running Jiu Jitsu tournaments with a boss that was super corrupt and asking me to swindle people. I also knew I wasn’t good at concentrating while sitting at a desk. My therapist was encouraging me to be a firefighter or a police officer but I didn’t want to do those things so I asked her…
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Everyone is guilty of being defensive at times. But what does it mean to be defensive, really?
Sigmund Freud coined the phrase defense mechanisms while his daughter, Anna Freud, went on to elaborate on the concept. The way we think of defense mechanisms has changed somewhat since these early writings, but simply put, defense mechanisms are largely-unconscious psychological habits we use to protect ourselves…
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When I was a new therapist, the largest question on my mind was “how do I ensure I’m helping?” which often led me around to the question, “how does therapy work?” To answer these questions, I spent a lot of time with textbooks such as The Heart and Soul of Change, and The Great Psychotherapy Debate (which I wrote about in a blog here). This exploration eventually led me to seminars and trainings with Scott D Miller, one of the preeminent experts on Outcomes in Psychotherapy. I have been measuring outcomes in my private practice…
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