January 31, 2012 The DSM-5 controversy continues, as more professionals and parents share their experiences and opinions regarding specific diagnostic changes and their impact on people’s lives. This is happening on the blogospere and in major media like The New York Times, which in the last ten days has had front...
January 23, 2012 A huge thanks to my friend Tony Perone for alerting me to a recent TED Talk by Stephen Volan, "Approaching Autism Theatrically." Diagnosed with Asperger's as an adult, Stephen shares how he experiences himself in the world, at one point likening it to just about constant stage fright....
January 17, 2012 Here’s some other voices speaking about the DSM-5. First, Dr. Anthony Rao. Tony is a pediatric psychologist, founder of Behavioral Solutions in Lexington MA, and author of The Way of Boys: Promoting the Social and Emotional Development of Young Boys. I met Tony in 2010 when I interviewed him...
January 9, 2012 To go a bit deeper into the underlying problems with the theory and practice of psychology that the controversy over the DSM-5 exposes, I invite you to do some philosophizing. What assumptions must people be making— about persons; therapy, the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic discourse; illness, cure and treatment; emotions...
January 4, 2012 I’ve been following the controversy over the latest revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, known as the DSM-5. Compiled and published by the American Psychiatric Association, the DSM is the diagnostic bible for mental health professionals the world over—and a cash cow for the...
[caption id="attachment_1180" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Zdravo da Ste Weekend"][/caption] December 29, 2011 I returned from Serbia a few weeks ago, energized from six very performatory days with friends old and new. Nearly every year since 1997 as winter begins I’ve made the journey to work and play with the extraordinary people of Zdravo...
November 17, 2011 What is relationality and how does it play out in psychotherapy these days? Are all therapies relational? Or at least all non-medical model therapies? What challenges do relational therapists confront? A communication from a therapist in Norway sparked these questions for me. I have the privilege of lurking in...
November 16, 2011 I love my responsibility as chair of Global Outreach for the All Star's Project's UX because of the opportunities I get to bring people together who wouldn't ordinarily meet. Like the immigrant young people from Rome who run their own community, the inner-city young people and adults in New York...
November 8, 2011 Please check out the latest issue of the East Side Institute’s newsletter, Reports from the Field, for news on what our friends, colleagues and alumni are up to. You’ll hear from Annalie Pistorius and her new social therapy practice in Pretoria South Africa, the synergy between Elina Lampert-Shepel and...
October 26, 2011 Question: What's it like to participate in an academic conference taking place in China and on the topic of contemporary capitalism? Answer: An academic conference. Which is to say that you have to do the work to create human connection/conversation outside the rigid conference structure of one person after another...
