The Walking Cure

The Walking Cure

I remember taking a walk with a fairly new teenage client this winter, trudging aimlessly through the snow.  The walk had been his idea, and I’d had to convince him to wear shoes for it.  Once we got moving, conversation flowed in fits and spurts.  We would talk while we walked, then quiet down to take in some natural splendor, then listen to the crunch of the snow under our boots as we made our little track across the snowy field.  Properly bundled for the cold, it proved to be exceedingly pleasant to stretch our legs while we meandered through a conversation about fantasy novels, school bullies, and the thousand adult decisions required in the proper navigation of middle school life...

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Learning to Talk

Learning to Talk

I have a client right now, let’s call him Brian, who’s been teaching me a lot of lessons about agency and patience.  He’s quite young - under 15, over 10, right in the middle of things - and he’s quite sensitive.  His parents have been quick to tell me that he’s been having a lot of trouble lately and like to give me little updates about him whenever we see each other.  To ask him, there’s nothing to worry about.  And though I agree with him, I do know that there’s a lot going on in his world that’s pretty troubling - the sort of thing that could be cause for worry if ignored over the long term...

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The Myth of Therapy

The Myth of Therapy

In honor of a dear old friend who visited me over the weekend, I’m choosing to write about something a little more esoteric than usual this week.  His visit reminded me of why and how I got on track to become a psychotherapist in the first place; he called to memory the philosophical grounds of the work I try to do in every session with my clients...

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