How to Choose the Right Therapist

By: Tanya Prochko

Choosing the right therapist may feel overwhelming. Here are some tips to help guide you.

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Unmasking Manipulation: Understanding DARVO and Reclaiming Your Reality

By: Yisroel Picker

Many of us encounter manipulation, but understanding its forms is key to navigating relationships healthily. This post delves into various manipulative tactics, with a special focus on the insidious DARVO strategy. Discover how recognizing these behaviors empowers you and learn about the path toward healing from their impact.

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Fundamentals of Trauma Recovery, Part 2

By: Chava Lederer

You can help your brain register that you survived — you are here — to find more stability and presence in your daily life.

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The Wondrous “Black Sheep”: the Truth Teller of a Family

By: Keren Burgman

How often have you heard someone describing their family and either talking about a sibling…

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From “He Said, She Said” to “He Felt, She Felt” (Part 2 of Winter Series 5786)

By: Yonatan Schechter

Beneath most heated exchanges lie deeper feelings waiting to be understood.

 

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Intergenerational Trauma in Times of Crisis: Echoes of the Holocaust in the Present

By: Jeanne Lankin

Intergenerational trauma refers to the transmission of trauma responses from one generation to future generations including patterns of coping and survival strategies. In the case of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, trauma may have been communicated not only through shared or unspoken stories but through the emotional messages communicated in the home including generalized fear, silence, secrecy, overprotection, familial dysfunction and vigilance.

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Why You Should Go to Sleep Angry

By: Yonatan Schechter

Contrary to popular wisdom, going to sleep angry is often the best strategy for couples in conflict. Time and rest allow emotions to settle and perspective to return, making successful reconciliation far more likely than late-night attempts when both parties are exhausted and agitated.

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Dying at a Distance: Grief During Covid

By: Jeanne Lankin

Humans are incredibly resilient. I am constantly in awe of the people that I speak to, in my role as a bereavement therapist, who are creating amended rituals to help them cope with their painful losses. There is no correct answer to our predicament. It feels unfair to be deprived of the comfort of our traditions that help guide and heal mourners. However, we can try to creatively engage in meaningful adaptations of our rituals during this crisis to help us process our grief.

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40 Years of Research: Why Solving Your Marital Disputes is Not the Solution

By: Daniel Fund

Many couples think that they just need to be able to find an agreement, a compromise, a solution to their disagreements. And that couples' therapy is about solving their disagreements. In fact, for many years this is how couples' therapists approached therapy as well. Unfortunately, this approach failed and statistically, their success rates were very low. But the field of couples therapy research has changed dramatically. In the last 40 years, Dr. John Gottman, Dr. Leslie Greenberg, and Dr. Sue Johnson, to name a few major names have made real breakthroughs, having studied many thousands of couples, watching them closely in action, on live cameras, video, behind one-way glasses and otherwise. One of Gottman's findings is that about 70% of our disagreements as couples, never get solved! And this is true not only for failing couples but for the very successful couples as well! So, if solving problems is not what leads to success, what does? The answer is that as a therapist, I can help them reach such an emotional bond that makes the issue of solving problems redundant, a non-issue. Once they have this bond, they will not necessarily need me to solve their problems. Find out more inside.

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The Art of Communicating Honestly and Responsibly (Part 1 of Winter Series 5786)

By: Yonatan Schechter

Expressing feelings in marriage is essential, but it must be done honestly and responsibly to strengthen rather than damage your relationship.

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Finding Home Within

By: Naomi Zauderer

Moving to a new country can feel overwhelming, but settling in is about more than just checking off tasks—it’s about finding a sense of home within yourself. This post explores the emotional side of acclimating to life in Israel, offering reflections on embracing uncertainty, building small rituals, and trusting yourself through the transition. Whether you're struggling with daily frustrations or seeking a deeper sense of belonging, this guide offers a compassionate perspective on navigating change.

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Why Grownups Should Play Too

By: Rachel Ozick

…as we get older, we stop playing. We feel the need to be productive or we feel so tired from our productive lives that we pursue mindless ways to relax and shut down, like watching TV, but watching TV is not playing, and playing is more important than you think.

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Resilience Series Part 2

By: Esther Adams Aharony

The ups and downs of life are associated with a rainbow variety of emotions; some are dark, and some are light. The intensity of these emotions can vary as well. Some of us have dense and opaque emotions when our emotional reactions are high. This increased emotional reactivity can tint everything the same shade or reduce our ability to see beyond these emotions, which may further reduce our ability to cope with adversities. The good news is that we can use a few strategies to keep our emotional reactivity in check, such as grounding ourselves, cultivating somatic skills, and engaging in some mindful physical exercises.

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Simmering Soup: On the Importance of Asking Questions

By: Robin B. Zeiger

Sometimes the question sits on the back burner like low-simmering stew that has all but been forgotten. An innocent question may ignite a fire in a chilly room and we are off in a new direction. Or sometimes it buzzes around like a nasty mosquito.

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Challenges of Returning Reserve Soldiers

By: Aharon Herskovitz

“Wow, so great you’re home, Aharon, now everything can go back to normal!” This sentence, and variations of it, have been said to me and countless other reserve soldiers over the last few months. Though well-meaning (and also an important injection of optimism and hope!), people’s wider networks are sometimes unaware of the challenges that returning reserve soldiers face.

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Challenges and Advise for People in Self-Quarantine

By: Linda Avitan

Self-quarantine is a situation that can be very stressful and challenging on many levels to oneself and one's relationships. This post examines the areas which may be challenging in an attempt to legitimize those difficulties. I offer the opportunity to reach out and seek ONLINE help in order to get through this trying period in a positive way.

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The Flip Side of Stress

By: Sasha Weiss

Research has shown that when we are able to regulate our emotions in a stressful situation we are able to not only feel calmer but to also become more collaborative, creative and thrive.

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Imagination Makes Sense

By: Sara Jacobovici

We are sensory beings, and one of the earliest abilities that we acquire is imagination. Imagination allows us to form mental images of things not currently sensed, simulate possible future scenarios, create novel ideas, and engage in symbolic thinking.

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Earth, Water, Air, and Fire

By: Chava Lederer

The four classical elements are channels through which we make contact with the present moment reality, and engage our uniquely human mind – a mind capable of creativity, of connecting to others, of faith and spirituality.  I offer you these four elements as resources in moments of stress, panic, fear, or any other overwhelming experience.

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ADHD or Trauma?

By: Aviva Zahavi-Asa

Over the last few decades, many children and adolescents have been receiving a diagnosis of ADHD at alarming rates. ADHD, which is typically understood as a brain or nervous system disorder which tends to be genetic in nature, is often identified when a child shows symptoms of inattention, distractibility, hyperactivity and/or impulsivity. What unfortunately often gets missed with a diagnosis of ADHD, however, is the possibility that traumatic events may be the source of these symptoms.

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